Part 5: Little Red Friday Hood

Once upon a time in the far-away land of FDWritings there lived a young(ish) girl call Little Red Friday Hood. Why was she called this? Well since you ask so nicely I'll tell you. Of course this will derail the story I was about to tell, but you did ask. Now where was I? Oh yes - digressing. Twice upon a time (It's a story within a story and I was going to say 'once more' well one plus one is two and... ) a sport was born in FDWritings called Baseball. Over the years teams were established and each gathered a following of devoted, fanatical even, supporters. One such team bore the name Boston Red Sox, in honour of the red stockings that they wore. Now Little Red Friday Hood had an aged relative, Uncle Frank Downey, who was one of these fanatical supporters and to bring a little pleasure into his few remaining days she always wore red stockings for him. The rest of the denizens of FDWritings appreciated this selfless act on behalf of this Ancient Personage and named her Little Red Friday Hood. Now you know, so back to the main feature.

One morning Little Red Friday Hood was playing with, sorry, by herself in the woods outside her house. Just then she heard her mother call for her, pausing only to readjust her clothing (perhaps 'with' was right after all) she ran back to the house, for she was an obedient girl and almost never got into trouble, mainly because she was a firm believer in the eleventh commandment.

"Friday, I want you to visit your old and infirm Uncle Frank and stay with him for a few days."

"Why, mother dearest?"

"Because, he is Ancient in years and the Red Sox are playing the Yankees for the pennant this year and I want to make sure that the excitement doesn't kill him, he is after all, very old!"

"Of course. I will go at once."

Friday was very fond of her old Uncle and this was one of the reasons that she was happy to wear red stockings for him. So she went to her room to collect some toys and when her mother wasn't looking she placed them in the basket that she was to take with her.

"Now mind that you go straight there, I've heard that there's a Dragon on the loose not to mention The Evil Rat Bandit* Nick of Scipio."

(*Look this a fairy tale and we can't have bad language in a fairy tale - OK?)

Friday assured her mother that she wouldn't dawdle and left skipping gaily down the path that led to her Uncle's house. Friday wasn't worried about the tales of Dragons, being a very precocious girl, she knew all about the "Care and Feeding of Dragons" and she had secreted a bottle of ale in her basket for that very reason. I wonder what else she put in her basket - let's find out shall we? As she walked along the woodland paths that brought her closer to her Ancient Uncle, the sun grew ever higher in the sky and eventually Little Red Friday Hood decided that she needed to rest. Avoiding the obvious cliché of entering a small cottage in an idyllic glade, she spotted a mossy bank and sat down on it, grateful for the tree that grew so conveniently for her to rest against. Closing her eyes she fell fast asleep; as the last threads of consciousness left her, she wondered if it was possible to fall slow asleep.

Now that she's out for the count, let's just lift the blanket off this basket and rummage around. Well I can see the beer and there's a jar of honey... oh look another jar... it's kind of dark, what does the label say? "Chocolate Syrup." Hmmm who packed that I wonder, Friday or her mother? Oh well we can hardly ask her, perhaps we will find out as the story unfolds. Now what's this hidden under Uncle Frank's washing? Oh what a kindly girl she is - an electric massaging machine to ease the Old Fellow's tired muscles! I've haven't seen one quite this shape before though, I wonder what the rabbit's ears are for? Neither am I sure about the dog collar, I'm fairly certain Uncle Frank doesn't have a dog, perhaps he's thinking of getting one?