Fairy+Tale

Hansel and Gretel!
Once upon a time my father a very poor woodcutter lived in a tiny cottage in the forest with me and my bother Hansel. Our stepmother often ill-treated us and was forever nagging our father. "There is not enough food in the house for us all. There are too many mouths to feed! We must get rid of the two brats." She declared. And she kept on trying to persuade our father to abandon us in the forest. "Take them miles from home, so far that they can never find their way back! Maybe someone will find them and give them a home." Our downcast father didn't know what to do. I who, one evening, had overheard our parents' conversation, comforted Hansel. "Don’t worry! If they do leave us in the forest, we'll find our way home," I said. And slipping out of the house I filled my pockets with little white pebbles, and then went back to bed. All night long, our stepmother harped on and on at our father till, at dawn, he led Hansel and I away into the forest. But as we went into the depths of the mossy green ground. At a certain point, the two of us realized we really were alone: our father had plucked up enough courage to desert us, had mumbled an excuse and was gone. Night fell but father did not return. Hansel began to sob bitterly. I too felt scared but I tried to hide my feelings and comfort my brother. "Don't cry, trust me! I swear I'll take us home even if father doesn't come back for us!" Luckily the moon was full that night and I waited till its cold light filtered though the trees. "Now give me your hand!" I said. "We'll get home safely, you'll see!" The tiny white pebbles gleamed in the moonlight, and we found our way home. We crept through a half open window, without waking our parents. Cold, tired but thankful to be home again, we slipped into bed. Next day, when our stepmother discovered we had returned, she went in a rage. Stifling her anger in front of us, she locked her bedroom door, reproaching our father for failing to carry out her orders. Our weak father protested, torn as he was between shame and fear of disobeying our cruel stepmother. Our wicked stepmother kept us under lock and key all day with nothing for supper but a sip of water and some had bread. All night, father and his wife quall led, and when dawn came, our father led us out into the forest. I, however, had not eaten my bread, and as he walked through the trees, I left a trail of crumbs behind me to mark the way. But I had forgotten about the hungry birds that lived in the forest. When they saw us, they flew along behind and in no time at all, had eaten all the crumbs. Again, with a lame excuse, our woodcutter father left us by ourselves. "I've left a trail, like last time!" I whispered to Hansel, consolingly. But when night fell, we saw to our horror, that all the crumbs had gone. "I'm frightened!" wept Hansel bitterly. “I’m cold and hungry and I want to go home!" "Don't be afraid. I'm here to look after you!" I tried to encourage my brother, but I too shivered when I glimpsed frightening shadows and evil eyes around us in the darkness. All night we huddled together for warmth at the foot of a large tree. When dawn broke, we started to wander about the forest, seeking a path, but all hope soon faded. We were well and truly lost. On we walked and walked, till suddenly we come upon a strange cottage in the middle of a glade.  "This is chocolate!" gasped Hansel as he broke a lump of plaster from the wall.  "And this is icing!" I exclaimed, putting another piece of the wall in my mouth. Starving but delighted, we began to eat pieces of candy broken off the cottage.  "Isn't this delicious?" I said, with my mouth full. I had never tasted anything so nice.  "Well stay here," Hansel declared, munching a bit of nougat. We were just bout to try a piece of the biscuit door when it quietly swung open. "Well, well!" said an old woman peering out with a crafty look." And haven't you children a sweet tooth?" "Come in! Come in, you've nothing to fear!" Went on the old woman. Unluckily for us, however, the sugar candy cottage belonged to an old witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. We had come to a really nasty place. "You're nothing but skin and bones!" Said the witch, locking Hansel into a cage. I shall fatten you up and eat you!" "You can do the housework," She told me grimly, "then I'll make a meal of you too!" As luck would have it, the witch had very bad eyesight, an when I smeared butter on her glasses, she could see even less.  "Let me feel your finger!" Said the witch to Hansel every day to check if he was getting any fatter. Now, I had brought him a chicken bone, and when the witch went to touch his finger, Hansel held out the bone.  "You're still too thin!" she complained. When will you become plump?" One day the witch grew tired of waiting. "Light the Dutch oven," she told me. "We're going to have a tasty roasted boy today!" A little later, hungry and impatient, she went on: “Run and see if the oven is hot enough or not." Angrily, the witch screamed at me: "Useless child! All right, I'll see for myself." but when the witch bent down to peer inside the oven and check the heat, I gave her a tremendous push and slammed the door shut. The witch had come to a fit and proper end. I ran to set my brother free and we made quite sure that the oven door was tightly shut behind the witch. Indeed, just to be on the safe side, we fastened it firmly with a large padlock. Then we stayed for several days to eat some more of the house, till they discovered amongst the witch's belongings, a huge chocolate egg. Inside lay a casket of gold coins. "The witch is now burnt to a cinder," said Hansel, "So we'll take this treasure with us." We filled a large basket with food and set off into the forest to search for the way home. This time. Luck was with us, and on the second day, we saw our father come out of the house towards us, weeping.  "Your stepmother is dead. Come home with me now, my dear children!" We hugged our father. "Promise you'll never ever desert us again," I said, throwing my arms around my father's neck. Hansel opened the casket.  "Look father! We're rich now...You'll never have to chop wood again." And we all lived happily together ever after.