Joselle - The Great Grey Wolf and Little Ruby Riding Hood

Throughout the day Silas kept the mirror hidden so no one could take it. Now it was the end of the day and many young cubs had to be carried on one of their pack member's shoulders asleep. As Silas was packing up, Rose came over to Silas.

“I’m so tired, Silas! I can’t wait to go home and sleep for days!”

“Rose... I think we might be able to see Ruby now!”

“You know we’ll have to wait a few days, Silas--”

“NO! Look, Rose...” Silas said as he revealed the mirror. The mirror had silver edges that had been shined up for the fair, with delicate little carvings in the silver. “It’s a magic mirror...”

“Silas, do you know what this means?” Rose said as they watched James pick up Alex and Mike, who were asleep, and hang one on each of his shoulders.

“Yes, we can see her...”

“All right, but lets look through it tomorrow... okay?” Rose suggested.

Silas gave out a low whine but agreed.

They had gotten back to their camp and everyone had gone to sleep. Except for Silas. He was too excited. Slowly he got out of bed and began to creep silently through the darkness to a secluded spot. Just as he began to step over James, his older brother, he awoke.

“Silas? What are you doing?” James said in a slow, groggy voice.

“Umm...” Silas had to think fast... “Gotta relieve myself...” Silas paused, hoping that he’d buy it.

“Oh all right...” And with that, James turned over and went back to sleep.

Silas finally found a tree stump to sit on far enough away from camp so that no one could hear. Silas pulled out the mirror and stared at his reflection for a few moments.

“Hmm... let’s see..... Mirror ON!” Silas ordered, but the mirror's surface stayed cold and still. “Okay... that didn’t work.... Okay, now I know I learned something about mirrors a long time ago...” Silas sat and thought for about ten minutes, till, “I’ve GOT IT! All mirrors talk in verse... well all the old ones... Now what should I say...” Silas said to himself. “Okay it’s worth a try.” Silas lifted up the mirror to his face.

“Mirror, Mirror in my hand,
Who is the fairest in the land?”

A flash of brilliant green light came from the mirror and Silas looked at the image until it became clear. Silas gasped, “NO! Nope that definitely didn’t work...” Silas said that as he began to blush at what he had seen.

“Okay now here it goes again.” The sun had just begun to rise above the trees.

“Where is uh... the Princess Ruby...
Is she still the same?
Is she healthy while in good care?
And uh... What is her... rrr... now... known name?”

Wow that sucked! Silas thought to himself. Just then a brilliant green flash of light appeared again to Silas and this time a face began to rise from the mirror and began to speak:

“The Princess Ruby is very close,”
“In a very little town,”
“You do not have to travel by boat,”
“To see this bookstore now....”

“She is the same, and yet is not,”
“Only time will tell...”
“But by the end you will hear,”
“The sounds of wedding bells.”

“She is not Ruby there,”
“But she does not care,”
“She has changed many a thing,”
“And her now known name is Jacob Riley!”

“Good! Good! Now show me her!”

“Eh?” the old mirror asked.

Oh yes! That’s right! Only in rhyme will the mirror respond. “Okay,

My heart howls out to her right now!
I wish to see her soon!
I love her even more than the beautiful full moon!
Show her to me now!
Or I‘ll throw you right down!” Silas shouted to the mirror.

The mirror shimmered a little. As the picture became clearer Silas could see Ruby asleep in a bed with brown covers. Silas hardly noticed that she had cut her hair; all he did was stare at her beautiful sleeping face.

Jasmine slowly got up out of her gold satin bed. She had thought about Patrick all night. Oh! How she loved him, he was sooo dreamy, she couldn’t resist his charm. Jasmine yawned and walked over to her closet. She was wearing a light pink nightgown made of silk. As she changed into a lovely blue sundress she began to think of the discussion she and Patrick had had. He'd wanted to know so much about her! He even asked what type of flower she liked! Jasmine had finished dressing and had begun to put on a bonnet when she had noticed something.

The mirror Ruby had received from the dwarf king was still there! Suddenly an idea popped into Jasmine's head. Why had Ruby left? Why? There was nothing wrong with living here, so why would she want to leave so quickly! Jasmine walked over to the mirror. It was quite large in size and was placed onto the side of the wall, surrounded by little white marble roses as a frame. Jasmine thought for awhile on what she should say, because EVERYONE knew that mirrors these days only answered in rhyme.

Oh well, best make it short! Jasmine thought to herself. She began to speak, her voice ringing out like a hypnotic spell.

“Mirror in front of me!”
“What here made Ruby leave!”

A glimmer of an eerie green light flashed and Jasmine saw Ruby sitting next to Patrick.

“So let’s get to know each other.” Jasmine saw Patrick get up and sit down next to her sister.

“Well, oh okay...” Ruby replied.

“So, do you like flowers?” Patrick said to Ruby.

“Y-yes,” replied Ruby.

“What kind?” he asked as he placed his hand on her knee, and moved it slowly upward.

Jasmine witnessed Patrick get punched in the jaw by her sister. HE HAD USED THE EXACT WORD-FOR-WORD SENTENCE ON HER!!!!

The mirror shimmered, revealing another image. This time Patrick revealed his “love” to Ruby and just as she began to give him a good talking to he physically hit her! Jasmine turned away from the image, crying.

While tears ran down her face, she thought of how Patrick could possibly be so, so CRUEL!!! A sudden thought came to her head once again. This time Jasmine yelled out with hatred in her voice,

“MIRROR! MIRROR! LAYING THERE!!!”
“SHOW ME PATRICK WITHIN HIS LAIR!!!”

The mirror shimmered once again. There sat Patrick, talking to one of his friends, Jack. Patrick was sitting in a large deep black velvet chair and wore a black suit. Next to him sat a very fit boy with black hair slicked back. “So Patrick, what do you think about that girl? Uh… Jasmine is it?”

“Oh! Her,” Patrick said with a disgusted look on his face. “Oh I suppose she’ll be all right. She is so plain. She’s nothing like Ruby,” Patrick said with a look of excitement on his face.

“But she, she is dead, Patrick...”

“Oh I know, I know. She had a bad temper anyway. I could never do it with her! But she was VERY ATTRACTIVE.”

“Yes and so is Jasmine.”

“Oh no! She is HIDEOUS!!!! But I assume that’s all they can give me. Though she is much better to handle. We kissed yesterday in the garden. Of course I didn’t want to. But it seemed to satisfy her. Oh I can’t wait till Thursday,” Patrick said with a grin.

“What’s Thursday?” asked Jack.

“The night I’ll get farther then I could have EVER imagined with Jasmine.”

Jasmine screamed and ran away from the mirror and began to cry hysterically. After a few minutes she calmed down and dried her tears. And just as she was leaving her room she muttered to herself, “This is all Ruby’s fault! I’ll make her life miserable if it’s the last thing I do!!!” With that Jasmine ran out of her room.

Patrick slowly stood up out of his chair after Jack was shown out. He walked over to a wooden box, took of the lid, and grabbed a cigar. After he lit the cigar he decided to sit down, but just then there was a knock at the door.

Patrick sighed in irritation, “Oh who is it now! Probably some filthy commoner that has come to beg me for help. Filthy rats!” There was another knock, and since none of the servants had gotten it yet he decided that he’d need to do it himself. Patrick opened the door expecting to see a commoner, but nope! There stood Jasmine.

“Hello Patrick!” Jasmine said bitterly.

“Jasmine! What business do you have here?” Patrick replied coldly.

“My business here is about my sister, Ruby.”

“Your sister is dead! She has no use to me anymore,” Patrick replied.

“Actually, she’s still alive.”

Patrick’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “What evidence supports this!”

“Oh...” Jasmine said as she began to look around casually. “I just helped her escape from this place. She is still very much alive, and I know where she is hiding.”

It was Rose’s turn to go to the market and she decided that this would be the perfect opportunity for Silas to find Ruby. Although the hour's walk to town usually didn’t seem very long, Silas kept talking about Ruby on the way down, making it seem like three hours.

Finally they reached Bluetown. “Rose come on! Come on!!! We gotta find Ruby!” Silas urged while he began to drag his sister by the arm.

“Hold ON SILAS!!! You’re acting like a cub on a full moon night!” (you see, cubs don’t change during the full moon; it comes with age, a lot like puberty. If wolves had this trait ever since they had been conceived, the wolves would never be able to reproduce! The cubs just get a little hyperactive.) Silas sighed unhappily. “Now before we go and find Ruby we must stop by the stables,” Rose ordered.

“OH Rosie! You just want to see Daniel!”

“I do NOT!”

“Oh! Rosie has a crush! Rosie has a crush!!!”

“Silas SHUT UP!!!”

“Awww... Come on sis! It’s just that old brotherly love!” Silas patted Rose on the back and walked with her over to the stables.

As they got to the stables a strong smell of manure hit them. While Silas quickly covered his nose Rose just walked in casually, too distracted to notice. When Rose walked into the nearest room she could hear the sound of someone playing a harmonica. When the two turned the corner they noticed a man with auburn hair and a mustache sitting on a stool, playing his harmonica. “Hello David,” Rose said.

The man turned towards them, finally noticing them. “Ay ‘ello Silas, Rosie! We’ve been expect’n ya! Danny’s in the barn brush’n the horses.” Rose smiled and walked off, only to hear David say, “An YOU Silas, you’ve grown to be a mighty fine LAD!” It became silent as she walked off to the barn.

In the barn Rose found Daniel, just as his older brother had said he’d be: in the barn brushing the horses. Daniel was about nineteen years old with lighter brown hair than hers tied back into a low ponytail. He had brown eyes and a wonderful smile. The best thing about him was not only did he accept wolves, so did his family! Most families didn’t really like or trust wolves. Those people are quite racist. “Hello Danny,” Rose said shyly.

Daniel jumped, startled, but quickly calmed himself. “Why ‘ello Rosie!” he said with a smile. “How are ya? I haven’t seen ya for weeks.”

“Oh I’m just fine... I’ve been quite busy these few weeks,” replied Rose.

“Say, Rosie... did I mention that ye look beau-ti-full!?” Daniel added with a grin.

Rose blushed a brilliant red. “Oh you are just so sweet!” Rose cried out.

“I know!” Daniel said jokingly, as he pulled Rose into his arms and kissed her on the head.

Just then, who to wreck the perfect moment, but Silas. “Come on Rose! We’ve got to go!”

Rose moved out of Daniel’s grip. “Ay Silas, where ye go' in in such a hurry?”

“Oh just the bookstore...”

“Yes but which one?” Daniel asked.

Silas hadn’t thought of that yet. There must be two dozen bookstores in Bluetown... He remained silent.

“Ahhh.....” Daniel said as he realized the problem. “What are you looking for?”

Silas’s eyes brightened up a bit. “Uh a young g---- guy with choppy hair, who has uh just recently gotten a job at the bookstore.”

Daniel’s face changed from question to assurance. “Ah, that would be Mr. Kinston’s bookstore. Um... I think it’s called Books of the Old and Books of the New Bookstore. Do ye know the place?” asked Daniel.

Just as Silas began to shake his head, Rose finally said something. “I know where it is. I’ve never been inside but I’ve been to the bakery next to it loads of times! Now lets get a move on!”

“Right!” Silas agreed happily and walked out.

Before Rose left she kissed Daniel lightly on the cheek.