Gretel

1

No one could sleep.

There was a son and a daughter.

A man and his wife.

And then there was hunger.

It was a hunger that ate at all of them. It gnawed at their stomachs. Invaded their consciousness. All lay in their beds, trying in vain to sleep. Each feared for their own survival. And for the survival of each other- though no one dared say until that night.
"I don't know what we are going to do, dear." Wheresmeine, the father of the two children, whispered in hushed tones so as to not worry his children.
But it was all in vain. The children, Hansel and Gretel did hear and they did worry, their little ears perking up at the sound of their father's voice.
"I know," says his wife. Her voice is not as quiet, and she seemed less concerned about the children. "I fear we have no choice, Wer." the couple cannot be seen from the other side of the wall but their children can hear all that is being said. "You should lead them out into the woods tomorrow." Her tone sounds serious enough, but Weresmine still cannot believe what he is hearing.
"My love, you cannot be serious!" He was still attempting to keep his voice hushed but he is getting slightly louder now "To even suggest such a thing-"
"It's them or us, Whersmine. Would you prefer we all die?"

There is silence.
Finally, the children's father speaks again "We will worry about it in the morning." There is no more talk and one would be forced to conclude that the husband had won the argument- for now.
Back in the children's beds, Hansel and Gretel- for that was their names, looked to each other in alarm. Gretal manages to choke out some words to her brother;
"What do we do, Hansel?" She feels herself beginning to panic and she fears it will begin to show in a rather embarrassing way if she does not get a hold of herself soon. Hansel's eyes widen, and he knows he has to do something for both of their sakes.
"Don't worry sister. I'll think of something." He pats his sister's hand and sets his mind to work. It is several minutes later when he finally gets an idea that seems feasible. In one swift motion, he lifts himself onto the ornately carved window sill, causing Gretel to startle "Stay here," he whispers "I'll be back in a minute." Hansel then slowly opens the window and climbs out.
Time passes and Gretel is not sure what to do or think: Did Hansel abandon her and try to go out and fend for himself? Was he planning to come back and something happened? Each scenario was equally terrible, and she dreaded to hazard a guess as to which situation was more likely. All she could do is lay in silent terror, praying that her brother would return.
It felt like an eternity when he finally climbed back through the windowsill above her head and dove back into the bed. When Gretel looks at his face, she sees that he is grinning from ear to ear. "I got it all figured out Gret," he says, proudly producing something from his pajama pocket.
Curious, she sat up and looked at what Hansel had brought back. It didn't make any sense at first, it just looked like a bunch of stones, and she gave Hansel a quizzical look.
"They're stones, Gretel. Sorry I took so long, but I had to get a lot of them and make sure that they would show up at night."
"Why?"
"When and if they lead us in the woods, I will leave a trail of these to find our way home. We will need to be able to see them if we are still out at nightfall." Hansel explained, his voice very audible.

Gretel nodded feeling better that they at least had a plan- at least a chance to survive. Gretel sank back into bed and stared at the swirled carvings her father had carved into the bed before she finally fell asleep.

The next morning the children are woken in a harsh manner.
"Wake up!" SPLOOSH! Before the children can wake up they are dowsed in an ice cold liquid and the small humans are jolted awake wide eyed and startled. "Get dressed and get moving! We're heading to the forest to get some work done today." Seizing the bucket she used to soak her children, she turns on her heel and abruptly storms out of the room. Frightened, but privy to their mother's plan, Hansel and Gretel give each other a quick glace.
Seeing no other choice, they do as they are told, hastily trying to dey themselves up, and adding as many layers as possible, should the worst occur. Remembering the events of last night, Gretel quickly pulls on her overcoat and goes to her brother and leans close so he is the only one who can hear. "You have the pebbles ready?" Her voice is tense, and it makes the boy stop in his tracks and feel his pockets just to make sure that they actually were there. Feeling the small round objects buldging within the fabric.
"Got them." He whispered back, holding back a sigh of relief. Gretel is about to remind Hansel to be more mindful of where he keeps his things, when they here a loud, irritated voice calling them
"Come on you two! We have things to do!"
Deciding they had better hurry up, Hansel and Gretel scurried up to the main room of the house, finding both a sullen father and a very irritable mother waiting for them. Taking notice of them the second they walked up, the wood carver's wife immediately started up. "There you are, finally! Gretel you'll be in charge of food distribution while we're out" the unpleasant woman shoves a few loaves of bread into the small girls hands, "You had better be careful with it," she warns "it is the only food we have and all you're going to get while we're out."
Gretel considers her words Yes, mother." Doing her best to feign ignorance of the situation.
"Hansel, you assist your father with cutting the trees he is going to use. Understand?"
"Yes mother," he replied automatically, not wanting their parents to see that they knew where this was going.
Satisfied, and unaware that her children were up on her motives, she then turned to her husband with an expectant look and clears her throat. The wood carver looks down at her in surprise, clearly lost in his own world. "Aren't you supposed to get the door for a lady like a gentleman?" She all but snarls.
The poor man looks like he is regretting his life choices and resisting the urge to roll his eyes, but goes and and untlatches the door anyway and a the crisp autumn breeze seeped through the door. It is a pleasant day, better than one could hope for, yet it was overshadowed by the overwhelming sense of dread that the children felt closing in on them. With great trepidation, the twins trailed after there parents, following them into the woods.
The four of them spent hours and it wasn't long before Gretal was forced to distribute and ration the bread. Hansel was careful to be discreet as he carried out the plan, systematically dropping pebbles every five feet, and careful not to let either of his parents see what they were up to. The tiny stones landed noisily, but were muffled by the clamor and wildlife of the woods. They walked for ages, but it seemed like no time at all, and before they knew it the sun was starting to set.
The small family found a clearing and the four immediately started making camp there. Soon a small fire was blazing, though not as strong as it ought to be. Gretel had a feeling that this was done quite on purpose. Still, by the heat of the flames the twins could almost forget their troubles, that was until their parents stood, as if to leave.
"Where are you going?" Hansel asked sounding about as nervous as Gretel felt.
"We're just going to get some fire wood dear," their father lied, though badly. The guilt in his voice could be easily heard and felt and this didn't go unnoticed by the twins. "We'll be back soon with more twigs and sticks. You just wait here until we return alright?"
"But-"
"Mind your father." Their mother snapped before turning to her husband, signaling that it was time to go "Whersmine let's go." Intimidated and coerced, the poor man hesitated a moment before finally allowing his wife to tug him away.
Well the children waited, and waited, and waited. It was when the sun finally set for good and the stars shown in the sky like diamonds when Hansel and Gretel finally decided that they could wait no more. Standing from his spot by the fire, it was Hansel who first stirred them into action, holding a hand out for Gretel to grab, he finally suggested they carry out their plan "Let's go sister. The pebbles I dropped on the way here will lead us home." Sniffing and in tears, Gretel gingerly took her brother's hand and they started scouting for where he had left the last stone.
They didn't have to look long.
In the light of the moon the little rock shined like a star in the inky blackness of the woods. From there they spotted the next pebble, and the next, until they finally traced their steps back to the little cottage. Hansel tried the door but as he expected, it was locked tight. Having no other choice, the little children knocked on the door as hard as their little fists would allow.  They were about to give up, when the front door was flung open.  It was their mother.
"Took you long enough!"