The Girl with Two Braids-- a different kind of Red Riding Hood

In the city of Somewhere lives a girl who has two long braids, brown like chestnuts. She is everything that her mother dreamed of—a playful girl with two long braids.The mother named the girl Little Forest, a name that she had had in mind since she was still pregnant with her. She is very fond of Little Forest, and every time the girl goes to school, the woman adorns the braids of her child with colorful ribbons: white, pink, or blue.

Because Little Forest was a good student all year long, the mother wants to offer her child a special summer vacation. So she decides to send the girl to The Sea, together with other kids of her age, and a teacher. Little Forest is very excited; she has heard magnificent stories about The Sea, but has never gone there before, and moreover, she has never gone anywhere without her mother, who is sometimes exceedingly protective.

The much anticipated day of the trip has come and Little Forest, the other kids, and their teacher are gathered at the railway station to wait for the train that would take them to the faraway land of The Sea. When the train comes, the kids— a nice group of girls and boys— hurry to find their seats, while the parents who took them there, utter loudly their last words of advise. They have to travel one day and one night, and change trains in some towns. Finally they leave. The train’s windows are so generous— they begin showing the happy travelers all kinds of spectacular things: rivers, forests, animals, towns.

Late in the evening they arrive in a main city and wait at a station for another train to take them farther. Even though the trip is exhausting, the kids are still full of energy. Little Forest spots a luggage cart and jumps joyfully on it. Spontaneously, a boy from the group has the idea to move her cart, gradually increasing the speed. First, the girl is startled, but soon she begins to enjoy the play and the gentle breeze as he is pushing faster and faster; she smiles and the boy smiles too. 

In the morning, when the sun is already victorious in the sky, the group reaches its destination. The land of The Sea is in front of them, wide and colorful. Their eyes glance at the exotic trees with flowers, and the multitude of people, so motley dressed, crowded on a long and sandy strip of land. Beyond these, they could see a blue surface of endless water. As soon as the girls and the boys arrive in their rooms, located right by the sandy strip of land, they quickly forget about the night that lacked any good sleep, and rummage through their suitcases to find their bathing suits. In minutes, they are as motley as the other people are, and run towards the beautiful water that beckons.

Little Forest is the tallest girl in the group, and her blue bathing suit with verdure patterns fits well on her slender body, already beginning to shape and bloom here and there. She goes into the water and it is like she discovers another world— she has the feeling that sand, tiny creatures, and  the liquid with its magical consistency are embracing her somehow. Her brownish braids follow her body rapidly, waving their interlacing silhouettes through the water. Little Forest is happy. All the kids are happy. The same boy that was pushing her cart splashes her with water. She laughs. They all laugh.

One evening, a rock band is playing music on an outdoor terrace, near the place where the kids and their teacher reside. They all gather at the dancing area in front of the platform where the band is performing.The music is piercing, there is a myriad of colored lights around the terrace, and a feathery breeze with a smell of shells moves gently through the summer clothes and touches the skin. From her corner, Little Forest contemplates the atmosphere. Again, a new world is before her, and like water, is magical, and calls her in. For some reason she arranged her hair in one thick braid on her back, and even though she almost looks like a young woman, the expression of her face reveals the tenderness of her age.

From nowhere, the silhouette of a man, outlined by the lights that suddenly appear sinister, approaches Little Forest. With long and greasy hair, and wrinkled clothes that disorderly hang on his tall slim body, the man invites the girl to dance, stretching his hand towards her. Little Forest is confused, but she has been told that she is not supposed to refuse such invitations, so she timidly offers her hand and follows him towards the middle of the dancing platform. She has danced before with other boys that she knew from school, but this time such closeness makes her uncomfortable; she finds his proximity menacing, and even his smell is weird— a mixture of salt and something that she recognizes as alcohol. Barely touching, she has put her hands near his shoulders, hoping that the blues would finish soon. The man holds her waist, but seconds into the slow dance, he lifts his hands towards her round breast, yet untouched, and frightened. As she feels the movement of his hands, she gently twists her body hoping that his hands would slide down, but instead they go farther and farther up that she has the sensation that her breast is resting in the hollow of his palms.

She cannot hear the music, she cannot see the lights, she cannot breathe the summer air, not anymore; moreover she feels that she must run.  So, although the blues still continues, she nervously removes his hands from her body as if throwing them away, and runs towards the edge of the dancing area. In her running she has a glimpse of his face and hands that seem to ask her “why?”, but she would not care. Little Forest continues her running towards the safety of her room, and comfort of her bed.

“Why did you do that?”…“You know…men are proud creatures…he could have come after you and slapped you on the face; you are quite lucky because he has not done this.” With these words, the teacher and the other girls reprove Little Forest, but she can not hear them— they do not know what she does.

A day or two later, Little Forest sees him again— the same man with greasy hair and wrinkled clothes that hang untidy on his body. Drinking something, he leans carelessly over the wooden weathered railing of a deck near the water. She runs away again, fearing that he might recognize her and look to avenge himself. Once again, she finds the safety of her room.

But anyway, the time spent by The Sea is almost over. Tomorrow they will go back home. From the white and sandy piece of land, Little Forest is gazing towards the water, watching its perpetual movement of the waves. The boy who used to tease her, splashes her again with water, in an attempt to convince the girl to come and play one more time in the blue, immense pool. But Little Forest is not as playful as before; she is very thoughtful and although smiling to him, she seems to be somewhere else. Today, she has not made her two braids, and now her hair is freely flying in the wind, maybe towards the new world so open before her eyes that is calling her…

“I want to cut my braids” tells Little Forest to her mother, immediately as she arrives home. “I want to have bangs and wear my hair just over my shoulders,” she continues, opinionated as never before. Her mother cannot stop her; she is resigned, and often says that Little Forest was still a child when she left to The Sea, but she came back as a rebellious adolescent.

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The Sea is where you go for a change sometimes…To wash away the past and welcome something new…