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"Hey Cerise, you ok? You seem like you've been off since yesterday." The shock of Raven's voice shakes me from whatever dissociation I was feeling at the time.
"I unexpectedly got a letter yesterday from my grandma asking for me to pick up some medicine for her which can only be found in the city and take it to her over the weekend," I say while still looking outside the window.
"Oh from Grandma Hood? Better not let big bad wolf Ramona find out about lil red riding hood going to see grandma, or your tale's gonna be happening sooner than intended," Apple jokes, none the wiser about me and my sister's relation. Raven, on the other hand, looks a bit mortified by her statement but is keeping it in since she knows it's still a secret.
"It really would be best if Ramona doesn't find out about this visit, so please don't tell her," I say, because it really would make this a lot easier if she was kept in the dark about all this. I'd rather not drag her into all this right now.
"Our lips are zipped," Maddie says while somehow actually causing a zipper to manifest where her mouth was for a split second.
That Saturday morning, I pick up the medicine and make myself a lunch box since the trip will take me the rest of the day, and thus I set off to Grandma's house. Each step I take, I feel a wave of anxiety building ever larger inside of me as I hold my hood down for comfort.
It's been so long since I've seen Grandma. I think the last time was when I was 10 years old. I remember how good her cookies were , the perfect amount of chocolate chips, along with being not too gooey and not too crispy. Those were my only good memories in that house.
I snap out of my memories as I officially enter the Enchanted Woods trail, the trail I know I'm destined to go down when my tale begins after graduation, as all Red Riding Hoods have done before me and will after me , but this time I won't have Ramona alongside me.
The forest is absolutely gorgeous. The flowers are in a permanent full bloom, covering the area with beautiful blues and pinks. The smell is so comforting, a mix of roses, lilac, and wet dog? "Ramona, are you there????" I yell into the seemingly empty bushes, and then in a quake Ramona jumps out from them right in front of me.
"Hey lil red, what you doing here all alone with a picnic basket? Don't you know there can be very hungry wolves in these parts? RAWR!" Ramona says with her usually cool and wanna be sly demeanor that's been doing since we got to Ever After.
"This is a lunch box, not a picnic basket, and it's Saturday morning. Don't you typically sleep in? What are you doing here?" I say, holding on to the few bits of hope that she doesn't know why I'm here.
"Well, someone said they were going to see lil miss Grandma Hood within earshot of the resident blabbermouth Goldie, so of course it got to me, and well, what big bad wolf would I be if I didn't take this opportunity?" Of course it was Goldie. Sometimes I really do wonder if she's part wolf with how good her hearing is.
"Of course it was Goldie, but that still doesn't explain why you are here. You never liked going to Grandma's house." I see a slight wince in Ramona's face.
"Yeah, who likes going to an old hag's house? With our wolf senses, the old person smell is unbearable." She does have a bit of a point there. I did catch myself breathing from my mouth when we used to go there together. "But my rep as big bad wolf is now on the line since the entire school knows you're on this lil trip, so I gotta do what I have to do."
"Fine, but just walk beside me and not through the bushes like a creep." Reluctantly, it seems like she isn't gonna back down from this, and thus we are now a party of 2.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Ramona broke the quiet with a sharp question. "So I know why I'm here, but why are you going to Grandma's house? It seems weird for you to go out of your way for her."
I stop in my tracks and take a few seconds to think of the reason. "Honestly, I don't know. It's just she sent me the letter and I was available, so I thought I should do that much for her since despite everything, she is our grandma." That's probably the most genuine answer I could come up with. It felt like a natural obligation, she is an important figure in our story whether or not we'd prefer it.
"How Red Riding Hood of you to do that for a hag like her. It really must be like preprogrammed into you to bend over backwards for her," she says while touching the top of MY HOOD!!
"Enough, she's our grandma. It's natural to still look after her a bit regardless of how we feel about her," I snipe as I swat Ramona's hand from my hood.
"You know she's no grandmother of mine. She's made that very clear to me many MANY TIMES!!" Of course I know what she's talking about. Grandma was never supportive of our parents getting together, considering it heretical to our tale due to her family's hatred of the big bad wolf, which we seemed to aim directly at Ramona since she was the first to be able to go wolf between the 2 of us.
"That's why I didn't want you to come. I know how uncomfortable she makes you." She honestly makes me uncomfortable too, since I had to hear her casual insults about our family whenever we visited, but it's a million times better than the alternative.
"Oh really!! Was it to make me comfortable or to placate her hatred of me!! You know how it felt hearing you were planning to go to her without telling me? It felt just like how it was whenever we visited , Grandma Hood and Riding Hood having a merry old time while big bad Ramona is alone outside wondering why she's excluded!" she said in a loud growl with her ears and claws in full display, but that's not what drew my attention, for I see Ramona's eyes are glossy with tears that are starting to swell up. I think mine are too.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do back then. I was scared of her as well, that she'd find out that we're both wolves. Why you think I always wear the hood around her? Even when it's just us? It's so there was no chance she'd see my ears and go on one of her tirades, but it wasn't fair to you. I should've been a better sister." Tears are falling down my face as I grab onto my hood as if it's my last lifeline to sanity.
"I hadn't realized you had to go through all that…" Ramona says, slightly shocked, while retracting her claws away but forming a fist. "Screw her!!! Sis, we don't need that bag of bones," she says as she gives me a full wolf hug. It's been so long since I've hugged my sister. I feel the warmth of her embrace break down whatever dam was still holding back any of our tears as we begin to both bawl our eyes out.
After a few more minutes of crying, we calmed down enough to start eating the lunch I had prepared. The food was absolutely delicious. I don't know if it was because of being dehydrated from crying or because this was probably the first time we had lunch together all year, but I know Ramona felt similar since I could see the old smile she used to have before our destinies were forced upon us.
"Let's go no contact with Grandma after today, ok? If we leave her meds on the front door and immediately leave, we should be able to get to the dorms before it's too dark," I suggest after lunch was already over.
"I guess that's fine, as long as we don't need to interact with that witch," she said while pouting, and thus we started back our walk, chatting about the good memories we used to have as sisters. It had been a long time since I've been able to talk to her like this. Today's been a "first time in a while" for a lot of things.
As we finally got to Grandma's house, the plan didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Grandma was unexpectedly sitting on her porch waiting for us. From behind me I hear Ramona give out a small whimper and tuck her tail. "Ramona, let me handle this so we can go. I don't want her words to get to you."
"No, that'd just be like old times with both of you together and me excluded," she yells as her eyes redden again.
"Don't worry, I promise it won't be like those times," as I take off my hood to show off my ears proudly.
"You'd really show her that her precious Red Riding Hood is a wolf pup? That'd burn down any relationship you have with her forever. You'll be a disgrace to her like I am," Ramona says in a softened but concerned voice.
"If she got any problems, it's gonna be with me. I'm not gonna let her behavior go on anymore," I say as I start walking towards her. I see her smile from afar, but as I get close I see her notice my ears, which turns her face stone cold.
"Here's your meds, Grandma. I'll be off now," I say as I place down the medicine while looking directly at her with my hood down for the first time.
"What's with them ears? You must be Ramona playing a trick on me, is you? Where is my sweet Red Riding Hood? You better not be trying to eat me because I ain't afraid to put down a rabid dog like you," Grandma says with a stern voice which sends shivers down my spine. I knew this was how she'd react, but it still hurts in ways I can't stop.
"It's me, Cerise, and this is what I am. Ramona and I are both wolves and proud of it. We know how you feel about that, so please don't contact us again." I run away in tears, unable and unwilling to hear what she would have to say next.
As I run into the forest, I meet back up with Ramona, who seems to have something mysterious in her hands. "What is that?"
“Oh this was a pie the old hag had on the windowsill, probably for you for coming so far so i decided it make a good on the road snack for the both of us since we were staying long” i burst out in a jolt of laughter. I truly love my sister, I’m glad to be ever more closer with her.