Strangers in the Woods.

I think we all know the cautionary tale of Little Red Riding Hood, with its really gory plot and summary of not talking to strangers, but this story is more than a little different. Allow me to introduce myself, reader: the name is Wolfgang, and I am not at all like my fairytale counterpart. The main reason is that I’m actually a man who was cursed by an evil witch, which made me a wolf by day and a human by night. The witch died a few years after casting her spell, but I was very sad to learn that the spell didn’t die with her, so I was stuck until the day I became human again. I was usually lonely during the day, so you can imagine how surprised I was to see a young lady skipping through the woods one afternoon. Donning a purple dress with a violet hooded-cape, I couldn’t help but watch as she skipped down the path, singing a tune as her brunette hair bounced in the breeze.

Since I was in wolf-form, I thought bounding into the path and baring my fangs would scare the visitor, so I was quite surprised to hear her squeal, “Hello, Mr. Wolf! You have a nice smile!” Suddenly unsure of what to say in response, I looked her up and down before cooing, “Gee, thank you, Miss. You have a nice smile, too. Where are you going so late in the day?” The woman let out a childlike giggle as she said that after being at the market that day, she was heading to her home, which happened to be a cottage a few feet behind me. Just as I was about to apologize for being in her way, the girl asked if I wanted to spend the night at her house, to which I nodded (who would disobey an angel like her?) before we went to her cottage.

After she started a fire in the chimney-area of her cottage, the woman gave me a blanket before making me some soup, which I politely ate as she sat beside me. After we introduced ourselves (during which I learned that her name was Lillian), I explained my backstory to her before she asked if she could stroke my fur. Such an idea was music to my ears, so I nodded before reclining in her lap, where I was soothed to sleep by her gentle fingers running through my hairs. I don't remember having my transformation that night, because Lillian didn't gasp when I appeared in my human form for her first time, but I soon found myself on a bed under a very comfortable blanket.

When I was fully awake, I smiled when I saw Lillian approaching me with a tray of food for us: cereal with juice for her and steak for me. After she told me that she went out to the marketplace to buy the steak just for me, I told her that she didn’t need to do that, but she insisted and said that she did it to help. After we ate, Lillian reclined on the bed before asking if I could give her a back-rub, to which I nodded before she rolled onto her front and giggled as I massaged her back, making sure not to scratch her with my claws. Over the course of the next few months, I realized that I hadn't given Lillian a kiss at night, making me wonder what would happen if I kissed her on a full-moon night, and I decided to try out my idea six months after we met.

After a picnic dinner that night, Lillian and I spent some time looking at the stars, where I gazed at her and sighed in admiration. Everything about her was so delicate - from her baby-soft peach-toned skin to her smoothly-brushed brunette hair - that if she turned out to be my wife, I didn’t want to damage her. Feeling lucky to be with such an angel for a few months, I chose that moment to tell her how I felt, so I gathered all my courage and confessed, “Call me crazy, Lillian, but I've been secretly in love with you since we met.” After gasping, Lillian looked at me and said that she had the same feelings for me, which made me feel warm all over. I decided to hold back the urge to kiss Lillian until we returned to the cottage, which was late in the evening. After we changed into our night-clothes, I climbed into bed with Lillian and asked if we could kiss. A little surprised, Lillian shrugged before she gave me a gentle kiss on the lips, after which we pulled away and said goodnight to each other.

The first thing I felt the next morning was a hand patting my cheek, which made me wake up and see Lillian, who was staring at me with a mixture of fear and bewilderment. I asked her about her facial expression, to which she asked, “What happened to you? You're still a human!” Startled by her words, I sprung out of bed and rushed down to the nearby stream, during which I noticed that I wasn't running on all four legs. After checking my reflection in the water, I realized that I had remained a human, which meant only one thing: Lillian’s kiss broke the spell, keeping me in human-form forever! I then heard her approaching me from behind, causing me to turn around and exclaim, “Lillian! You broke the spell!” Overjoyed, Lillian ran into my arms and embraced me, where I saw a twinkle in her hazelnut eyes.

Once we pulled away from sharing another kiss, I asked Lillian if she'd be my wife, which made her joyfully cry as she said yes. After our wedding, I expanded Lillian’s cottage to fit a couple more rooms, including one for our future children. I know it feels good to be a human for the rest of my days, but I sometimes can’t help but let out a perfect howl at the moon when it’s full, which gets weird looks from other people. I guess they’ll never know…