Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a little girl.
Because she always wore a green greatcoat when she went out, the people in town called her "Little Green Greatcoat," or "Greenie," for short.
One day, Little Green Greatcoat's mother opened a window upstairs and called down to her.
"There's basket of food next to the front door," her mother said. "Please take it to Grandma. She can't go out today. I made her some bread and other things for her tea."
Little Green Greatcoat was an obedient girl who enjoyed helping others, so she picked up the basket and headed off to her grandmother's home, which was on the other side of the big wood.
While Greenie was walking through the wood, she came across a wolf.
"How are you today?" Greenie asked the wolf.
"I'm fine, thanks!" the wolf replied.
"Um," Greenie began, "you don't look fine. In fact, you look troubled. Is something wrong?" she asked the wolf.
"Well," the wolf said, "you're right. I'm supposed to go to Grandma's house, but I don't know where it is."
Greenie laughed. "No worries," she said. "I know where it is. I'm just going there now, and you can come along with me. It will be nice to have company along the way," she added.
Greenie continued along her way with the wolf beside her. They walked in companionable silence, both thinking what a lovely day it was.
Greenie was thinking how nice it was to have company. The wolf was thinking how nice it was to have company who knew the way to Grandma's house.
Every once in a while, they would sit and rest for a few minutes and listen to the birds singing and watch squirrels scamper about.
Finally they came to Grandma's house. Greenie opened the door and invited the wolf in. She asked him to take a seat in the living room, while she took the basket to the kitchen. Then she checked on Grandma, who was in bed, sleeping. Greenie came back to the front hall and hung up her coat.
Then she came to sit on the couch next to the wolf.
"Grandma is asleep," she said. "Now tell me, what did you need to come to Grandma's house for?" she asked.
"I'm supposed to eat Grandma," the wolf said, "and then you."
"Well now," Greenie said, "that's just silly!"
"Why is that?" the wolf asked.
"Come with me," Greenie replied, "and I will show you."
Greenie got down from the couch and walked out of the room, with the wolf at her heels. She led the wolf into the bathroom and helped him climb up on the vanity. Then she pointed to his reflection in the mirror. "There!" she exclaimed. "Tell me what you see!"
"Um," said the wolf, "I see a wolf."
"That's your reflection," Greenie explained. "That's what you look like. Now look at yourself and tell me, how big are you?" she asked the wolf.
"I'm as big as I always am," the wolf answered.
"And how big am I?" Greenie asked, pointing to her reflection.
The wolf looked at Greenie's reflection in the mirror. "You're as big as you always are," he replied.
"Well, let me explain," Greenie said to the wolf.
"Grandma is much bigger than I am," she began.
"I am much bigger than you are," Greenie continued. "You are much smaller than both of us."
"There is no way you could fit Grandma in your stomach, let alone both Grandma and me!"
The wolf looked at her reflection and then his. He tried to cock his head to one side, the way wolves and dogs do when they're puzzled. It wouldn't move, though, so he just pretended to cock his head to one side.
Finally the wolf said, "You have a point. What should I do instead?" he asked.
"We should talk about that," Greenie replied.
While Greenie was helping the wolf down from the vanity, the doorbell rang. Greenie ran to answer the door, so her grandmother wouldn't be disturbed.
When Greenie opened the door, she found a tall man standing on the doorstep. She recognized him as the woodsman.
"Hello, Mr. Woodsman," Greenie said. "What can I do for you?"
The woodsman seemed puzzled. "Um...I think I'm here to rescue you and your grandmother from the wolf," he said. "Why aren't you in the wolf's stomach?" he asked.
"I see that you and the wolf have been reading the same books," Greenie said. "Please come in. I'll make us some tea, and we can have a chat."
Greenie left the woodsman and the wolf together in the living room while she made the tea.
When she had returned to the living room, and they all had some tea, Greenie cleared her throat and began. "I think," said Greenie, "you two have been confused about your jobs."
"First of all," she said to the wolf, "wolves don't go around eating people. They eat other animals, usually just the ones that are old and weak, and the ones that will die soon anyway, or they eat animals that are already dead. They keep the forest creatures healthy by keeping the forest from becoming overcrowded. They help clean up the forest, so dead things aren't lying around getting stinky. They do not eat people."
Then Greenie put down her tea and slid off the couch. She walked over to the woodsman. "Mr. Woodsman," she said, "Woodspersons do not rescue grandmothers and little girls from wolves. That is not your job. Your job is to look after the forest. You are supposed to plant trees and make sure they are healthy. Your job is to clear away brush and to put out fires before they get too big and give talks to people who are interested in learning about the forest. If you rescue anyone, it's someone who gets lost hiking in the forest, not grandmothers who are home in bed, minding their own business."
There was a long silence, while all three thought about that.
"So," Greenie said finally, "you see, you are both supposed to look after the forest. You are supposed to work together!"
"Ew!" the wolf exclaimed suddenly. "Eating dead stuff doesn't sound good to me at all! I'm not sure how much I like being a wolf, if that's what I have to do."
"Well," said the woodsman, "cutting wolves open to rescue someone wouldn't be my first choice of occupation." Then he had a thought. He turned to the wolf. "Do you like kibble?" he asked.
The wolf imagined the woodsman giving him dog kibble, which he had eaten when he found it outside people's homes, left there by people for their dogs or cats. (Even cat kibble was tasty!)
When the wolf said he did, the woodsman invited him to come home with him and have some kibble. "I've been thinking of getting a dog," the woodsman said, "to protect my home when I'm away in the forest. I think a wolf would be even better protection."
The wolf agreed, and Greenie showed the two new friends out.
After she closed the door, she went to check on her grandmother again.
Her grandmother was awake now. "Someone is here," she said. "I need my glasses, the better to see you with."
Greenie picked up Grandma's glasses and handed them to her.
"Greenie!" Grandma exclaimed when she had them on, "It's you! I'm so glad you're here. Now I need my hearing aids, the better to hear you with!"
Greenie handed Grandma her hearing aids.
"Now I can hear you," Grandma exclaimed, when she had put on her hearing aids.
"I've just made tea," Greenie said. "I brought you some fresh bread and some other things to have with your tea."
"Just let me put in my false teeth," Grandma said finally, "the better to eat it with." She reached for the glass with her teeth, while Greenie brought Grandma the tea and opened the basket of food. While Grandma had her tea, the two settled down for a chat. "What have you been up to?" Grandma asked.
"Oh, mostly just the usual," was Greenie's reply, as she looked out the window and sipped her tea, "School, walking through the forest and playing, but now I'm thinking about writing an advice column for our local paper."
Note: Readers will recognize similarities with the story of Little Red Riding Hood, a story that has been told to children for centuries, including the famous version by the Grimm Brothers. While we are grateful to these versions for the inspiration, this story from The Doll's Storybook is what really happened. You can't believe everything you read.
Green: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
The Wolf: Wolf from Defenders of Wildlife
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
Copyright © 2021, 2024 by Peggy Stuart
I love so much your new story, it's wonderful, a real pleasure to read. Peggy, you have an immense talent to make us dream, and this time you have outdone yourself ! I'm happy to have finally read the real story, so much more realistic than those of the Brothers Grimm :-)
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