Samantha R. Cichella - A New Successor

“Come on! You can’t stay out here forever.”

“Want to bet?”

“Wolf, please. Just do this for me. Please?”

“Virginia, last time I came here, she called the police on me!” Wolf whined.

“Wolf, she is my grandmother, and she is never going to get used to you if she never even sees you. She won’t call the cops on you this time. I’ll make sure of it. We’re leaving out of town for a couple of weeks, and the least we could do is visit with her for a minute.”

“Why can’t you visit with her? And I’ll just wait out here until you’re done. She doesn’t like me Virginia.”

“Well then she is just going to have to get used to you, because you are my future husband and the father to the baby I’m going to have.” Virginia frowned as Wolf made the puppy dog pout face again. “All right, you can wait out here this time, but this is the last time! Okay?”

“Ok, thank you Virginia.” Wolf sat down by the stairs and planned on waiting until Virginia got out.

Virginia frowned again at him before going inside. She needed to figure out a way to get him in here. Perfect, she thought, as an idea popped into her head. She allowed herself a small grin before she opened up the door to the apartment.

“Grandmother? Are you here?”

“Virginia is that you? Oh, thank God, you’re alone and you didn’t bring that Thing with you!”

“Grandmother, that thing is my fiancé. He is also the father to the baby I’m having.” Virginia winced. She hadn’t meant to tell her grandma that yet. Oh, well.

Her grandmother just stared at her, open mouthed. “V-Virginia...” she stuttered, (most unlike her) “You’re kidding r-right?”

Virginia sighed. “No, Grandma, but I didn’t want to have to tell you like that. But, you gave me no choice. I love Wolf, Grandma. So, you either learn to get along with him, or you don’t. But it would mean a lot to me if you gave him a chance.”

Her grandma just stood there and didn’t say anything. Virginia finally got her to sit down, before she fell down. “How about I make us some lunch, Okay?”

Virginia didn’t wait for an answer. She left her grandmother to think about what just happened and headed for the kitchen.

Wolf had been sitting on the steps for about a half hour now. He was starting to get hungry and hoped Virginia wouldn’t be too much longer. Just then, for the second time that day, he smelt bacon. Wolf growled. It’s not fair, he thought, who could be cooking bacon now? Here I am sitting here starving, and someone is cooking bacon. Oh, Huff Puff. Wolf stood up, deciding to walk around, instead of just sitting there. He figured he would take a walk just outside of the building until Virginia was done.

Before he realized what he was doing, he began following his nose to where the bacon was coming from. He stopped right outside of Virginia’s grandmother’s door. Oh, Huff Puff! She’s doing this on purpose! Whining, Wolf considered going inside. After about a minute of contemplating, which Wolf found very hard because of the sweet aroma of the bacon, he decided to try and go outside. He tried to make his way downstairs but found that his legs were having trouble walking. Fine, I’ll go in there, but I’m not going to stay any longer than I have to.

Virginia stood at her grandmother’s stove cooking bacon. She knew that she made way too much, but if her plan worked, it wouldn’t just be her grandmother and herself eating. Just as the bacon finished frying, she grabbed the bread and the plates to start making the sandwiches.

Out in the living room, she heard her grandmother shriek. Virginia smiled to herself, before rushing out to see what the matter was. Wolf had just come through the front door, and was looking very nervous and her grandmother was hiding behind the couch. Virginia tried as hard as she could not to burst out laughing as she made her way towards Grandmother.

“Grandma, get out from under there. Wolf is harmless.” Virginia turned to Wolf, “So, you decided to join us after all, huh?”

Wolf could just make out the slightest smile playing on Virginia’s lips as she said this. “Well you kind of didn’t leave me much choice there did you?” Wolf tried to act mad, but found it didn’t work.

Virginia couldn’t take it any longer. She burst out laughing as she made her way over to him. “You hungry?” She didn’t even need to ask, because just as she said that, Wolf’s stomach let out a big growl.

Wolf smiled sheepishly, but the smile faded when he saw her grandma peek out from behind the couch. “Err...Hello.” He hoped that he could get her to calm down, so he could hurry up and eat.

Virginia’s grandma just stared at him. Then he noticed that very slowly she was backing up. Then he realized where she was backing up to. “Virginia,” he whispered, “the telly-phone.” He had just learned the concept of a telephone the other day.

Virginia took off and made it to the phone about a second before her grandmother. She yanked the cord from the wall before her grandma had a chance to call the police again. “Grandma! He is not going to hurt you. He just wanted to apologize for the mix up before. Right Wolf...?”

Wolf nodded his head as fast as he could, his stomach was still growling and he hoped that she would hurry up and forgive him.

“Mix Up! He tried to eat me!” Grandma yelled, finding more courage by the minute, although not much.

“No, no, no, no, you see... I was just... um...”

“He was practicing for a play audition for the part of the Big Bad Wolf in Red Riding Hood” Virginia blurted out. Hopefully her grandma would buy this. After all, she was always a big fan of theater.

“Yes! Yes, that’s it. I didn’t want to tell you at the time, because... err...you had to be surprised!” Virginia watched as Wolf’s eyes flashed a golden yellow. Strange, I haven’t seen him do that before. She turned to her grandmother who was standing there with in a daze. Her eyes were a bit dazed. After a minute, she seemed to come to her senses. Virginia watched with confusion. I’m going to ask him about that later on.

“Well, I suppose I have no choice but to believe you. If what you say is true Virginia, about the baby, I guess that I have to learn to get along with him.”

Virginia and Wolf both smiled. Relieved, Virginia said, “Well now that’s taken care of, how about some lunch?