Hansel and Gretel Re-Make

Hansel and Gretel

A/N Warning Gruesome

The brother and sister lay on the cold dungeon floor. The stony ground was imprinting on their soft cheeks. The nine and ten year old wear waken from their nightmare filled sleep by a relentless banging on the cage door. Hansel peeked up through his long lashes to look at the broad man with a thinning beard.

“Get up,” the man barked in a gruff voice.

Hansel scurried to his feet and quickly stumbled to pull his sister to her feet with him.

“You have been charged with stealing bread,” the man continued. “Since you are children you have the option of being exiled from this land or participating in a challenge. If you are to choose the challenge and you survive you will not be charged for anything. If you do not defeat the challenge you will die, choose wisely.”

Hansel being the older sibling felt he should include Gretel in the decision. He wanted to choose the challenge, exile would mean certain death seeing as there was no food, water, shelter, or civilization for miles, but because death was a possibility in both he needed his sisters input. He looked down at his sister an anticipating look on his face.

In a voice a child would use, but with the pained expression of a war hero she whispered, “Challenge.”

Then with a stronger voice Hansel told the jail keeper, “Challenge.”

“As you wish,” The man coed a sadistic twist on his lips.

At that fear shot through both Hansel and Gretel, what if they had made the wrong decision.  The cell door was unlocked and swung open. Two more guards came in to hold the siblings while the jail Keeper unlocked the shackles connecting them to wall. There was a clanging noise as the shackles from around their wrists hit the floor and the shackles around their ankles were unlocked. The jail keeper than replaced the shackles with handcuffs and began to lead them up the stairs.

 After leading them through a maze of dark and dank corridors they had finally reached sunlight. The poor children hadn’t seen the sun in a week and basked in the heat. The jail keeper told the guards they could go and took the children by their colors and began leading them to the forest nearby.

“Go into the forest at least four-hundred paces. You will need to survive in the forest on the bread you have stolen for a week,” the jail keeper ordered.

Hansel and Gretel shared a look as they were reluctant to enter the forest. Seeing their hesitation the man holding them pushed them into the forest.  Both of the children lost balance and fell forward sliding through the dirt. A tear fell from Gretel’s eye as she looked down to see a twig embedded in her side. Noticing it to Hansel rushed over and pulled it out fast and as painlessly as he could. Despite this Gretel let out a shriek of pain, instantly making Hansel feel bad for his actions. He helped his sister to her feet and began to think of how they would find their way out. Instantly the bread in his hand came to mind. They could forage for food and leave a trail of breadcrumbs so that they wouldn’t lose their way. Slowly taking, Gretel’s hand, Hansel began the journey into the forest dropping a trail of breadcrumbs behind himself.

Four hundred paces later the brother and sister stop to rest. Upon hearing Gretel’s stomach growl Hansel got to his feet and began to forage for food. Gretel followed behind Hansel and the soon came to a berry bush. Hansel thought it strange to have this kind of luck and knew he would have to try the berries before Gretel. Slowly he reached his hand out, plucked a berry and brought it to his lips. Cautiously he bit part of the berry off. After swallowing he became ill almost immediately. He became nauseous and his muscles felt as if they had been set on fire.