I am skipping with a basket full of strawberry cake for Grandma in the woods in the woods Bouncing along Singing a song In the woods In the woods In my bright red cloak with a hood I love to bake And I made the cake to share And I’m taking it there Through the woods Through the woods
This is what I do This is where I go I like doing what I do And I very much like going to places I know It isn’t exciting It’s always the same But that isn’t boring to me It’s perfectly simple and plain And I’ll happily do it again and again I don’t even need to pretend I’m a magical elf But sometimes I dream Of strawberries and cream And having a whole strawberry cake to myself
I follow the path every baking day It leads me directly to Grandma’s house and I never stray It’s very important to know the way I really love the sunshine In the wood In the wood Something’s just out of my eyeline In the wood In the wood I can’t see them when I’m wearing my hood It’s like a game And it’s never the same way twice I don’t blame him at all It’s the instinct to maul But he’s never attacked Which he could from the back Creep along on giant paws Leap up high with giant claws Ripping cloak and tearing flesh Living tissue’s very fresh
I would be as squished as the strawberries in the sweet vanilla cake for which I wished now smeared on the ground bright red all around I’m a basket of sweetness Lovingly prepared But he’s only ever stalking me So why have I been spared? Is he playing with his food Or is he actually scared?
I am walking with a basket In the woods In the woods Keep moving along With a quieter song Through the woods Through the woods Grandma’s always telling me I should be resolute And maybe I should also be Varying the route But the wood is my place too It doesn’t just belong to you I’ll learn to be careful But you’d better learn to behave! You are most unexpectedly rude For a big bad wolf And I s’pose, for a girl who is milky white and strawberry red And potentially dead In the deep dark woods I’m unexpectedly brave
Copyright © 2023 by Jenifer Toksvig All Rights Reserved. This is an unedited raw creative response to this Red Riding Hood Fairytale Moment. Here is more information about The Fairytale Library.
Photo 1 by Diliara Garifullina, photo 2 by balesstudio, photo 3 by Alexander Nedviga, photo 4 by Ferenc Almasi on Unsplash