Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel, a tale known by most: A story of wandering twins,

who managed to flee from an evil witch...according to the Brother’s Grimm.

But what the fairytale failed to mention- A detail, so vital, so small,

was how those children were callous, rotten, and gluttonous pigs, above all.

One day, when they pressed for another slice of bread, their scrawny mother replied,

“But you’ve already eaten the bread we have!” And then she sent them outside.

“Go find somewhere else to live; your father and I are half dead.”

With that, she shut the door in their faces, twins in shock, their cheeks tinting red.

Together, the siblings trekked through the woods, when Gretel turned to her brother with fear,

“Hansel, what in earth are we to do? There's nothing to eat out here.”

Hansel, unsure of what to say, simply said nothing at all.

And so they walked, and walked, and walked, until night began to fall.

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was chance, or maybe the twins had been blessed.

But they came upon a cute, little cottage, and there, they decided, they'd rest.

Approaching the house with a shy sort of caution, Hansel’s hand froze in the air, mid-knock.

His sister, confused at what made her brother stop, looked closer, then gasped softly in shock.

“It's made of chocolate!” the young girl cried, for she had never seen anything like it before.

“I can't believe it,” her brother replied, before breaking a large piece off the door.

He popped it into his mouth, Gretel staring in awe, before she reached forward to do the same.

Then identical grins grew on their faces. This is amazing!” Hansel proclaimed.

And so the children continued to eat, reducing the door to shreds.

They had only begun to nibble on the doorway when a sharp voice made them turn their heads.

“There's more where that came from, if you’d like," muttered a tall woman from behind.

The twins simply gaped. “You two look exhausted. If you'd like, you can come inside.“

The woman brushed past them, offering them a smile, before gesturing for the children to follow.

And they did, the promise of more candy alluring - the twins were nothing, if not shallow.

Much to their surprise, the woman was kind and allowed them to stay in her home.

Hansel and Gretel accepted the offer; they didn’t want to go back in the woods alone.

And so, they lived there happily for months, the woman treating them as her own.

Until Hansel discovered something one night, something he wished he hadn’t known.

“She’s a witch!” he hissed to Gretel in the morning, his blue eyes riddled with fear.

“I saw her last night: she was doing...something. I don’t know; we just can’t stay here.”

“But where, Hansel…” his sister softly whined. “We have nowhere else to go.”

When Hansel gave her a pointed glare, she sighed, “Fine. I’ll miss this house though.”

Hansel couldn’t deny she had a point - he wasn’t too keen on wandering the woods.

“What if we stay?” At his sister’s confusion, he continued, “Well, we could.”

A month had passed with the witch none the wiser that the twins had came up with a plan;

It was her or them, the children decided. And so the screaming began.

“Hansel's stuck in the oven!” Gretel cried, with false tears like dew drops on her lashes.

“Get him out, quick!” And the witch complied, immediately climbing into the ashes.

The young girl was clearly taken aback by how quickly the woman had reacted,

A small thought flitted through her head: was she really a witch, or had Hansel overreacted?

Shaking it aside, she slammed the oven shut, and Hansel approached from her from behind.

A small grin on his lips, he taped the door shut, making sure that the witch was confined.

‘There,” he muttered, before turning the oven on and lightly taking his sister’s hand.

Then they made their way out of the room to wait for the screaming to end.