There was once... a girl. A young girl, who couldn't have been more than twelve years of age. This little girl lived alone, in a forest. With only the animals around her as her companions, she made her home in an old abandoned wood cabin in the heart of the forest. And what a mysterious girl she was. She had no family, at least none that she knew of, and she spent a lot of time skipping through the forest, collecting flowers and berries. Oftentimes, she would take some time to interact with some of the animals in the forest. She would talk to them gently, and often stroked their heads as she did so, whereas the animals would look up at her attentively as she spoke, as if they could understand every word she said.
The animals loved her, and eventually they could all recognise her from a distance by the sound of her voice and the red hood she always wore over her head.
At the edge of the very same forest, in an old but well-kept cottage, lived an old woman. This old woman lived alone, ever since her children all left her to lead lives of their own. Her children, all of them grown up and wealthy, often offered to buy a nice city villa for their mother, but she refused. The old cottage was where she had been born and raised, and she was determined that she would continue living there until her time should come. The cottage was of moderate size, and the old woman kept it clean, while she whittled away her days by busying herself with housework. Occasionally, she would venture into the forest to collect fruits and mushrooms for her pantry. But how she wished for a bit of company in her old age.
The little girl and the old woman lived in the same forest, each unaware of the other. But it was inevitable that they would eventually meet, and this happened one day when one was picking flowers and the other collecting mushrooms. They bumped into each other in a small clearing in the trees, and you can guess how shocked they were upon seeing another person in the forest. And that's where the story begins. One was a little girl, living all alone and fending for herself with no parental guidance. The other was an old mother, all her children having left her, and she longed for a companion and a young child to take under her wing, as she had done in her earlier years. In a sense, the two were a perfect match for each other. The old woman invited the little girl to visit her cottage, and the little girl lead the woman to her own run-down wood cabin in the forest.
The two got along well, and the old woman started calling the little girl "Hoodie", because of the cute red hood she always wore on her head, and the little girl called the old woman "Grandma", because of her elderly and motherly wisdom.
Grandma wanted little Hoodie to stay with her in her cottage, which would have easily accomodated the two of them. But Hoodie refused. She enjoyed living alone, spending her time dancing through the forest, accompanied by her animal friends. However, just like Grandma, Hoodie longed for someone to chat with every so often. They both agreed that one would visit the other on occasion, to make sure that the other was in good health.
And that is how the old woman and the little girl in the forest began their inseparable, if slightly strange, relationship.
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Alright, I know what you guys are thinking right now, and I'll proceed to answer all your questions one by one.
1. I just finished a three-part story arc, and now I'm starting another one? Am I sure about this?
The answer is, yes, but this story arc is going to be a lot more relaxed, and will be split into several smaller parts than the previous "Classroom Scandal" story. I have a good feeling about this one.
2. Is this story basically an improvised Little Red Riding Hood?
Yes, but I'm making this version a lot more dramatic, something I'm good at. The whole story will, ultimately, be based on Little Red Riding Hood, as you have probably detected a few recognisable icons from the story in today's update. But because of the added dramaticness, and also the story will be a lot more blown-out than the usual kid's version, I changed the title to Hunting Hood, which may or may not be connected to some part of the story. It depends on how I decide to do things later. Also, I finally get to use a heroine in one of my stories! Smiley!
3. Okay, Little Red Riding Hood's grandma was her actual, family-line grandma, and Little Red herself lived with her mother, who sends her to grandma's house as we can see in the story, and....
Stop right there. First of all, those facts either (a) are not confirmed in the story, (b) vary throughout the many editions/translations, or (c) interfere with my own story, so I changed things around a little.
Also, do not be surprised if I have several intermission updates between the many story parts, because as I mentioned, this will be a very relaxed story arc.
OH, One more thing. I forgot to mention this, but tomorrow morning, I'm of to the high hills! Cameron's, to be exact. Its never a proper year-end holiday in my family if we didn't go to Cameron Highlands at least once. This means three days and two nights with no internet access. But that's okay, because we'll have the laptop there, so I'll prepare everything all nicely typed out for a massive three-or-more-days-in-a-row update everyday when I get back.
Something funny happened today. Well, okay, maybe not that funny, but its worth hearing. I was sitting at the back of church today, and one row in front of me were a pair of young twins. During the sermon, they started to nod off, and after a while they were in that unnamed pose where one rests one's head on the other's shoulder, and the other rests the other's head on the one's head. I think you know what I mean. It was so adorable, I was wondering if I should take a picture of it and post it here, but in the end I didn't because (a) I was sitting behind them, so the picture would have been the back of their heads, (b) taking a picture like that might have ended me up in all sorts of trouble, and (c) I was too lazy to get out my handphone. So instead of an actual picture that you can see with your eyes, I'm leaving you with an image of it in your heads. Anyway, if you feel that I should indeed have taken the picture, comment about it!
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