There once lived a Chihuahua whose name was
Little Red Riding Hood. She was called that because she always wore a
red velvet cloak and hood that her Grandmother had made for her.
Now her grandmother had been feeling ill, and one day
Little Red Riding Hood's Mommy Sylvia said to her, "I want you to take
this basket of doggie treats and rawhide bones to Granny."
"Now go straight to Granny's" her Mommy Sylvia told
her, "and be sure you don't speak to any strangers on the way, and
whatever you do, don't stray from the path!" Little Red Riding Hood
promised to do as she was told.
Her grandmother lived on the other side of a great
off-leash park. So, Little Red Riding Hood went prancing quickly down
the path with her basket of doggie goodies under her paw.
She had not gone far when she met a big wolf. "Hey
there, Little Red Riding Hood," said the big wolf in a cheery voice.
"You sure are looking good! Where are you prancing off to in such a
hurry?"
Little Red Riding Hood did not
know what a wicked creature the big wolf was, so she replied politely,
"I am going to see my Grandmother. She has been ill, and I am bringing
her this basket of doggie treats and rawhide bones."
"How nice," said the wolf. But to himself he thought,
"What good fortune! If I am lucky I can have both this little red
Chihuahua and her grandmother for supper!"
Then he smiled sweetly at Little Red Riding Hood and
said, "How lovely the woods look today! What a pity you have to rush
through the off-leash park on such a beautiful morning!"
Little Red Riding Hood looked around the lovely park.
Sunbeams were dancing on the trees, and bright flowers were waving their
heads in the breeze. "I'm sure Grandmother would love a bouquet of
flowers," she thought. "It's so early that surely I can stop for just a
few minutes and pick some."
So Little Red Riding Hood left the path and skipped
into the woods to pick flowers. Meanwhile the big wolf ran as fast as he
could to Grandmother's house.
When the wolf reached
Grandmother's house, he knocked on the door.
"Who's there?" called Little Red Riding Hood's
grandmother.
"It is I, Little Red Riding Hood!" said the wolf,
disguising his voice to sound like the tiny Chihuahua. "I've brought you
a basket of doggie treats and goodies."
"I am too sick to get out of my dog bed," grandmother
replied. " But the door is open, Little Red Riding Hood, just let
yourself in and come up to my bedroom."
So the wicked wolf pushed open the door, came inside
and climbed the stairs to Grandmother's bedroom. Then he went to
Grandmother's dog bed and gobbled up the poor, frail Chihuahua!
Then the wicked wolf pulled one of Grandmother's
doggie sweaters over his head, even though it was much too small for
him. Next he wrapped one of the old Chihuahua's favorite blankets around
his shoulders. He even took Grandmother's spectacles and stuck them on
the end of his long nose!
Then the wolf looked at himself in the mirror. He
didn't look anything like the old Chihuahua. So, he put on one of
Grandmother's little Mexican Sombreros to disguise himself even more.
Then he climbed into Grandmother's pint-size doggie
bed, drew her warm fuzzy blankets over his big ugly nose, and settled
back to wait for Little Red Riding Hood.
Meanwhile Little Red Riding Hood was still in the
off-leash park picking flowers. Every time she picked one, she seemed to
see a prettier one just a little ways off. And so she strayed farther
and farther from the path.
When she had picked so many flowers that she could
not hold any more in her tiny paws, she returned to the path and headed
again for Grandmother's house.
When Little Red Riding Hood arrived, she was
surprised to find the door open.
"Hello," she called. "Grandmother, it's me."
"Just come in!" came Grandmother's voice. "I am too
ill to get out of my dog bed!"
How strange her grandmother's voice sounded. "She
must be very ill," thought Little Red Riding Hood. So the little
Chihuahua ran up the stairs to her grandmother's bedroom.
Little Red Riding Hood stood beside her grandmother's
bed. How strange her grandmother looked!
"Why, Grandmother," she said. "What a big snout you
have!"
"All the better to sniff you with, my dear," said the
wolf.
"But, Grandmother, what big gleaming eyes you have!"
said Little Red Riding Hood.
"All the better to see you with, my dear," said the
wolf.
"But, Grandmother, what big paws you have!" said
Little Red Riding Hood.
"All the better to hug you with, my dear," said the
wolf.
"But, Grandmother," said Little Red Riding Hood.
"What big TEETH you have!"
"All the better to eat you with, my dear," said the
wolf.
And with that the wicked wolf jumped out of the dog
bed and opened his jaws wide.
"Why, you're not my Grandmother!" cried Little Red
Riding Hood.
"No, I'm not," said the wolf. "And I'm going to eat
you up!"
Then the wolf snapped at Little Red Riding Hood and
swallowed the tiny Chihuahua in a single gulp!
After that, the wolf felt full. He rubbed his belly
contentedly. "That was a good Mexican feast," he said, and then he
started to yawn. "Now I could do with a siesta!"
So the wolf climbed back into Grandmother's dog bed,
pulled the blankets over his head and closed his eyes.
Soon the wolf was fast asleep and he began to snore
very loudly. He snored so loudly that all the windows in Grandmother's
little dog house rattled.
Toward evening, a great huntsman named Papa Bruce
came walking by Grandmother's dog house and heard the wolf snoring.
"That's strange," thought Papa Bruce to himself. "The
old Granny Chihuahua is snoring awfully loudly! I wonder if she is all
right."
So the great hunter Papa Bruce walked up to
Grandmother's dog house. To his surprise the door was wide open. "Hello!
Hello!" called Papa Bruce. "Is anybody home?"
But there was no answer. The wicked wolf was sleeping
too loudly to hear Papa Bruce calling.
"I'll just go in and make sure everything is all
right," Papa Bruce thought. So he went inside and tiptoed up the stairs.
As he climbed the stairs, the snoring grew louder and
louder. Papa Bruce followed the snoring all the way to Grandmother's
doggie bed.
Papa Bruce looked at Grandmother's dog bed and saw
the wicked wolf lying fast asleep.
"Ah-ha," said Papa Bruce. "So, it's you who is
snoring so loudly, you rascal! I've been hunting for you for a long
time, and now it looks as if I've got you!"
Papa Bruce raised his gun and was about to shoot the
wolf when it occurred to him that the wolf might have eaten the old,
frail grandmother Chihuahua.
So, the great hunter Papa Bruce took out his knife
and cut open the wolf. Out stepped Little Red Riding Hood and her
grandmother. They were both happy to be saved.
Then Papa Bruce filled the wolf's stomach with heavy
stones and sewed it up. When the wolf awoke and saw Papa Bruce, he tried
to run away. But the stones were so heavy he fell down dead!
Then Papa Bruce sat down with Little Red Riding Hood
and Grandmother and watched happily as the two Chihuahuas ate all their
delicious doggie treats and rawhide bones that Little Red Riding Hood
had brought.
Soon Grandmother was feeling well again, and Little
Red Riding Hood started home with brave Papa Bruce guarding her the
whole way.
When she returned home, Little Red Riding Hood told
her Mommy Sylvia everything that had happened. "Never again will I speak
to strangers or stray from the path in the off-leash park when you have
told me not to!" she said.
Mommy Sylvia hugged her beautiful Little Red Riding
Hood tight. "I'm sure you won't," she said, and the little red Chihuahua
never did!
