Most of y'all probably already follow so you already saw this last night. So let me just put a bit of my perspective on it. When I first started getting "furry-curi" and logged onto my first furry website, I looked around and wondered how in the world I was going to fit in, given my limitations as a drawing artist. Then I saw the site had a section for writing, with the encouraging subtitle "Everybody loves Story Time!" And I thought to myself, I can do THAT... and I was on my way.

Everybody loves story time. So very true and that's what I wanted emphasize with this commission from Gem. Of course the irony of a wolf telling the story of LRRH to a little girl in a red hood is pretty delicious too. Note that Gem even drew in little foot claws on me just to give the very slightest hint of menace...

For those who somehow missed it, here's the story that goes with it. This has minor wording changes from the version Gem posted but is essentially the same story so don't feel the need to read it all over again unless you want to.

Story Time

Uno sighed in frustration and boredom. The wolf cub wriggled around on the sofa looking on as the toddler squirrel played with her toys on the floor, all but oblivious to his presence a couple feet above.

"Could you watch Gem and keep her entertained until the sitter arrives?" his mother had requested. "Oh, and remember she's a baby, so no rough play."

"No rough play." One of any six-year-old boy's least favorite sets of three words, perhaps only behind "eat your vegetables". Even the relatively un-rambunctious Uno despaired at the order. The good news was that Gem seemed to be doing a good job keeping herself entertained. But who would entertain him?

Uno racked his brain for an idea, ANY idea, of something they could do together. But what common ground could they possibly have? Kids are kids and babies are babies and there's an awfully big divide there.

Gazing at the toddler, Uno's eyes eventually landed on the bright red hat -- almost a bonnet really -- that her parents had tied under her chin. He'd never seen it before, and yet there was something familiar about it, like it was something he'd pictured in his mind many times before, in his dreams maybe, or perhaps...

In a flash, it all came to him. Uno sprang from the sofa and told his guest, "stay here, I'll be right back," and with that sprinted out of the living room. Without realizing it, Uno had startled Gem quite badly with his sudden burst of activity, but luckily a few hard sucks on her pacifier calmed her back down before Uno returned.

"Hey Gem," Uno invited upon re-entering the room. "Wanna hear a story?"

The word "story" made a connection in Gem's brain, and she turned to face Uno with interest. "Deah!" she replied, which Uno had no trouble interpreting as an affirmative. The young wolf had his opening.

Though all Uno had left of his father were memories, they were very happy memories indeed. And among his very favorite memories was a certain bedtime story his father would read to him, complete with voice acting, some of which was very, almost frighteningly, realistic.

Uno beamed. Now it was his turn.

"This," Uno began, showing Gem the book's cover, "is the story of Little Red Riding Hood."

Uno ripped through the story rather quickly and not very accurately. He was a good reader for his age, but that age WAS six, after all. Besides, he was in a hurry to get to his favorite part, the climactic "big ears/eyes/teeth" bit. Gem, of course, didn't care; she wouldn't have understood half the words in the story even if Uno had read them right.

Uno was just getting to that climax when his mother entered the room. Taking one look at the scene on the floor she slipped back out again silently. That camera had to be around somewhere...