Little Rose Riding Hood (short story)

Little Rose Riding Hood was the eighth short story in Time Lord Fairy Tales, featuring the Ninth Doctor.

Publisher's summary
Deep in the woods, Rose is travelling to her grandmother's cottage. She's careful to watch out for the Bad Wolf, but what about the strange woodcutter she meets, wearing a black leather jacket? And why does Grandma suddenly have such sharp teeth?

Plot
Rose lived with her mother on the edge of a wood. Every week, she and her mother visited her grandmother on the other side of the wood. One day, Rose's mother fell ill, and Rose had to go to her grandmother's cottage on her own. She promised her mother she wouldn't stray from the path. She put on her red cloak and set off.

The path narrowed. Rose worried about seeing the Bad Wolf. She ran into a tall man in a dark jacket. He told her he was a woodcutter who kept the forest healthy. He said goodbye and walked off into the woods.

Rose continued into the woods, the trees getting closer around her. She realised that someone was following her. She called out, but received no response. A branch broke, and a creature rose from the bushes. She ran in fear, and accidentally left the path. She continued to run until she arrived at her grandmother's house.

She went inside and told her grandmother about her journey through the woods. As they talked, Rose started to notice her grandmother behaving oddly: not drinking her tea, calling Rose by name. As she went into the kitchen, she glimpsed for a second a creature covered in suckers instead of her grandmother.

She heard a pulsing noise coming from the cellar, so she opened the door and descended the steps. In the cellar, she found a strange organic-looking cabinet, with her grandmother inside. On the stairs behind her, her grandmother appeared, and changed form into the creature. It started towards her, and she ducked around it and to the door.

She ran upstairs and found the woodcutter. The creature followed her, and the woodcutter identified it as a Zygon. The woodcutter rushed the creature and pushed it down the stairs. He went down and brought Rose's grandmother back up.

They all sat around drinking tea and talking about what had transpired. The woodcutter drank his tea and excused himself, going outside to his blue shed. In a moment, the shed disappeared.

Characters

 * Ninth Doctor
 * Rose
 * Rose's mother
 * Rose's grandmother
 * Zygon

Continuity

 * Rose has seen the words "Bad Wolf" written on walls and pavements around town. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)