"I wanna be a veggie like Gramma." The little girl said as she smiled up at her mother while she packed their lunch.
"I think you mean vegetarian, sweetie." She finished packing lunch and picked up her daughter, putting her down on the couch in the other room before going to the little girl's room to grab her white cloak.
The little girl ran to the front door, her green skirts swishing around her. Her father came through the door, his axe in hand. He put it down and picked up his daughter, swinging her around, making her laugh. Placing her on the ground, he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"How's my little Scarlet? Ready to go to Gramma's?" Scarlet nodded, bouncing up and down, full of energy. Her mother came over, placing the cloak around Scarlet's shoulders and smiled at her husband.
PIcking up his axe again and taking the picnic basket from his wife, they headed out into the snow covered world. They were all excited. Going to Gramma's to help her pick out a Christmas tree had become tradition for them. Scarlet ran ahead of her parents through the covered bridge and stopped on the other side. Her parents stopped at the edge of the bridge, smiling as Scarlet looked back at them and waved, throwing handfuls of snow into the air to make her own little snowstorm.
She spun in a circle and when she faced the edge of the path, she stopped suddenly, falling to the ground and screaming. Her parents ran across the bridge as fast as they could, her father dropping the basket, but they were not fast enough. A wolf jumped out of the woods, landing on top of Scarlet and raked its claws across her face.
Scarlet's blood stained the fresh snow and her mother screamed, running ahead of Scarlet's father and jumping ontop of the wolf. She scratched and punched, did everything she could to fight the wolf and get it off of her child.
She would not let it take her child away from her.
The wolf turned suddenly, making the woman fall off it's back and ripped her throat out, killing her instantly.
Scarlet's father wisked her away, watching in horror as his wife was killed. He placed Scarlet in a tree, telling her not to come down for anything. The wolf was feasting on the woman and Scarlet's father yelled, swinging his axe at the wolf. Scarlet looked away, clenching her eyes shut, as her father and the wolf fought.
Suddenly, everything was silent, and it began to snow again. Scarlet peeked at the bloody scene before her and saw her father standing over the wolf, his axe buried in its chest. She jumped down from the tree and ran over to her father, crying. He knelt down in front of her, smiling a sad smile.
"Do you remember how to get to Gramma's?" She nodded, fear written across her face. "Go straight to Gramma's and don't look back. I'll be along in a minute. I have to help your mother first." Scarlet turned around and ran a few steps, looking over her shoulder at her father before running and never looking back.
Her father's smile turned into a grimace the farther away Scarlet ran. He pulled his jacket to the side and looked at the large wound on his side. He would not be following Scarlet. He crawled over to his wife's remains and collapsed next to her, holding her hand. Rolling onto his back, he stared at the sky and breathed his last.
