Little Red

The Rules

I have lived my whole life in Silvermist, a small town at the edge of the dark woods. We all know the rules we must follow: Never go into the woods alone, never wander off the path, and most of all, NEVER talk to strangers.

My parents first taught my siblings and I this lesson when we were very young, I, the youngest, was about 3 at the time, my sisters Ruth and Guinevere were 4, our eldest sister Samantha was 6 and our brother Caius, the eldest sibling, was 9.

One day our parents took us outside the town gate, down to the very edge of the woods, children were not allowed anywhere near the woods so this was our first time seeing it in person. It was only a stones throw away from the town entrance, it was dark and foreboding, it was impossible to see what was lurking inside. A garden path stretched straight down the middle seemed to go on for miles and miles, never ending.

We started in terrified awe at the enormous trees as our father pointed to a sign at the beginning of the path and read aloud:

"WARNING: Never go into the woods alone, never wander off the path, and most of all, NEVER talk to strangers"

Our mother stared down the path into the woods as if searching for something, but nothing was there, at least nothing we could see past the thick trunks and branches.

"You must promise to always obey these rules no matter what", said father sternly.

"Yes father", replied Caius straight away.

"We promise", chorused the twins in unison.

"Of course", answered Samantha.

I stared into the woods trying to see what mother was searching for, the darkness was overwhelming and I felt that it would suck me in if I stared too long.

"Agatha", said my father pulling my attention away from the darkness.

"Yes father, I promise", I mumbled shyly to the ground.

Father sighed and put his arm around mothers shoulder, she looked like she might cry but she didn't.

"Alright, back to the house, we have plenty of chores that need to be done", Mother chimed plastering on a smile.

Everyone turned and started back towards the gate, I lingered a moment, staring back into the darkness, and for a second I thought I saw movement amongst the trees.