Chapter Five; Part One

Recap: "No it's not." Reggie and Ralph answered simultaneously.

This is a pretty big chapter, if I do say so myself ^__^

"You guys pranking us? Are you pranking me? Cindy, are they pranking us?!" My voice reached an octave higher and I started to stutter. What was I doing? Wandering into the woods and following a complete stranger home? Ha! Some genius I was.

"No, Ariel, don't worry!" Ralph started to look concerned, while Reggie snickered softly. It was starting to dawn on me that Ralph was the knight in shining armor, whilst Reggie was the smart- aleck in tinfoil.

"We mean you no harm." Ralph continued, almost apologetically. "It's just... Ah, this makes no sense. It's kind of useless explaining to one who doesn't have the background, the history and knowledge that I as myself posses-"

"Shut up, Ralph." Reggie suddenly interjected. "It's not that complicated. Kind of.

"It all started not THAT long ago, actually. Back when there were no supernatural entities, and yet the world wasn't young enough to be using torches or anything. Everything was still as dull and boring as citizens are today, though, and we all lived a hum- drum life. Of course, Ralph and I weren't around yet, but this tale had been told but a thousand times.

"One day, a kindly woman by the name of Jill, and her brother Jack went up towards a hill to collect water from the well. Jack fell down, and disappeared in a creek. Nobody knows why they didn't just get water from the creek, but people can be blunt sometimes. Anyway, Jill was very distraught over her brother. She tried going after him, but the current was mucho fast.

"When she got back to her village, she locked herself in her house and didn't come out for weeks. Eventually, a policeman came and investigated. By then, everyone had believed Jill had ceased to exist. But lo and behold, when the officer came out of the house, Jill was in his arms. Apparently she had fallen in love with the officer, for he was the only one who cared enough to look for Jill in the house, and, well, Jill wasn't exactly ugly herself.

"What happened next was that the two - you guessed it - they eloped. They had one child, Pauline, who grew up and married a woodcutter named Paul. (A/N- Sorry, I can't help matching names. Paul and Pauline, Bob and Bobette, Ralph and Reggie. Lol. Makes me wish I had a twin, although I would never name my kids Bobette. O.o;) Then, P&P had one child. They called her Ruby. Jill knit the kid a little cloak thingy, made from imported red silk. From then on everyone called her Ruby Red, but usually just Red for short.

"Well, Red was an upstanding child. At school, she made lots of friends. She was very popular, and was a beauty. Everyone loved her, especially her grandmother, Jill. Jill, however, was growing old quite rapidly. Red decided to bring her dear old granny a fruit basket, because as everybody knows, when people are sick you send fruit baskets. Pauline, her mother, gave her directions and told her to stick strictly to the safe route..."

"WAIT!!" I blurted. Everyone turned to face me. "I've heard this story before. Little Red Riding Hood? She gets eaten by a wolf? A woodcutter comes and saves her and her nanny? Cindy, this is a fairy tale! The thing of nurseries!" Cindy nodded in agreement.


"Well, that's what you've stereotyped it to be." Reggie argued. "Ralph and I should know."

"Reggie, stop it!" Ralph cried. "It's no use, they're common folk. They don't comprehend this. Let's just take them home and continue the quest ourselves." Reggie scowled menacingly.

"Ralph, we need all the help we can get! Deadline is in a month, and we're no closer to finishing what we've started." Reggie sighed, exasperated and defeated.

".... Finish your story, Reggie." I felt compelled to tell him that. It was me, after all, who had interrupted him. Cindy looked at me, bewildered. Heh, I was pretty notorious for being obnoxious, not considerate.

"Alright." Reggie said with a hint of a smile. "I'll continue."

END.

Yerr, sorry it randomly cuts off. This is kinda short so I'll make this Chapter Five, Part 1 and over the weekend I shall post Part 2. Because I want all this to be one chapter. Hehe.

- Narwhal