The Red with The Cloak

A long time ago, there was a village. It has suffered as a result from wolves for a long time. Some bold young men were trying to kill the wolf during the night. Some had died, and some were hurt. And then they knew they could not beat wolves, so they began to not fight back. Those villagers locked their own doors and windows to defend themselves. Every twenty years or so, the wolf would disappear for a while. Villagers guessed that there might be a crowd of wolves. Every twenty years, a new wolf would appear.

There was a small but nice family. There was a girl who was named Red, which was what her grandmother called her. And she lived with her grandmother. Her parents passed away when she was a little kid because of an accident. She tried to ask her grandmother what happened, but her grandma just said there was an accident. Since there were some wolves that might hurt Red, her grandmother traded a red cloak from a witch for something precious. On her eighteenth birthday, her grandmother gave this cloak to Red as a gift.

“Put your hood on! Red!”

“All right. All right. Don’t always yell to me. I’m not a child any more. Right? Grand?” Red put her red cloak on. Red was fearless, maybe because she’s young. Young people are always fearless. She liked adventures, and she always wanted to try something she never did before, which pissed her grandma off every time.

“It’s good for you,” said her grandmother. “It can protect you from wolves. Wolves are scared of the color red. This place is not safe.”

“I know. I know. I’ll be careful!” then Red opened the door.

“You’re going out?” asked Grand. “Come back before sunset. Remember? ”

“I will!” said Red.

It was snowing. Red felt a little cold. She wrapped her cloak more closely around herself. “I can’t understand how wolves live in such a cold weather.” She said to herself.

“Maybe they’re like you.” She heard a voice from a young man.

“Who are you? ”

“That’s…not nice. Should you at least use ‘please’? ”

“My name is Red. ”

“All right, my name’s Peter. ”

“What did you mean? ”

“Par…Pardon? ”

“You said they’re like me. ”

“I see. Cause you are here with this bitter weather. Right? ”

“Aren’t you? ”

“All right, you just like being defended. Right? ”

Red didn’t answer. She turned back, and began to walk back.

“Hey! Where are you going? ”

“I have to go back before the sunset.”

“Such a good girl! Not like your style. In addition, I just moved here. Nice to meet you.”

“There will be wolves in the night, just take care. Good night.”

“Wait! ……All right, good night.”

Red was back before sunset. She got into the door, and began to take her cloak off.

“What are you doing?” Grand stopped her.

“I’m taking my clothes off. What’s wrong with that? ”

“It’s night, put your hood on.”

“But we’re in the house!” Red was a little bit displeased.

“Wolves can break into our house. Don’t be careless. Winter is their favorite season.”

“But they never did it before.” Red whispered to herself.

“Just go to sleep.” Grand was holding a gun, and sat right behind the door.

When Red went back to her own room, she was going to put her red hood on. Suddenly, she heard some noises from her window, and then she put her cloak on the bed. “Knock, Knock.”

“Who’s there? ”

“Peter, remember? ”

Red opened the window softly, and said to Peter. “What are you doing here? The sun is going down.”

“Just followed you here. I am going home. So…see you next time! ”

“Okay, see you.” Watching Peter leave, Red closed the window softly. She didn’t want her grandmother to know she opened it.

One night passed. There was a person who died last night in the village.

“Who’s he?” Red asked to her grandma.

“It seems like a visitor or someone new here, cause everybody knows it’s extremely dangerous to be outside of the house. So it has been a long time since anyone got hurt.”

“I wonder if you know his name?” Red was a little bit worried.

“Maybe Matt? I don’t remember, you know, I’m old now. So you have to learn how to protect yourself. So wear that red cloak all the time.”

“I will. I will. Just don’t say you’re old again. You’re not old! You can still hold a gun. See! Those really old people cannot even walk! ”

“You’re always sweet.”

“No, I’m telling the truth.”

“All right.”

“I’m going out.”

“Okay, just be careful, even it’s day time now.”

“I know.”

Red was walking on the snow. She had been tracking, or more accurately, following the wolf’s footprints for a while. However, she didn’t get any valuable information from that. It was snowing everyday. It was too hard to find some footprints.

After wandering for a little while, Red met Peter in the woods.

“You are not dead? ”

“You think I should? That hurts! ”

“Sorry, I just thought that’s you.”

“Oh…the guy who died last night? I know how to protect myself, and actually I’m a hunter.”

“For what? ”

“…I don’t understand your question.”

“I mean you become a hunter for what? ”

“Just interests. And what are you doing here? I saw that you have been here for a whole morning. Just rounding.”

“I’m tracking the wolf’s footprint, or specifically, following, cause I don’t know how to track a wolf. ”

“Actually, I do. Let me help you.”

Red led Peter to a withered root of a tree. “Here, I followed its footprints, and then it just disappears here.”

“Let me see.” Peter crouched down and checked the snow around the root. And then he turned back to the opposite direction to check the snow there.

“Wolves are smart, you know? ”

“I don’t understand.”

“It pretended this is its footprint, which is not. See that way, it used its tail to swipe the snow to hide its footprints. Normally, snow will form a smooth shape. But this wolf used snow, which makes the surface not smooth.”

“Then let’s go.”

With Peter’s help, their tracking became easier. They discovered that the footprints became smaller and smaller. And later, the wolf’s footprints disappeared, but there were some human’s footprints.

“Some human kept this wolf? ”

“I don’t think so. For finding this wolf, villagers have already searched everyone’s house.”

They kept following the footprints. And then Peter brought another assumption up. “What if the wolf is actually a man? ”

“What do you mean? ”

“What if it only turns to a wolf during nights, and then turns back to a human during days, is that more possible? ”

“Right! Right! That’s why we cannot find its cave! ”

“So let’s just keep tracking it. We must be able to find who it is.”

Finally, they tracked it down to a house.

“That’s my house!” Red was surprised.

“Okay…the human’s footprints disappear here.”

“That’s my room! ”

“So…do you remember who stopped by your window? ”

“No one stopped by my window before, except…”

“Who? ”

“You.” Red was confused.

“Oh…I remember, but…I don’t know. I never thought I was…”

“Yeah…me, too. ”

“What can I do? ”

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. But before you came here, nobody got hurt, cause we all know how to protect ourselves.”

“It’s my fault.”

“No, don’t say that. You didn’t realize you would become a wolf during the night, so that’s not your fault.”

“What can we do? ”

“Maybe tonight! Tonight, I will tie you to the tree. Then you won’t hurt people.”

“That sounds ok. Thank you very much.”

“No problem. So…before sunset, meet under that tree.”

“Deal.”

Red returned to her house. And she went to her room. She put her pillows and cloaks in her quilt to pretend she was sleeping. Then she wrote a note and put it under the pillow.

“Grand, I know you will be angry. But I have to go out during the night. That wolf is a werewolf. And it’s Peter. I will tie him to the big tree. Love you. Red.”

Leaving this note, Red went out.

Before the sun went down, Grand came home.

“Red? Are you home? ”

Not hearing Red’s answer, Grand broke into Red’s room.

“You already sleep? Okay…I won’t bother you any more.” Grand was going to walk out of Red’s room. Suddenly, she saw there was a red thing under the quilt. She turned back and lifted the quilt immediately.

“Oh god!” She realized Red was not here. She looked terrified. And then she saw the note that Red left for her.

“No! No!” Her pupil turned light gold. She rushed out with her gun and Red's cloak in one second.

Grand arrived at that big tree, eventually.

And there was a wolf with light gold pupil and a shattered body.

That wolf heard the sound that Grand made. It turned back, and walking slowly over here.

Grand was crying silently. She raised her gun.

Then, shot it.

The wolf was down.

And then Grand covered the wolf with that cloak immediately.

After a while, Red woke up under the cloak.

“Why I’m here, Grand?”

“Because you know your destiny now, honey.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re that wolf.” Grand sighed.

“Oh my! Peter!”

“He’s dead. And I shot you with an anesthetic rifle.” Grand replied. “Don’t blame yourself. Truth always comes with hurts.” After a moment, Grand continued, “Your parents were wolves as well, but they’re gone. I sent that cloak to you cause it can protect you from turning to a wolf, also can protect villagers here. I’m old, so that I cannot turn to a wolf any more. But you’re so young, and you have to let your power out. I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to be burdened. Powers also bring you responsibilities. You have to go. Wolves are never alone. Just go to find your partners. I can’t keep you all the time.”

“I will miss you.” Red looked sad.

“Me, too, honey.”

In the winter, Red was gone, with the red cloak.

The Red with The Cloak

A long time ago, there was a village. It has suffered as a result from wolves for a long time. Some bold young men were trying to kill the wolf during the night. Some had died, and some were hurt. And then they knew they could not beat wolves, so they began to not fight back. Those villagers locked their own doors and windows to defend themselves. Every twenty years or so, the wolf would disappear for a while. Villagers guessed that there might be a crowd of wolves. Every twenty years, a new wolf would appear.

There was a small but nice family. There was a girl who was named Red, which was what her grandmother called her. And she lived with her grandmother. Her parents passed away when she was a little kid because of an accident. She tried to ask her grandmother what happened, but her grandma just said there was an accident. Since there were some wolves that might hurt Red, her grandmother traded a red cloak from a witch for something precious. On her eighteenth birthday, her grandmother gave this cloak to Red as a gift.

“Put your hood on! Red!”

“All right. All right. Don’t always yell to me. I’m not a child any more. Right? Grand?” Red put her red cloak on. Red was fearless, maybe because she’s young. Young people are always fearless. She liked adventures, and she always wanted to try something she never did before, which pissed her grandma off every time.

“It’s good for you,” said her grandmother. “It can protect you from wolves. Wolves are scared of the color red. This place is not safe.”

“I know. I know. I’ll be careful!” then Red opened the door.

“You’re going out?” asked Grand. “Come back before sunset. Remember? ”

“I will!” said Red.

It was snowing. Red felt a little cold. She wrapped her cloak more closely around herself. “I can’t understand how wolves live in such a cold weather.” She said to herself.

“Maybe they’re like you.” She heard a voice from a young man.

“Who are you? ”

“That’s…not nice. Should you at least use ‘please’? ”

“My name is Red. ”

“All right, my name’s Peter. ”

“What did you mean? ”

“Par…Pardon? ”

“You said they’re like me. ”

“I see. Cause you are here with this bitter weather. Right? ”

“Aren’t you? ”

“All right, you just like being defended. Right? ”

Red didn’t answer. She turned back, and began to walk back.

“Hey! Where are you going? ”

“I have to go back before the sunset.”

“Such a good girl! Not like your style. In addition, I just moved here. Nice to meet you.”

“There will be wolves in the night, just take care. Good night.”

“Wait! ……All right, good night.”

Red was back before sunset. She got into the door, and began to take her cloak off.

“What are you doing?” Grand stopped her.

“I’m taking my clothes off. What’s wrong with that? ”

“It’s night, put your hood on.”

“But we’re in the house!” Red was a little bit displeased.

“Wolves can break into our house. Don’t be careless. Winter is their favorite season.”

“But they never did it before.” Red whispered to herself.

“Just go to sleep.” Grand was holding a gun, and sat right behind the door.

When Red went back to her own room, she was going to put her red hood on. Suddenly, she heard some noises from her window, and then she put her cloak on the bed. “Knock, Knock.”

“Who’s there? ”

“Peter, remember? ”

Red opened the window softly, and said to Peter. “What are you doing here? The sun is going down.”

“Just followed you here. I am going home. So…see you next time! ”

“Okay, see you.” Watching Peter leave, Red closed the window softly. She didn’t want her grandmother to know she opened it.

One night passed. There was a person who died last night in the village.

“Who’s he?” Red asked to her grandma.

“It seems like a visitor or someone new here, cause everybody knows it’s extremely dangerous to be outside of the house. So it has been a long time since anyone got hurt.”

“I wonder if you know his name?” Red was a little bit worried.

“Maybe Matt? I don’t remember, you know, I’m old now. So you have to learn how to protect yourself. So wear that red cloak all the time.”

“I will. I will. Just don’t say you’re old again. You’re not old! You can still hold a gun. See! Those really old people cannot even walk! ”

“You’re always sweet.”

“No, I’m telling the truth.”

“All right.”

“I’m going out.”

“Okay, just be careful, even it’s day time now.”

“I know.”

Red was walking on the snow. She had been tracking, or more accurately, following the wolf’s footprints for a while. However, she didn’t get any valuable information from that. It was snowing everyday. It was too hard to find some footprints.

After wandering for a little while, Red met Peter in the woods.

“You are not dead? ”

“You think I should? That hurts! ”

“Sorry, I just thought that’s you.”

“Oh…the guy who died last night? I know how to protect myself, and actually I’m a hunter.”

“For what? ”

“…I don’t understand your question.”

“I mean you become a hunter for what? ”

“Just interests. And what are you doing here? I saw that you have been here for a whole morning. Just rounding.”

“I’m tracking the wolf’s footprint, or specifically, following, cause I don’t know how to track a wolf. ”

“Actually, I do. Let me help you.”

Red led Peter to a withered root of a tree. “Here, I followed its footprints, and then it just disappears here.”

“Let me see.” Peter crouched down and checked the snow around the root. And then he turned back to the opposite direction to check the snow there.

“Wolves are smart, you know? ”

“I don’t understand.”

“It pretended this is its footprint, which is not. See that way, it used its tail to swipe the snow to hide its footprints. Normally, snow will form a smooth shape. But this wolf used snow, which makes the surface not smooth.”

“Then let’s go.”

With Peter’s help, their tracking became easier. They discovered that the footprints became smaller and smaller. And later, the wolf’s footprints disappeared, but there were some human’s footprints.

“Some human kept this wolf? ”

“I don’t think so. For finding this wolf, villagers have already searched everyone’s house.”

They kept following the footprints. And then Peter brought another assumption up. “What if the wolf is actually a man? ”

“What do you mean? ”

“What if it only turns to a wolf during nights, and then turns back to a human during days, is that more possible? ”

“Right! Right! That’s why we cannot find its cave! ”

“So let’s just keep tracking it. We must be able to find who it is.”

Finally, they tracked it down to a house.

“That’s my house!” Red was surprised.

“Okay…the human’s footprints disappear here.”

“That’s my room! ”

“So…do you remember who stopped by your window? ”

“No one stopped by my window before, except…”

“Who? ”

“You.” Red was confused.

“Oh…I remember, but…I don’t know. I never thought I was…”

“Yeah…me, too. ”

“What can I do? ”

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. But before you came here, nobody got hurt, cause we all know how to protect ourselves.”

“It’s my fault.”

“No, don’t say that. You didn’t realize you would become a wolf during the night, so that’s not your fault.”

“What can we do? ”

“Maybe tonight! Tonight, I will tie you to the tree. Then you won’t hurt people.”

“That sounds ok. Thank you very much.”

“No problem. So…before sunset, meet under that tree.”

“Deal.”

Red returned to her house. And she went to her room. She put her pillows and cloaks in her quilt to pretend she was sleeping. Then she wrote a note and put it under the pillow.

“Grand, I know you will be angry. But I have to go out during the night. That wolf is a werewolf. And it’s Peter. I will tie him to the big tree. Love you. Red.”

Leaving this note, Red went out.

Before the sun went down, Grand came home.

“Red? Are you home? ”

Not hearing Red’s answer, Grand broke into Red’s room.

“You already sleep? Okay…I won’t bother you any more.” Grand was going to walk out of Red’s room. Suddenly, she saw there was a red thing under the quilt. She turned back and lifted the quilt immediately.

“Oh god!” She realized Red was not here. She looked terrified. And then she saw the note that Red left for her.

“No! No!” Her pupil turned light gold. She rushed out with her gun and Red's cloak in one second.

Grand arrived at that big tree, eventually.

And there was a wolf with light gold pupil and a shattered body.

That wolf heard the sound that Grand made. It turned back, and walking slowly over here.

Grand was crying silently. She raised her gun.

Then, shot it.

The wolf was down.

And then Grand covered the wolf with that cloak immediately.

After a while, Red woke up under the cloak.

“Why I’m here, Grand?”

“Because you know your destiny now, honey.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re that wolf.” Grand sighed.

“Oh my! Peter!”

“He’s dead. And I shot you with an anesthetic rifle.” Grand replied. “Don’t blame yourself. Truth always comes with hurts.” After a moment, Grand continued, “Your parents were wolves as well, but they’re gone. I sent that cloak to you cause it can protect you from turning to a wolf, also can protect villagers here. I’m old, so that I cannot turn to a wolf any more. But you’re so young, and you have to let your power out. I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to be burdened. Powers also bring you responsibilities. You have to go. Wolves are never alone. Just go to find your partners. I can’t keep you all the time.”

“I will miss you.” Red looked sad.

“Me, too, honey.”

In the winter, Red was gone, with the red cloak.