Little Red Hiding Cloak
Bryanna lived with her Grandma Anna in a little house at the edge of the Enchanted Forest. Anna was a witch, but her granddaughter didn't know that. Don't worry, she was a good witch.
The Enchanted Forest could be a dangerous place because some of the creatures who lived there were not friendly. So Anna had built a magic fence around the yard of her cottage. Bryanna was allowed to play in the yard, but forbidden to leave it.
One morning when the little girl woke up, she realized something was missing. While she was trying to figure out what it was, her tummy growled loudly. That was it! There were no breakfast smells in the air. Most mornings her nose would be tickled by the mouth-watering aroma of bacon and eggs frying and biscuits baking. Now that she thought about it, there were no sounds coming from the kitchen either. Grandma wasn't cooking. Bryanna got out of bed and went to her grandmother's room to see what was wrong.
Grandma Anna was sick. Her face was pale and sweaty and her eyes were red. When she spoke, her voice was weak. "Child, bring me my medicine. It's in the brown jug under the sink. I just don't have the strength to go fetch it", grandma whispered. Her granddaughter knew that she must be very ill because the twinkle was gone from her voice as well as from her eyes.
Bryanna hurried to the kitchen and pulled the large jar from the cupboard under the sink. It was very heavy, so she had to grip it with both hands. Holding the jug against her stomach, she couldn't see her feet and that was unfortunate because Thomas, her grandmother's black cat, strolled across in front of her. She tripped over the unseen pet and the jar of medicine flew out of her hands and broke in the stone fireplace.
The little girl did not want to give her grandma the bad news and she did not have to. Anna heard the cat squall and the sound of breaking glass. She knew what had just happened.
"It's not your fault, child. No sense crying over spilt medicine. Come here and I will tell you what you need to do." Anna explained to Bryanna that she could make more, but she would need some special magic berries. They only grew in the Enchanted Forest, so the little girl would have to go in after them.
Bryanna was both frightened and excited. She knew it would be dangerous, but she had always wondered what strange things she might see in the forest.
Anna explained to her granddaughter how to find the berries once she was in the woods. Then she told her to go look in the closet and put on the cloak that was hanging there. "It will protect you", her grandma said.
The cloak was much too big for Bryanna, but when she put it on it seemed to shrink and fit her perfectly. It was bright red and she wondered how it was going to protect her. It certainly would make it hard for her to hide. She walked over to the mirror to see how she looked. Surprisingly, no one was there. Oh, she could see her grandmother, with the blankets pulled up to her chin, but there was no sign of a little girl in a red cloak.
"It makes you invisible", Anna said. "Nothing in the woods will be able to see you."
Bryanna was amazed! When she looked down at herself, she could see the red cloak, but when she looked in the mirror, she saw nothing. "Can you see me, Grandma?" she asked.
"No child, no one can." Then Anna said, "You'll have to put the berries in your pockets because if you carried a basket, it would be visible." Wanting to make sure Bryanna didn’t get lost; her grandmother repeated the directions to the berry patch.
The little girl started to give her grandmother a kiss before she left, but the sharp-eared old lady heard her coming toward the bed.
"No child, don't touch me! We don't want you to get sick, too."
A few minutes later, Bryanna came out the front door of the small house. She walked down the path between the rows of sweet-smelling colorful flowers she and Anna had planted on either side and opened the gate by saying the phrase her grandma had just taught her, "Open nutmeg!" As she approached the forest she stopped, took a deep breath and stepped into it for the first time. Actually, she had never even been out of the yard in her short life. It was a bright hot summer day, but under the trees it was cool and almost dark. Once her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see better. Aside from an ancient moss-covered wall, there was nothing visible except massive tree trunks as far as she could see. To Bryanna it was like standing in the middle of a herd of elephants, with nothing in sight but their thick gray legs.
Her grandmother had told her to follow the old stone wall until it ended. Then she was supposed to go straight on from there and she would find the magic berries. She walked beside the mossy stones for quite a while and just as she came to the end of the wall she was startled by a noise from behind her. WOOOO-TO-WOOO! She nearly jumped out of her skin. As she looked back over her shoulder, to see what was getting ready to grab her, she saw a large bird land on the branch of a dead hollow tree. Whew! It was only an owl.
After Bryanna left the wall, it took her only a few minutes to reach the berry patch. Once she got close there was no way she could have missed it. The bushes were loaded and the berries were such a bright orange that they almost glowed. The patch stood out like a beacon in the midst of all that gray. Although she hadn't seen anything dangerous yet, she decided to collect the berries quickly and go home. She couldn’t help feeling as if something was looking for her and she did not want to be found. So she filled her pockets with the magic fruit as fast as she could. She had to make her way around the edge of the berry bushes to do this and when she got ready to leave, she realized she didn't know which way to go. Everything looked the same; there were elephant legs in every direction.
The little girl was beginning to feel frightened, but then she heard the call of the owl again, so she started off in the direction of the sound. After she had walked for a while, she began to think she should have reached the old stone wall. It had not seemed this far on her way in. Just then she came to a small brook and she knew she had gone the wrong way. She had not passed a stream on the way here.
The owl hooted again from a tree on the other side of the water. Uh oh, either it was a different bird or the first one had flown to this new place. It didn't matter, either way she was lost. What was she going to do?
Bryanna decided to go back to the berry patch and try again, but she had no sooner started that way than she heard something coming toward her. It sounded like someone sniffling with a bad cold. Even though she was invisible, she hid behind a tree.
A few minutes later a large black wolf came through the trees. He was sniffing at the ground and grumbling. "Drat this cold. I can't smell that good, but I know somebody came down this way." Then he sneezed loudly and said again, "Drat this cold!"
Then the wolf stopped and amazed Bryanna by standing up on two legs and looking around. "I know someone is here", he called out. "Come on out so we can talk."
The frightened little girl did not say anything. She didn't know it, but she was lucky. This was a very bad wolf and, if his nose had been working properly, he would have found and eaten her.
The wolf continued to look around as he spoke. "Whoever you are, you must be lost. Nobody walks in this forest alone. I can help you. Tell me where you need to go and I will show you the way. I know these woods like the back of my paw."
Bryanna thought about what he was saying. She didn't trust him, but maybe she could use him to find her way home. She had a plan. "I do need to get home", she said as she stepped from behind the tree.
The wolf looked toward the sound of her voice and slowly started that way. "Ah, a little girl lost in the woods. How sad, but I can help you." He had decided she must be behind the tree and he moved ever closer.
Quietly, Bryanna slipped to another spot, about thirty feet behind him. Fortunately the ground was covered with thick green moss and not the dry leaves that cover the ground in most woods. The wolf couldn't hear her movement. "I live in the little house at the edge of the forest", she said. "Walk that way and I will follow you."
Surprised by the new location of her voice, the wolf spun around. He still didn't see anyone. "I could do that", he said as he stepped toward the spot that her voice was coming from now. He sneezed again and sniffled, "Why are you hiding?"
Now, Bryanna had been taught that lying was wrong, but she felt that the wolf wanting to eat her was even worse, so she told a fib. "My grandmother gave me a potion that makes me invisible when I am away from home. She doesn't want anything to hurt me. When I get close enough to see my house then the effects of the spell will wear off."
He was not a dumb animal, but the wolf believed her. He knew her grandmother was a witch because he had tried to get to the house before and he couldn't pass the magic fence. It made sense that she would try to protect her granddaughter. He figured that when they got close to the house, he would be able to see her and then he would pounce.
So they started off through the forest. Bryanna stayed well behind. She didn't want to get too close to the wolf. In about half an hour they came to the edge of the trees and she could see the house just ahead.
Turning around and looking for her, the wolf called out, "Here we are little girl. Where are you? I would like to see my new friend."
But Bryanna wasn't there. She had slipped around him, stepped out of the forest and didn't say anything until she walked through her front gate. "Thank you, Mr. Wolf, you brought me home. I hope I can repay you some day."
The wolf couldn't see her in the yard, so he knew she had tricked him. He tried one more thing. "Glad I could help, but come here and give me a big hug, now that we are friends."
The only reply was the sound of the front door closing as Bryanna went inside. The wolf was mad! "Drat my nose!" he said as he punched his stopped-up snout. That just made him sneeze again and he said, "Drat this cold." As he sadly walked back into the Enchanted Forest he wondered out loud, "I've never eaten an invisible little girl before. I wonder how she would have tasted."
Bryanna took the berries to her grandma, who was still too weak to get out of bed, but she told her granddaughter how to make the medicine. When it was done, Anna took three large spoons full and fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up a few hours later, Grandma Anna was all better. So she got out of bed and went in the kitchen to cook Bryanna her favorite meal, with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
