Little Red Riding Hood

I walked to the front of my bed to my huge trunk. It had all my dresses and possessions in it. I opened it up and it let out a loud creak. I pulled out a lilac coloured dress with some brown boots. I only had two pairs of shoes. One was for cleaning and working and another for dressing up nicely in. That one was especially for special occasions. I dressed quickly making sure I looked presentable. Once I left the house with my corset untied. Thank god I was only 7 because that could have been very embarrassing.

I used a red bow in my hair to tie it up into a nice loose bun. My favourite colour had always been red. I don’t know why because it was the devils colour and it was and evil colour. I always wondered if it was evil why was our blood red, why was meat red, why were other things red?

 I had to work today. Father was making me feed the livestock today. It was a muddy job that required a lot of time and elbow grease. I wasn’t upset or moany about it, I liked helping my dad, and he was nice and strong. I remember when I was a child. He used to carry me around everywhere on his shoulders until one day I got to heavy and my father collapsed underneath me. I was 9. Told you he was strong. Though I think I caused him a hell of a lot of back problems.

I tiptoed down the ladder that leads me into the main part of the house. There were four  levels in my house. The main area which consisted of the lounge, dining, kitchen and toilet. The toilet was just a very, very deep hole. After a week we drop down some gasoline and a match and burn the wastes. WE have lid to put over it so we don’t have to smell. The second was my room which was long and I loved it to pieces. I know it was the one with the least amount of privacy so I took it because I knew everyone else would hate it. The third was my brothers and sisters room. They were twins and hated being apart from each other. And then the fourth was my parents bedroom. They had the top because they needed the most privacy if you know what I mean.

IT was my job every now and again to make breakfast. Most of the time I did it because my parents weren’t even up. I landed on the floor and went outside. I pushed down the outside ladder so it was leaning against the house. I climbed down it and brushed off my clothes. We had our houses off the ground so if this flooded or stuff our belongings and homes would survive. I lit the kitchen candle so I could cook with the right amount of light.

I pushed some logs of wood into the oven and lit it up. It took a while to ignite because it had been cold in the night so it was slightly damp. When the fire was blazing I closed the glass screen and pulled out pan. I fried some bacon and while I was waiting I grabbed some chickens eggs that I had left out on the side over night. The hens were having trouble laying their eggs yesterday so there were only four. It was ok, I didn’t really like eggs.

The food tasted really nice and I couldn’t wait to start eating. Any minute now my family would awake and I would be surrounded by the morning noise. I cut slices of bread from the roll my mother had made yesterday. It was going hard on the outside but still fluffy on the inside. I fried the pieces slightly to make them toasty and warm. Warm bread was beautiful on a cold morning.

When the food had almost done I grabbed the plate and cups and set them up around the large wooden table. The food had finally finished and by then my motuh was watering. We had a rule in the house, if you weren’t down on time for breakfast it was given to you cold or there was none left.  I dished out equal amounts of food on each plate except for the egg I didn’t get.

“Morning sis.” Michael said coming down the ladder.

“Morning. You can start eating if you like, I will just go to the well and fetch some water. I will be back soon.” I stated grabbing the pail from beside the door.

“Sure, sis, if you don’t hurry I will eat yours.” My brother teased.

“You better not or I will cook your fingers for lunch.” I threatened lightly.

He put his hands up defensively with a crooked smile. He then dug into his own meal, spilling some egg yolk over grandma’s table cloth. Mama’s going to kill him.

I grabbed my cloak off the hook and wrapped it around my body. It was a light blue colour and my grandma had knitted it for me when I was 13. It still fit me because it had no arms. I walked outside and pulled the hood over my head. It was freezing outside. It will snow soon, we probably had a week at the most.  

I could see some lights on at the houses around me. Some people were obviously early rises. We had the biggest house in our village because my father was the mayor. He controlled all of our decisions for the village and he was very good at the job. No one judged on what he had concluded with, no one talked behind his back; if anything they were praises. My papa was very well respected.

I trudged over to the well in the middle of out small town. The well was just a hole in the ground where a natural spring lived underneath. Rocks were built around it so no one would accidently fall in. And if you did anyway it wasn’t that much of a fall. An adult would be able to climb out but a kid would probably drown if there were no one to rescue them.

There was a small roof structure over the well so a rope could hang. I tied the rope to my pail and dropped it into the water. The pail landed with a splash and it slowly sunk when it filled with water. I then grabbed the end of the rope and heaved the pail out of the well. I was quite strong for a girl. Some would struggle with the weight but I had and older brother and a father who loved to wrestle. I was a lucky girl to have such an active life. My family respected my freedom but made sure I came home on time or there would be major consequences.

I pulled the pail onto the rocks around the well and let the rope go. It dangled loosly and I untied it. I hooked it around a stick so it wouldn’t fall itnot he water. I then grabbed my pail and rushed home. I didn’t want my brother to eat my food because I was starving. When I finally reached home I was huffing and puffing. I opened the wooden door and let myself in. All my family were up and sitting around the table eating.

I smiled and pulled the pail along and into the kitchen. I poured most of the water into the metal jug.  I then placed the jug on the table and sat down to eat.

**************

Once everyone had eaten their fair share of food we helped each other clean up. As I did I watched my families faces. My mother looked weak but still vibrant and full of life. She had dirty blonde hair, the same as mine, and blue eyes. I had green. She was thin but strong. She was a hard working mum.

My father was tanned from all the work he did out doors. He had a short beard that connected to his sideburns. He had black hair and a brown-red colour. I don’t really know how to describe it. It was sort or brown at one angle but a maroon type colour at one angle. It was unusual but could make he look intimidating. He was tall and had broad shoulders and a muscular body. No wonder my mother was attracted to him. He was good hearted also and never talked down on someone. He listened to other people and helped with everyones troubles.

My silly brother, Michael, was tall and well built like my father but he was younger and childish. He could never be too serious for long. He always had a brooding grin on his face which got the girls falling over him. He was good looking and had light brown hair and green eyes like mine. My sister, Angela, was kind of like her name. She was angelic. Her movements were graceful yet fragile and she had an angel appearance. Blue eyes, blonde wavy hair, the works. She was short though and curves in all the right places. She and my brother were definitely not identical twins.

Well that was chapter one for you. I am trying to drag things out so I hope you don’t mind.

It gets better after this, I swear. It gets really interesting.

COMMENT

FAN

VOTE

PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK