© Ayr/Gray
Perhaps Rose could have been more wary on her weekly walk to Granny’s apartment, but she knew the way and felt confident in her red cape and hood. How could she go wrong? It had plenty of pockets! And she had her wooden spoon to fend off any attackers.
Her mother gave her enough money for two cinnamon-apple bakery poptarts, warning, “Don’t dilly-dally. Watch out for sketchy characters!”
Rose, leaving, waved her wooden spoon. “Don’t worry about me!”
***
The proprietress of the neighborhood bakery slipped an extra treat, a blueberry-lemon scone, into the crisp paper sack. “Say hello to your Gran. We miss hearing her stories.”
“I’ll tell her,” Rose swept out the door, sack secreted in an inner pocket of her cape.
She’d been working on her dramatic exits and nearly knocked over the bearded man lurking outside the door. Nor did she notice his growl or that he began to follow her.
But she was a canny girl; one had to be these days. When he caught up to her near the secret entrance of the elves’ underchamber (marked by two red Amanita Muscaria), she was ready. She bolted and crouched when he leapt and pounced. In a flicker of bright wood, her spoon tripped him and tipped him into the yawning mouth of the tree. The elves would take care of him; they knew Gran, too.
***
In the end, Rose and Gran had a lovely snack on Gran’s balcony, and of course lived happily ever after.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2025)
Many thanks to Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr for their photo prompt, THE UNICORN CHALLENGE. (02/14/2025). No more than 250 words in length.
Valley of the Trolls 
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I admire a girl who can take care of herself!
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She had a good model in her Gramma, I think!
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I like that she’d been working on her dramatic exits.
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Creative flair…whoosh! 😆
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Love this feisty wee heroine!
And the grandmother too – seems she’s been around and made lots of friends.
And nothing to top elves for meting out justice!
A delightful story, Liz, and it feels like you had fun writing it.
I need to find out more about Tatterhood – she’s fascinating from the wee bit I’ve read on Google – and, obviously, from your tale!.
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And what an amazing photo for the two of you, to put wind in my sails! Thank you from all of us on the Unicirn Challenge playground! 🦄🤗
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Great version of the story. I think I’ve written innumerable versions of Red Riding Hood here. It’s always fun rewriting old folk tales and giving them a modern twist.
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I had fun with this. Always intrigued by the Tatterhood story, too!
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Not sure why, Liz, but I feel hungry after reading this…
I confess I was dubious about the defensive properties of a wooden spoon, but it seems I’m just an innocent abroad.
Loved this.
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It’s a classic Scandinavian thing. Tatterhood was born riding a goat and waving the wooden spoon. She ‘s a force to be reckoned with! 😂😂
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Love it. Best Little Red Riding Hood fa fiction yet!
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Thanks Violet…best part is that it ws funto write! ;-)
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The moral of this story is – do not stick your head into the yawning mouth of the tree to take a peek.
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And don’t get tripped up by a streetwise kid with a wooden spoon!
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