03 - Man in colour
This happened last week: Little Red climbed six trees searching for something. Later she forgot what it was she was looking for and stopped climbing the trees. She hugged a lot of trees as well, but mostly she runs around in circles pretending to be a UFO.
Little Red had walked an awfully long way, and she was now deep, deep in the forest. She did not know where she was, the only thing she knew was the direction in which her grandmothers house where. She heard a lot of strange noises from all around the forest. Some were nearby, but most were not.
Shortly she came to a clearing. The sun was shining bright and casting dim shadows around its edges. She felt reasonably sure some of the shadows had a soul, but when she tried to speak to them, they didn't respond. She decided to rest a while in the clearing, eating a little, and enjoying the sun.
Suddenly a shadow rose in front of her, then she heard the feet of someone and then a man was walking up to where she was sitting in the grass eating some berries she found nearby. The man was not very tall, but looked strong and capable of saving the world if need be.
The man gave her a bar of chocolate. She accepted it with shivering fingers. "Who are you?" she asked while chewing the chocolate.
"I am a superhero," he said.
"There are many superheroes," Little Red said. "Which one are you?"
The man shifted nervously for a while. "I am not known to the world yet."
"Why not?" asked Little Red.
"There are so many superheroes around currently. I'm still struggling to break through. I've saved the world ten times already and nobody have heard my name or seen my new, wonderful cloak. Ah! The frustration!"
She saw now that he indeed wore a cloak, and that it looked very new. "Wow," she muttered.
"Like it, huh?" he said proudly. "I made it myself."
Yes, we can see that, she thought. It spanned all the colours of the rainbow, plus some more.
"Pardon?" the man asked.
Little Red realized she had been talking to her sef, but luckily he had not heard her. "Oh, nothing." She got to her feet. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"A superhero must save the world, so that's what I'm trying to do."
"But why here? Are you saving me?" she asked.
"I don't know," he answered. He thought for a while, then said, "Do you need saving? Are you unsafe?"
"I'm probably as safe as can be," she said bravely, even though she was afraid of the forest. "Now I must go on, I'm afraid. I must get to my grandmother as soon as possible."
"So I can't save you?" he asked painfully. "You don't need saving?" He started to cry. Little Red found it best to say nothing and continue her trek through the forest. Soon his sobs were gone as she moved quickly through the trees.