"This is your wake up call, Red," said a gruff voice.
She turned under her wolf skin covers and reached towards the alarm. She muttered something about early mornings and curled up. A rough hand grabbed her ankle and she was pulled off the bed. She pulled herself out of a heap of blankets and sat up.
"I didn't realize you slept naked," said the voice. "Put some clothes on."
Red yawned and said, "You're awfully picky for someone who just woke me up at," she glanced at her clock, "one in the morning."
"It's not by my choice, Red Riding Hood, I've been sent to you with a warning to change your ways."
She suddenly realized where she had heard the voice before, It was the Big Bad Wolf. She stood and pulled on her sweatpants and a T-shirt. The Wolf stood next to her window, which looked out onto the city. The strange thing was no light streamed in. It reminded her of the darkness back in the woods when she'd been a child.
"You should be dead, the last time I saw you was when me and my grandmother sewed stones into you belly and threw you into the river," she said.
"I am dead." He became transparent and made what she assumed was supposed to be a spooky face. "I've been sent to you as the Ghost of Christmas Past. It is time for you to see the other side of the story."
"I need coffee for this, do you want some?" She headed to her kitchen.
The wolf followed her, walking through the door she slammed in his snout. "Ghosts don't drink coffee. We don't have time. The next ghost were be here at the strike of two and we have much to see."
"You really don't want me to do this without caffeine. I won't enjoy it at all and neither will you."
"It's not about enjoyment," he growled. "You aren't supposed to be having fun. I'm here to save your soul."
Before she could respond he grabbed her arm and they were no longer in her kitchen. They were in the forest. She could smell the pine needles and shivered as her bare feet felt the snow beneath her. They were outside a small cave entrance.
"Come, see what you wrought those many years ago." His paw pointed towards the dark hole.
Red was disconcerted by the way he spoke. It was bad enough to be accosted by a talking wolf, but at least their previous interactions, he'd spoken like a normal person, not some old time prophet. She shrugged and walked into the cave. It turned out to be a den. A female wolf and her four pups sat around a fire. The adult wolf wore a cap like the one grandmother had worn and had an apron on.
"When will Papa be home?" asked a young female wolf.
"Soon, child soon. He will bring home some tender venison for us to eat for Christmas dinner."
"You brought me to see your children," she turned to the wolf. "I know they can't see this. I've read 'A Christmas Carol.' I could argue that we didn't know you were a father and you were trying to eat us. What is this going to prove?"
"Just listen," he said.
"I heard there aren't any deer left in the forest," said a male wolf. "Papa said the hunters have killed them all."
"Is that true, Mama?" the others asked. "Are all the deer gone?"
The mother wolf hesitated, she scratched her ear under the sleeping cap. "I'm sure he'll find a deer for us. Go to sleep and we'll have it for breakfast."
"Does that cap belong to someone else's grandmother?" Red asked.
"You're missing the point. Wolves don't want to eat humans. We never would, unless we didn't have any other choice." He grabbed her arm again.
They appeared outside a small cabin in the woods. The windows were glowing and as it was snowing harder now, Red pushed her way inside quickly. She recognized the man inside as the hunter who had warned her parents of the wolf in the woods. He was with an old woman.
"Son, I heard that you've been killing all the deer," she said. "This means trouble with the wolves."
"No, Mother, they're going to have trouble with us. I told the Big Bad Wolf that the old woman who lives in the woods is all alone in the world. He'll attacker her and then we can kill him without anyone arguing."
"You're trying to tell me that the hunter set you up to kill my grandmother so that he could hunt you?" she asked. "I still don't see how that excuses you from wanting to kill her, no matter how hungry you were. Weren't there rabbits you could eat or other small creatures?"
"You may have a point about your grandmother, but what did you do after you destroyed my family's life. What is your fortune based on? How do you make your living, killer of wolves?"
They were back in her bedroom. The Wolf pulled one of the pelts off the floor and threw it at her feet. Red blinked at him. Why had he asked about these other wolves?
"These are my children, you kill them and use them for fashion. What need have you of them for warmth when you could buy fine silks and other fabrics? You take your hatred and get revenge against all my kind. We are dying out and you don't care."
Red laughed. "Now I know you, you're a dream I'm having because Frederick was telling me all about his work for the environment. I'll wake up and forget all about this."
Wolf shook his head. "You can tell yourself that, but expect the second spirit when the hour tolls two."
Red woke entangled in her wolf-skin blanket. The clock read 1:45. The room was empty.