The Old Cottage

The Old Cottage:

She gasped. She was miles away from the pathway to her house and the long grass that waves at her. “Who's there?” wondered Red Riding Hood. Why would someone want to sneak up on a 13 year old?  She continued walking, but at a faster pace. Red Riding Hood stopped. It was nearly midnight and she was in the middle of nowhere.

“Is there anyone there?” She screamed hoping that someone would reply. Where am I? What is this place? How do I get home? Red riding was desperate to find the answers to her own questions. She froze. She was surrounded by black, hairy, funny shaped moving objects. She closed her eyes and pinched herself. “Is this a dream?” she wondered.

She wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere if she had just followed the instructions and had gone straight home but she had no choice. She could hear footsteps. She was surrounded by long, dead grass. How on earth did I get here?, or more importantly, how do I get home?, she questioned herself. You could see goose bumps on her legs and arms. It was as cold as an iceberg and the sky was as grey as smoke. She started running. She could hear footsteps splashing through the mud and heavy breathing behind her. “Who would breathe like that?” cried Red riding hood. Heavy breathing? Loud footsteps? Sweat started to drip from her forehead. She could hear the footsteps getting closer as she tried to get some distance between her and the thing that was following her. She stopped again. The funny shaped objects hopped into her socks. Red Riding hood turned around. She stared. She started running. The funny shaped creature was moving around her feet which made her slow down.  It took her a while to figure out that she was being chased by a hungry bear. All of a sudden, out of nowhere a bright yellow light flickers on her face, and just like any other person who’s in the middle of nowhere she was curious to find out what it was. She maintained her lead.

“Anyone here?” She called out. Little Red had gotten rid of the bear. She walked in. Judging by the inside of the cottage, she could tell it was owned by someone who loved brightly coloured things.”That explains the bright yellow light in my face,” she muttered. “WOW! This person must spent a fortune on this place to get it this good looking,” remarked little red. Looking at the bright colors just made her think of her mother. Is she looking for me? Does she even care? She had that weird feeling when you feel like you're being watched. “What’s that?” she wondered. She followed. It lead her to a small room. “Aaaaa,” she whispered. As she cleared her eyes she saw the lady who owned the house. Creak! It was too late. As she tried to get away, the lady caught her hand and spoke to her. “Are you lost little angel?” she cleared her throat. “Umm Ye...sss,” she whispered. “ Well lucky for you, I have lived here for many years so I know this place better than anyone,” the old lady expressed. “ But you're surrounded by nothing, there is not even one house in sight apart from this one,” she stated. “Well that is because this was a cottage for people who need help if they are stuck but nobody has visited for years so I kind of live here now and for the past 3 years you are the only person who has visited,” the old lady exclaimed.  “Can you please just help me get home, my mother is probably looking everywhere over for me,” cried Little Red. “Did I mention that I also haven't talked to anyone lately, I’m just so shy these days,” the old lady interrupted. “Can you please just tell me where to go, “ replied Little red. “Okay, walk straight until you see the gas station, turn left and then turn right again and you're basically there,” replied the old lady. “Wow that easy, huh,” she replied. “Thank you so much you have helped me a lot,” cried little red. “Yay!” She thought.

She was only 2 footsteps when she reached the pathway. Her hands were shaking and her heart was beating. She ran. Another bright yellow light shone in her face. It was different to the first one because she knew she had just passed the cottage. Her hands stopped shaking and her heart stopped beating. Her mother was waiting out on the stair case. Just looking at her house made her wonder how she even got lost in the forest. “Mu...mmmmm, I'm home!” she cried. Little red's mother was so worried she didn’t even question her because she didn’t want her to run off again. “Sorry for running off like that.” said Little Red Riding Hood. They both skipped inside and tried to forget that it ever happened. She sighed. Ben ( Little red's father ) just arrived home with no idea what happened.

This term we have been learning to write narratives. We used the picture prompt below to help us imagine how this situation came about. We tried to hook our audience in by thinking about the pace of events and the pictures we painted with words.