Mrs. Red Riding Hood, THIS TIME, IT'S PERSONAL! Part 1.

Beauty meets Beast

Chapter 1. Fiancee.

Little Red Riding Hood sat in her room, mulling over her closing prospects. From tomorrow morning, she would become Mrs. Hunter, a respectable lady of good standing in the community.

Her thoughts trailed back to the previous summer...

Chapter 2. A basket of strawberries.

... Mary Redhood walked along the paths that crisscrossed the Forest, in search of strawberries. It was early in the season, and the first ripe ones were sure to fetch a good price at the market.
A rustle of branches preceded the appearance of a hairy Beast. Mary drew breath to scream, when the Beast said:
-"Top of the morning to you, fair maiden. What, pray tell, brings you to this cosy corner of my home?"
-"I'm in search of strawberries, but I cannot find any", said Mary. She was still unnerved by the appearance of this creature.
-"Kindly wait here just a minute, and I'll bring you of the bounty of the Forest", said the Beast.
To her astonishment, the Beast reappeared carrying a strawberry big as an apple, red as blood, tender as a lover's first kiss. She still had some misgivings about this unknown creature. She said:
-"It's not proper for a decent lady to accept a present from a stranger, I'm afraid."
-"Well, that poses a riddle with an easy solution, I'm Mr. Ferocious Wolf. Since my school days, all friends call me by my surname, and now I count you among that number."
-"Well, my name is Mary Redhood", said she with a confident smile.

Chapter 3. The market.

Mary returned with a full basket of ripe strawberries, to the astonishment of her parents. She sold them in the market the following day for a princely sum, and quite early in the day, too. That left her free to seek more.
Once she was back in the Forest, she headed for the patch that Wolf had shown her the previous day. She filled her basket, and was in time to sell it in the market before it closed. She was still able to return a third time.
And found Wolf, enjoying the fruit. His massive jaws dripping with the red juice made him look slightly menacing to an stranger, but she had become accustomed to see that he was of a kind disposition.