Natasha Riding Hood

By Amrutha Sivaram

In Amrutha’s two-part retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, her character Natasha takes centrestage, and so does the narrator!

Part I

Once upon a time, a little girl named Natasha Riding Hood was walking through the forest.

While she was walking, a wolf (a hungry one, too) decided to pounce on Natasha and… failed miserably, but only because he calculated the timing of his jump wrong.

“Huh? Oh, hi there!” said Natasha, surprised. “Are you lost?”

“No, no! I want to know what a little girl like you is doing all alone in the forest with a basket. Say, what is it for?” the wolf asked.

“Oh that. I am going to my grandmother’s cottage which is a few metres away! As for thebasket, it has some bread and jam. You see, my grandmother is sick,” she replied.

“Oh! So sad! Well, see you later, hehehe,” the wolf chuckled .

Oh gods… I have a bad feeling about that chuckle. But I am just a narrator.

“Ah, finally at Grandma’s cottage; I hope she is okay.” But when she entered the bedroom and saw grandma, she looked… umm, what can I say? weird… and terrifying.

Natasha: Grandma! What big eyes you have!

Grandma (well, the wolf): The better to see you with, my dear.

Natasha: What big ears you have!

Grandma: The better to hear you with, my dear.

Natasha: What big… TEETH you have!

Grandma: Hmmmm… What can I say? THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH!

“AHHHHHH,” Natasha screamed.

Oh! I knew this was going to happen! How did that girl not notice that it was the wolf!

Mfffffff! Mff! The real grandma, tied up in the closet, tried to scream. “Ugh, just let me eat you!” said the wolf in frustration. The huntsman who had seen the wolf trying to eat the grandmother and Natasha through the window, rushed in and saved the day by getting rid of the wolf.

“Thank you, Sir! I can give you my sandwich, if you like, as a thank you.” Natasha said.

“No, thank you, little girl,” he said.

“Or maybe some Fruity Loops?”

“No thanks, I am not hungry,” he said again.

Then Natasha untied Grandma and they lived happily ever after!

Part II

Hi, it’s me again, the narrator. This time Natasha is visiting the huntsman’s house for lunch. I don’t think you know but Natasha LOVES Fruity Loops! Oh, and her last name isn’t ‘Riding Hood’. That was made up. She doesn’t have a last name because she has no parents.

Anyway, once again she was walking through the forest to get to the huntsman’s house when she heard a noise. “What was that?!” she said to herself.

Earlier that day she had read a story about a girl who was captured by demons. The story scared her because it seemed as if demons could be real. Perhaps, they are, at least in this story!

“Ah, finally here,” she sighed in relief as she entered the house. “Hello Natasha, nice to see you!” the huntsman said.

“Nice to see you too, Sir!” she replied.

Sorry, am too lazy to explain their conversation because it was boring, so I am going straight to the exciting part.

As they were eating, they heard someone moan. “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“W-wh-what was that?” Natasha said in fear.

“Stay back Natasha,” said the huntsman and went outside.

But soon, Natasha heard a loud scream. She gulped and slowly crept to the door.

I wish I could help… BUT I AM JUST A VOICE! AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHH! *breathes* And, we’re back.

“A d-d-demon!” Natasha stuttered.

“Ah! This human will be the perfect servant!” the demon said, holding the huntsman in its hands.

Natasha suddenly remembered the net that the huntsman always left by the tree to trap animals. So she decided to trick the demon.

“Hey, back off!” Natasha said loudly, stepping outside. “Come and get me if you can,” she said and ran towards the tree.

“Huh, this girl has guts,” the demon thought.

“Come and get me, lazy demon!”

The demon dropped the huntsman and went thundering towards Natasha. She waited till the demon was at the right spot, and then she pulled the rope, caught the demon, grabbed the huntsman’s axe and with one swipe killed the demon.

“Uff, I thought that would never work! Haha!” she laughed. You see, she had taught herself how to fight after the last incident.

“Thank you,” said the huntsman. “I owe you my freedom.”

“No problem,” Natasha said. “I am awesome!”

Amrutha Sivaram, 11 years old, Chennai: I read to learn new things. And it’s very fun and entertaining; it’s also a good use of time! My favourite book is “How to train your Dragon” by Cressida Cowell. It’s a fun book to read because it’s filled with adventure, jokes, excitement and DRAGONS!!