Little Mischievous Red Riding Hood

Chapter 13 (Green with Envy)

RED gave a side glance at her companion, the unaware Georgette was busy cleaning and cooking their meal in a pit she built, while the first did the hunting for them, catching a bony hare and a straying waterfowl on the stream.

Meanwhile, Georgette picked flowers and berries she passed by, aware and versed to wild berries and poppies that were both poisonous and itchy, she picked mulberries, some cranberries, and citron and saffron for her soap, she also went on the stream to wash the fruits but also to catch fish.

She didn’t have a catch though but she found some rhinestones on the shallow and some soft shellfish that probably came from the nearest ocean and washed over the tides and then got stuck to the channeling stream when the water ebbed.

She went back and started creating a fire with a cinder she always kept in her basket and cleaned the meat that she would add to her soup.

Red killed and cut the carcass in partition while she removed the unwanted parts and washed it into the running stream.

They both sat on the ground, waiting for the soup to boil and while waiting, Red who was always curious about her, asked. “What’s your next plan? I mean, you’re determined to keep the baby, but, do you want to go back to your home once your grandma’s wrath is over, I mean, you surely belong on the farm,” she jested with a notion of sarcasm. “Or you are going to your lover’s home then?”

Her companion gave her a wary glance but turned sad. Then played with her red coat’s fabric, getting fidgety then rubbed her arms.

A kind of thing that Red observed as her companion’s mannerism.

“I can’t go back to the backwoods, my grandma will not accept me and my baby even after giving birth, so I decided to go to Wolfram’s house and wait for the day that he arrives, probably, from then, we will sort things up,” she decided, holding a stick and started scribbling.

She pouted, hinting at the face of jealousy towards the girl. Red didn’t like her, she’s so clean and tidy, modest and exuding with charm despite her lack of fashion taste. The latter also had a penchant for something that she abhors, so she didn’t like the latter, Red decided to despise this girl. Aside from her looks, she is nothing, Red mused, still distasting on the ignorant girl and her good manners.

Her face was the only thing Red liked, but she also hated to think that there was someone as equally radiant and gorgeous as her. She didn’t like the thought of having a rival. She’s the original beauty this girl is a fake, a hoax. A sham.

Scheming secretly, she smiled, like a faked smile, and showed her feigned concern on her companion. “Good luck, I wish you a safe trip and an auspicious and easy delivery,” staring at her abdomen.

“May God bless you too, Red, I hope you find true happiness too,” then she smiled.

Also, Red hated the fact that this girl was with a child while she, nothing. She wished she was also with the child of someone, then recalled François, shaking her head while blushing.

Missing the man’s amorous touch and love was not the proper thing to think at the moment, for she guessed that the man who fathered this girl who looked like her, was far more catchy than her man.

Determined to trick this girl and steal her man, a sinister plan hatched on her big brain. Smiling to herself while clearing her throat. “Do you want me to accompany you? I can show you another way, far shorter than you know, we can travel together, do you like that?”

No, she didn’t want it, but for the show, she would act and play the game for her ploy. To make this girl fall into her gambit.

The girl smiled, a bright smile that lit up her face but shook her head. “No, Red, you have a dilemma on your own, you don’t need to care for me, I can manage, but I appreciate it, just the fact that you commiserate with me is already a blessing, thank you,”

Red’s anger deepened, turning into loathing, she hated this girl so much, even her way of speaking, her nuances, gestures everything about her!

She despises this girl and is envious that it was gnawing the inside of her to think, that this girl will have a bright and prosperous future while she, still looking for a proper place and a decent man.

This girl had it all good, like it was planned and waiting to fall into place by not doing much, while, she had to go through a lot, sleep with strangers she didn’t even love just to get by and still wondering why she couldn’t stick to one partner, she was going nowhere, with no place to go and no one to help her out.

She demanded a proper explanation and enough reason why this girl was lucky while she, was full of mishaps and heartaches. Her happy life once she enjoyed, turned into a disaster and turned miserable.

“I don’t have a place to go, so, I’m just wondering if I could come with you,” her thoughts scream aloud, letting them slip through her mouth.

“Why not reunite with François? He is eager to find you, I met him last night, and he even mistook me for you, like, I was as equally bewildered as he, but, seeing you and meeting you personally, I finally get to see why he acted up like that,”

Red darted her a look. A vicious one. “What do you mean? Did you meet my man? My François?!” her temper was brewing. Curling her hand into a tight ball of a fist.

She nodded. “Aye, he actually tried his way on me but I stopped him and pushed him away, I got scared, and I thought he would ravish me, he apologized eventually then told me about you,”

That confession didn’t lighten her mood, infuriated her more instead. This girl had the nerve to steal her man, and she had probably succeeded.

Red was fuming but held it. She didn’t want the girl to think suspicious of her. She had to wait for the right moment to strike. And when that time comes, she swears, she would love to see her crying and begging for mercy.

She was decided. She would make this girl pay, for being too good to be true and the attempt to steal her man. She had to be careful, her plan was not polished but she surmised, this would get a little ugly and painful.