LITTLE RED
A DIGITAL FAIRY TALE
BY JANETTE BONAR LAW
Once upon a time...
in a tiny Warwickshire village there lived a little girl named Little Red. She was a kind and brave girl with startling red hair who above all else loved baking and playing online computer games.
One sunny morning, Little Red’s Granny called and said, “Little Red, my darling, I’m feeling a little lonely today, will you please come and visit me, and bring some of your special fairy cakes to cheer me up? “
Little Red loved her Granny. and was happy to say yes!.
With her basket full of yummy fairy cakes, wrapped in a cheerful yellow napkin, Little Red set off on the winding path that led to her Granny’s cosy cottage. The path took her through the deep, dark Binley Woods, where sunlight struggled to shine through the tall trees, but Little Red was not afraid, she played in the woods all the time and she was very brave. As Little Red followed the path however, she noticed ...
some strange tracks on the ground
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a voice from behind made Little Red jump!
Why, hello there!
Don’t those fairy cakes smell delicious!
Where are you off to on this lovely day?
Little Red spun around and saw a rather spiffy looking wolf, loping out of the shadows, with a huge smile on his face. “I’m going to visit my Granny and I’m taking her my special fairy cakes to cheer her up” Little Red replied, innocently.
The wolf’s eyes sparkled mischievously as he replied, “Oh, how kind! And what a beautiful napkin they are wrapped in! Is yellow your Granny’s favourite colour?”
Little Red thought this was a little strange. Then when the wolf asked “Where does your Granny live?” she knew something was not quite right.
She remembered the all lessons her parents had taught her when she first started playing computer games online, about not telling personal things to strangers, even if they seemed nice. If it was a bad idea online, she knew it was a certainly a bad idea in Binley Woods with a wolf she’d never met before “I’m sorry, Mr. Wolf,” Little Red said bravely, “but I can’t tell you that. It’s private and personal.”
The wolf’s friendly face disappeared, and he immediately sloped back off into the woods
As Little Red carried on towards her Granny’s house, another strange creature crossed her path. A beautiful, clever fox with a shiny iPad appeared, lured out of the forest by the aroma of Little Red’s delicious fairy cakes.
The fox offered to send Little Red a free recipe for super, magical fairy cakes if she would just put her email and her Granny’s address into a form she had up on her iPad.
Little Red again remembered what her parents had taught her about staying safe online and again politely said no to sharing personal information. Just like the wolf, the fox disappeared away into the woods.
.
and perched on a low hanging branch that crossed Little Red’s path. In her beak the owl held the prettiest game controller Little Red had ever seen.
The owl promised Little Red she could keep the game controller in return for telling her Granny’s favourite colour and the name of Granny’s cat.
Little Red was very confused. She had never seen so many animals in Binley Woods before, let alone animals who could talk and who seemed determined to find out her secrets!
Even though Little Red was confused, and would very, very much have liked the game controller, she stayed strong and remembered what her parents had taught her; that it’s important for everyone to protect their privacy and not fall for any tempting tricks.
She turned away and thanked the elegant owl and hurried on towards Granny’s house as the owl fluttered away into the sky above.
As the fox disappeared, an elegant owl swooped in ...
Finally, Little Red arrived at her Granny’s cottage. She knocked on the door, and Granny, who had been waiting eagerly, opened it with a big smile.
Little Red gave her Granny a huge hug, handed her the basket of fairy cakes and said “Granny, the strangest things happened on my journey through the woods today...”
