The basket

Alice swiftly moved through the snow-covered woods with ease. Her mind reminded her about the recent disappearances here, but she wasn’t afraid. She had been here many times before. The small wicker basket was cradled safely under the red coat she was wearing. Snow fell hard and the white flakes clouded her vision, but her sense of sound was as alert as ever. Her heart raced as she heard the loud thump of heavy footsteps behind her. She turned quickly to find her pursuer. Nothing. No footsteps, no sounds, just the quiet wood around her. Promptly, she began to walk again, this time faster. She heard the footsteps no more as she entered the clearing in the middle of the forest. The tower stood, magnificently and fairy-tale like, in the dead center of the clearing. As she hurried towards the tall structure, she slipped on the slick ice. The basket was thrown from her grasp and slid across the frozen ground. She stood abruptly to retrieve it, but was too late. The large beast stepped out from the shadows of the trees. His eyes glowed crimson with desire for the brown basket. He moved quickly towards it and snatched it from the ground in his stained razor-like teeth. Alice lunged forward; she couldn’t lose that basket. She ran after the wolf into the darkness of the vegetation and was never seen again.