Little Red Riding Hoodie: A Modern Fairy Tale

by Phythyon, John

  “Finally, and I can’t emphasize this enough, Romeo and Juliet is an extracurricular activity. It’s just like being on the football team or the cheerleading squad. That means if your grades suffer, you’re out. You have to be able to manage this and your schoolwork. Anyone failing a class or who has missing assignments will be out of the show. Understand?”

  Everyone nodded. Sally grimaced. She’d had no idea there would be so many rules. Mr. Pipich didn’t sound at all like the interesting English teacher she loved from class. He sounded like Principal Carter.

  “Okay, enough of the mean-teacher stuff,” Mr. Pipich said with a smile. “Let’s start having fun. Today and tomorrow we’re going to read through the whole play to get a sense of it. You’ll each read your lines as they come. I’d like to get all the way through Act III today, but we’ll see what happens.

  “Let’s start with the Prologue. We’re going to have everyone act as the Chorus, so you’ll all have these lines. Go ahead and start in unison.”

  Sally’s heart soared. At last it was truly beginning. The day’s tragedies melted away.

  ***

  Sally was working on her math problems at her desk at home when her phone chimed. She picked it up, hoping it was her mom telling her she would be coming to see the play. But a response to Sally’s text from last week still hadn’t come. Instead it was Alison.

  So did you get to kiss him?

  Sally wasn’t certain whether to smile or cry. Alison was obsessed with the idea of her kissing Brian, and she had no way of knowing it was never going to happen.

  NO! It was just a read-through. We didn’t do any acting.

  She hoped that response would be sufficient to put the issue to bed, but she didn’t get the sense it would. Sure enough, her phone chimed again.

  Bummer.

  Sally sighed. It was a bummer, but not for the reason Alison thought. She returned her attention to math. She only had three more problems to do, and she wished, if Alison was going to keep pestering her with this, she would just leave her alone.

  It was not to be, though. Another text came in immediately.

  Mr. Frank is even worse as detention monitor than a teacher.

  A twinge of guilt seized Sally. She felt bad Alison was the one who got in trouble when it was she who was the original target.

  Ugh. What happened?

  She started another problem while she waited for the response. It didn’t take long.

  Give you the deets tomorrow at school. He’s really full of himself tho.

  Sally nodded when she read that. She could easily imagine it.

  I bet.

  Sally finished her problems and then made certain to get all her social studies read. She didn’t want a repeat of last week’s fiasco. She texted several more times with Alison and then told her she needed to get to bed.

  After a long day of being bullied and then having a blast at play rehearsal. She found she was exhausted. She had been in bed only a few minutes when she passed out.

  ***

  Sally heard the familiar clinking sound in the hallway. She scanned the smoke-swirl pattern in the grey tile floors and saw a gold coin rolling down the hall and then, as usual, turning a corner and continuing out of sight down the adjoining hallway.

  Then came the ominous whisper.

  “Shakir! Shakir! Shakir!”

  Sally turned around as the giant dogs came racing up the stairs, hungering for her blood. She ran, flying down the hallway as fast as she could, trying to outrun the canine doom.

  She turned the corner and charged into the forest. The cool air of the night burned her lungs, and she gasped desperately as she tried to outrun the feral beasts. Their claws found much better purchase on the grass and dirt than on the tile floors of the school, and they gained ground on Sally.

  Up ahead, she saw a house. She bolted for it, praying she could get there ahead of the dogs.

  As she got closer, she saw it was her grandma’s house. Yes, she would be safe there.

  She reached it just ahead of her pursuers. It was locked. Panicking, she shook it hard. It didn’t budge. She put her shoulder into it and forced it open just as the lead dog launched itself at her. She slammed the door shut in its snarling face.

  It crashed into the wood. The force of the blow knocked her backward.

  “Hello, Sally,” a voice said behind her.

  She turned around expecting to see her grandmother, but Mr. Pipich was there instead. They weren’t in Grandma’s house. They were in the auditorium at school. Mr. Pipich was dressed as William Shakespeare.

  “Come on, come on,” he said, waving her towards the stage. “You’re going to be late.”

  “Huh?” she said. Late for what?

  Mr. Pipich sighed at her.

  “Thou canst not tarry,” he said. “The hour is late!”

  She found herself moving slowly down the aisle. She glanced around in wonderment. The auditorium had transformed. Everywhere she looked were red, velvet curtains. They seemed to be closing in around her, covering every other thing.

  The seats vanished. Onstage, were seven or eight curtains instead of just the one main drape. Mr. Pipich continued to wave excitedly, summoning her.

  She found herself standing at center-stage just in front of another curtain. She wore a red cloak with the hood up. Confused, she glanced at Mr. Pipich.

  “Thy moment hast arrived,” he said. “Shakir is anxious to thine acquaintance make.”

  “What?” Sally said.

  Her heart pounded. This was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.

  Mr. Pipich pulled hard on the fly rope. The curtain parted in front of her. Not knowing why, she flung up her hands in fear.

  A large mirror hung before her, suspended in mid-air by no means Sally could detect. It seemed to just be floating in space.

  She turned to look at Mr. Pipich for an explanation, but he was gone. He’d vanished as though he’d never been there.

  The glass was dark when she returned her attention to it. She could see nothing.

  Then, slowly, like the image was materializing from thin air, her reflection appeared. She looked strange wearing the cape and hood, as though she were some latter-day Little Red Riding Hood. She smiled slightly at the thought.

  But then, the image in the glass changed. Before her eyes, Sally became the wolf-girl from her previous dreams.

  She recoiled in horror. She put up her arms to ward away the sight and turned her head.

  Behind her, the seats of the auditorium had returned. She was up onstage and looking out at the audience.

  And every single chair was occupied by one of the terrifying dogs that had chased her.

  She gasped at the sight of them. They sat perfectly still, perfectly at attention and glared at her with their red, malevolent eyes that glowed in the dim light of the theater. Then the chanting began anew.

  “Shakir! Shakir! Shakir!”

  It grew louder and stronger and more excited with each repetition. She took a step back. Two steps. The dogs leaned forward in anticipation. Some of them opened their mouths and panted their excitement.

  Alarmed, Sally turned around. The mirror was gone. Shakir stood before her, fully embodied.

  Sally screamed and fell to the floor. She tried to scoot away from the horrible, wolf-faced woman in the red, hooded cloak, but Shakir simply matched pace with her. No matter how Sally tried to escape, she never ran out of stage, and Shakir never slowed or increased her gait.

  At last Sally stopped, too frightened to try anymore. She put up a hand and cowered. Shakir drew even and leaned over Sally.

  “Keeeeyyyyy,” Shakir said in a deep, ghostly voice.

  “What?” Sally said.

  She expected to be eaten alive, but the demonic woman had spoken to her instead. What did she mean?

  Shakir reached up, and just like she had in Sally’s second dream, she grabbed her snout and pulled it up, as though she were removing a mask. A small key on a chain hung
in the darkness behind the strange creature’s face. Shakir reached into the empty space with her left hand, grasped the chain, and then held the key out to Sally like it was some sort of pendant.

  Sally didn’t understand. Shakir dangled the key over her. Was she supposed to take it?

  The sudden, loud chirp of her alarm catapulted Sally back to the land of the waking. She was in her room, not in the mysterious auditorium with Shakir. There was no key.

  Her heart pounded. She was covered in sweat. Her sheets were wet with it.

  Exhausted, she rolled out of bed. She did not feel like she’d slept at all.

  Seven

  Sally discovered Tommy had wet the bed again last night. She wanted to scream at him. She didn’t have time for this. She was sweaty and scared from her nightmare, and she just wanted to take a long, hot shower to wash away the grime and the fear.

  Instead, she only sighed and put his bedding and his PJ’s in the washer. She was determined not to go to school without bathing today, so she told him to make himself breakfast. Then she took care of herself.

  She was five minutes late getting out the door. Her grandmother’s sweatshirt had come clean, and she had the hood up against the chilly, morning air. She pedaled her bike furiously as she approached the hill on Parker Drive, trying to make up lost time as well as build momentum to get her up the slope.

  But she hadn’t climbed very far when she had to shift down as far as the bike would allow and stand up in the saddle to get it up the hill. It seemed even harder today than usual, and she thought she might die from sheer exhaustion before reaching the top.

  When she finally crested it, she saw something that made her stop. A few feet away, sitting calmly in the grass, was one of the dogs from her dreams. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw it, and despite her fear, she stopped at the top of the hill and stared. It couldn’t possibly be real, could it?

  But the dog sat with its thick, white fur bristling and its red eyes staring at her hungrily. She turned away for a moment, hoping there was something behind her that might have the beast’s attention, but there was nothing. When she turned back, it glared at her malevolently.

  Terrified, she pushed off from the curb and started down the hill. Normally, she coasted down the back side of Parker Drive, but today, she shifted up into her highest gear and pedaled as fast as she could. She didn’t dare to look back. All she cared about was getting away.

  As she zoomed into the school parking lot, she finally risked a glance over her shoulder. She didn’t see the dog.

  A horn blared, and she turned her attention back front and saw she had drifted into the path of an oncoming car. She slammed on her brakes and swerved to avoid a collision. Her rear tire skidded out, and the bike shot forward, spilling Sally to the pavement. The car stopped.

  Despite the pain in her knee and elbow from the crash, Sally jumped up immediately, collected her bike, and pulled it out of the path of the car, getting it up on the sidewalk.

  “Watch where you’re going!” the driver shouted at her as he moved off.

  Sally had no time to be angry or appalled at his lack of concern for her. She only cared about the beast from her dreams. She looked back towards Parker Drive. The dog was not in sight. She spent nearly a full minute scanning her surroundings, but there was no sign of Shakir’s minion.

  The pace of her heart finally slowed, and she shook as the adrenaline started to leave her. She examined herself and saw she had not put holes in her jeans or hoodie. The bike too seemed to be no worse for wear.

  She hurt, though. She limped slightly as she wheeled the bike over to the stand and locked it up. Then she headed inside, praying she wouldn’t have to deal with Molly and her toadies this morning.

  Alison waited at her locker, but the two of them barely had time to make it to homeroom. Tommy’s accident and Sally’s misfortune in the parking lot combined to push her arrival right up to first bell.

  “Are you okay?” Alison said as Sally hurriedly threw things in her locker.

  “Not really,” Sally answered.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Long story,” Sally said. “I’ll have to tell you about it at lunch.”

  They hustled off and got into their seats just as the bell rang. Their homeroom monitor, Coach Braddock, barely looked up from his newspaper to take notice of them. But despite being safe in homeroom, the terrifying thought of the dream dog appearing in the real world lingered.

  ***

  The morning flew by. Having done last night’s reading, Sally was able to follow Mr. Frank’s lecture more easily, but she still didn’t find it very interesting. The rest of her classes passed by in a blur. Even English didn’t stand out as they continued their discussion of “Kubla Khan.”

  When lunch finally arrived, she was bursting to tell Alison about what had become of her. She had just taken a seat – this time not on the end – when Alison came in, spied her, and zipped over.

  “Hey,” Alison said. “How was your morning?”

  “You would not believe it,” Sally said.

  “Oh? What happened?”

  “You know those giant dogs from my dreams?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When I got to the top of the hill on Parker Drive this morning, one of them was waiting for me,” Sally said.

  “What?” Alison whispered, sounding horrified.

  “It was just sitting there in someone’s yard,” Sally said. “But it was waiting for me. It looked right at me.”

  “You’re sure it was the same dog from your dream?”

  “Yes,” Sally said, half-whispering herself now. “If you’d seen them, you’d know, Alison.”

  “Holy crap,” Alison said.

  “Alison, I think something is happening to me,” Sally said. With an effort she managed not to cry. “I keep dreaming about those dogs, and last night, I had another nightmare with them in it. And this one was different.”

  “How?”

  Sally was about to answer when she was interrupted by the arrival of Brian Pomeroy and Brad Wesley.

  “What’s happenin’, ladies?” Brian said.

  Sally had opened her mouth to talk to Alison, and the sight of two boys coming to visit them kept her slack-jawed. Was Brian Pomeroy actually at their table?

  “Mind if we join you?” Brian said.

  “Uh, no,” Sally said.

  “Sure! Have a seat,” Alison said, throwing a conspiratorial glance at Sally.

  Brian sat down next to Sally; Brad slid into the seat next to Alison across from them. Sally wasn’t sure what to say or do. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

  “So what’s happenin’?” Brian said.

  “Nothing much,” Alison replied. “Lunch.”

  “A vital part of the school day,” Brian commented.

  “Yeah,” Brad added. “Without lunch, our brains would melt from too much boredom.”

  Alison gave him a look suggesting that wasn’t very funny. Sally continued to stare at the boys, uncertain what to make of their presence at their table.

  Brian said something else, but Sally didn’t hear it. She was distracted by the approach of Molly and The Set. Molly was dressed even more brazenly than usual today. She had on a green top with a low neckline that pushed the limits of the dress code and a short, tight, powder-blue skirt that did the same. Light-blue flats and a green ribbon in her hair completed the outfit. Sally wondered if her parents knew how she dressed at school.

  Molly strutted over to the table, carrying her lunch tray just under her chest to draw attention to her curves. She smiled serenely at Brian.

  “Hi, Brian,” Molly said, ignoring Sally.

  “Hey,” Brian said, a bored tone in his voice.

  “Do you want to join us?” Molly asked. “There’s a table right over there.” She nodded with her head.

  Sally blushed. She knew Molly was mean, knew she was willing to hurt anyone she felt like. But asking Brian to leave the table he was
at to sit with her was crueler than Sally had been expecting.

  Alison turned red too, but she wasn’t embarrassed. She was furious.

  “Nah, I’m good here,” Brian said. Alison continued to glare.

  “Are you sure?” Molly said suggestively. “There’s a lot more to see over there.”

  She bent forward so Brian could see down her shirt. Alison made a big show of rolling her eyes.

  Sally was disappointed to see that Brian stole a look down Molly’s top. She couldn’t really blame him, though. Molly had offered it to him, and he was a boy. A moment later, he returned his gaze to Molly’s face.

  “There’s plenty to see right here,” Brian said. He flicked his eyes at Sally. “Thanks, though. See you later.”

  Molly stood up, shocked. Her mouth was slightly agape. Brian had just turned down her magnificent chest. She looked as though no one had ever done that. She tried to say something. Nothing came out. After a moment, she recovered her composure.

  “Sorry,” Molly said. “I didn’t realize you were a faggot.”

  A collective gasp went around the table. Sally’s and Alison’s jaws both hit the floor. Had Molly really just used that kind of slur? As shocked as she was that Molly had the temerity to invite Brian away from Sally’s table to hers, Sally was stunned Molly had gone there.

  “You wish,” Brian said, his expression stony.

  Molly turned on her heel and stalked away. Brian watched her go, her raven hair bouncing and her butt swinging. The rest of The Set imitated her exactly.

  “Why don’t you just drop an N-bomb on me while you’re at it?” Brian called after her.

  Sally’s head whipped over in Brian’s direction. Lunch was getting more shocking by the moment.

  “God, I hate her,” Brian said. “Stuck-up bitch who thinks she’s all that and can say whatever she wants.”