FOR THOSE WHO FIND PIECES OF THEMSELVES IN STORIES-MAY KINDNESS GRANT YOU THE REDEMPTION THE WORLD FORGOT YOU DESERVED.

-  SITI ZAHWA SUBIAKTO (2310117120011)

Once upon a time, not too far from a cozy little village, lived a girl named Red Riding Hood. Or just Red, as everyone called her. She wasn’t the little child you’ve heard about—she was eighteen, headstrong, sweet, and had the kind of beauty that poets would get dramatic over. Her mother had sent her to visit her grandmother, who lived in a cottage deep in the woods. Red carried a basket full of something that she didn’t bother to peek inside. Her mom had just told her to give it to her grandmother because she was the only one who knew what to do with it.

Along the way, she met the Wolf. Tall, sharp-eyed, and injured. He limped slightly, blood matting the fur of his hind leg. “Good day,” he said smoothly. Too smoothly.

“Hello,” Red answered, keeping a polite distance. She may be sweet, but she wasn’t dumb. “Nice day for a walk.”

Red’s gaze dropped to his leg. Without thinking, she crouched down. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing.” “Nonsense,” she muttered, already digging in her basket for a cloth. She cleaned the wound gently, wrapping it with a torn ribbon from her own cloak.

The wolf stared. No one had ever touched him without fear. Let alone helped him.

At the grandmother’s cottage, Red knocked and pushed open the door. “Grandmother! It’s me!” The old woman hobbled out of her house, when she saw the massive wolf beside her granddaughter. “Oh sweet stars, what is that?!”

The wolf had opened his mouth, revealing his sharp, gleaming teeth—old habits die hard. The grandmother instinctively clutched her walking stick, eyes narrowing in that don’t-you-dare way only old women can pull off. Red shot the wolf a sharp look that screamed, "Try it and you’re toast." The wolf promptly shut his mouth with a sheepish huff.