Little Hood

A radio drama

By Bill Olson

Based on “Little Red Riding Hood”

Final Draft (Version 2): March, 30, 2005 (Rev. 4/17/05)

First Draft: March 3, 2005, Rev. March 5, 2005,

CAST OF VOICES

MAN

LITTLE GIRL

GRANDMA

SOUNDS OF THE WOLF

“Off Mic” means the lines are spoken away from the microphone.

“On Mic” means the lines are spoken directly into the microphone.

“Coming on mic” means moving from off to on mic while speaking.

1. MAN (Narration): It was in the afternoon on a comfortably warm day. I had worked long and hard and looked forward to spending time on some land I own in the forest. So as I tended the flowers in my garden, I heard a child singing from over the hill. I stood up and walked over there – just in time to see a girl picking some of my flowers. She was a young girl, about 9 or 10 years old, and she wore a red riding cape with a hood.

2. MAN (Shouting): Hey there! Leave my flowers alone.

3. RED (Coming on mic): I’m sorry sir. I didn’t know they were yours.

4. MAN: You certainly know they’re not yours.

5. RED: This is a public forest, so I thought everything was public.

6. MAN: The public forest surrounds this parcel. This is private land.

7. RED: But it looks like all the rest of the forest.

8. MAN: It’s not, though.

9. RED: I didn’t see a fence.

10. MAN: The law doesn’t require me to have a fence.

11. RED: I didn’t see a no-trespassing sign.

12. MAN: The law doesn’t require a sign, either.

13. RED: Then how am I supposed to know?

14. MAN: You ask.

15. RED: Whom do I ask? There’s no house here. There’s no mailbox. There’s no fire number. There’s nobody to ask.

16. MAN: You have to try. You can’t just come on my land without permission and steal my flowers.

17. RED: I meant no harm. I’m picking these flowers for my grandmother. She lives over the hill, down on Market Road. Mom found out she’s sick, so I’m bringing her this basket of food.

18. MAN: Then you’d better go. Your grandmother needs you. But stay out of my garden.

19. MAN (Narration): She turned and ran off, disappearing down the gravel road. My flowers have been disturbed for a couple years, now. People have no respect for private property. I stood at the edge of the hill and looked at the lake. The road continued by the far shore, and there was the insolent girl, walking merrily on her way. I felt anger welling up in me. The tingling of adrenaline spread through my arms. It was a feeling I had missed. I screamed as I remembered that little hood picking my flowers. I felt a sharp pain in my arms and legs. I looked down and saw the familiar gray fur pushing its way through my skin. I felt feverish.

20. My vision blurred and I dropped to my knees. I felt dizzy as the pain increased – like serrated knives cutting every inch of my body. I rolled around in the grass, trying to escape the pain. I heard screams and moans and finally growling. I lay there, winded. The pain faded, but the memory was strong. I stood up and walked over to the garden where I became conscious of the smell of the flowers – a sickly sweetness that seemed somehow bitter to me. But there was another smell, another sweetness that made my mouth water and reminded me of the emptiness in my stomach. I looked up toward the road and remembered the prey wearing the riding cape. I bolted, determined to find her grandmother’s house.

21. I followed the little hood as she walked along a narrow trail between the tall trees. I crept up, closer. Then I stopped, deciding instead to not waste this chance to incite elevated terror. So I ran ahead of her, through the woods, down the hill – perhaps a mile – until I reached the little cottage by the stream. I walked around the house, looking for a way in. When I saw an open window in the back, I jumped in, landing on a shiny hardwood floor.

22. GRANDMA: Is someone there?

23. MAN: I didn’t have much time, so I ran to the noise.

24. GRANDMA SCREAMS.

25. MAN (Narration): The old woman lay in bed. I jumped upon her and grabbed her throat in my mouth. I clamped down and shook my head. Her struggling stopped and she lay limp beneath me. I grabbed the covers in my teeth and pulled them away so I could begin my feast.

26. MUSIC INTERLUDE.

27. GRANDMA (Narration): When I was done, there was not much left but bones. I lay still, with a white bone between my paws. I felt a burning fever and the serrated knives. I heard a screaming sound as the cottage vanished in a fog of dizziness. When it ended, I lay in a pile of gray fur, wearing a man’s dirty overalls. I went to the mirror and looked. Starring back at me was the old woman, her features stern and hungry.

28. I brushed the rest of the fur from my arms and legs. Then I grabbed the bloody nightgown the woman had worn. I stripped off the bibs and put on the nightgown. I took the bones and dropped them in the garbage bin out back. Then I grabbed a broom and started sweeping the gray hairs into the kitchen. I was about to scoop them up when…

29. RED: (Off mic) Grandma!

30. GRANDMA’S VOICE: Yes dear.

31. RED: (Off mic) Mom sent me with some food for you.

32. GRANDMA (Narration): I quickly swept the fur into a corner of the kitchen and got into bed. Then I pulled the covers up over the bloody nightclothes.

33. GRANDMA: Come in, my dear.

34. DOOR OPENS.

35. RED: Mom said you’re not feeling well.

36. GRANDMA: No. I’m definitely not myself.

37. RED: You look like you have a fever.

38. GRANDMA: I must have a case of the flu. It’s hit me hard.

39. RED: I also brought you flowers.

40. GRANDMA: Those are very pretty.

41. RED: A mean old man in the forest told me they were his.

42. GRANDMA: Well, come over and sit with your grandma, and tell me all about it.

43. RED: Mom made you a hot dish, some bread, and a pie.

44. GRANDMA: How could any old woman have a better family than I have?

45. GRANDMA (Narration): As we talked, I began to smell not only the delicious food, but also the sweetness of the little girl’s flesh. I then felt the fever again and a sharp pain in my facial bones.

46. RED: Grandma! You seem to look so different.

47. GRANDMA: In what way?

48. RED: You’re eyes are so big.

49. GRANDMA: Well, that’s so I can see you better.

50. RED: And your ears are so big, Grandma.

51. GRANDMA: All the better to hear you better, my dear.

52. RED: And your teeth – your teeth are so big.

53. GRANDMA: All the better to eat you with!

54. THE GIRL SCREAMS AND STRUGGLES AS THE WOLF SNARLS.

55. GRANDMA (Narration): The little hood fell to the floor and I sat on top of her so she couldn’t escape. I looked upon her tender face. The late afternoon sunlight shined through the window and glittered off my saliva as it dripped onto her cheeks. As she screamed and struggled under my claws, it occurred to me how like a pink flower she looked. I leaned toward the stem and prepared to pluck it.

56. THE SCREAMS FADE AWAY.

57. FADE IN: THE SOUNDS OF BIRDS SINGING AND WIND RUSLTING THROUGH THE TREES.

58. RED (Narration): I stood at my flower garden, watching a butterfly leap from pedal to pedal. I danced through the long grass at the edge of the hill and looked across the field toward the lake. The sun was beginning to set and a coolness was closing in from the forest. I returned to my flowers and dropped to my knees, enjoying the agility of having a young girl’s physique. As I stripped away weeds, I thought about the vague dreamlike memories from earlier in the day. I had enjoyed the adrenaline and the taste of blood. I looked around, seeing the trees. Only I could tell which ones were mine and which ones were part of the state forest. I felt excitement brew within me, knowing that the trap had been set well. In my belly, I felt the pang of hunger in anticipation for the next pray to be lured by the pretty flowers.

THE END