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Hansel found Gretel almost immediately.

It was dark, and wet inside the creature. The smell of rotting fish was nearly unbearable, but neither one of them could bother to care.

"Gretel? Gretel! Is that you?" the small boy called out fearfully.

"I'm here. Keep talking. I'll find you." 

Hansel did as he was told, and with a lot of feeling around, he found who he was looking for. "Oh Gretel it got you too!" her twin moaned as soon as he felt her face.

"I know. I was trying to save you. I think I took on more than I could handle." the girl admitted sullenly.

"It was still really brave of you," Hansel told her kindly. Thinking things over for a minute, he added "besides, I think I have a way to get out of here."

"How do you figure?" Gretel asked curiously

"Well I know this may not be the most appealing idea but, if we could get to the intestines, we could escape through his rear end without notice." He said this with a straight face, and the suggestion was nearly enough to make his sister want to barf. She coughed incessantly for several minutes until she was able to get a hold of herself all while Hansel gently tapped her back for support until she finally calmed down enough to speak

"Ew! That's disgusting!" 

"I know but it's the best we've got. Are you with me?"

"Always." 

With that, the twins gingerly started walking into the belly of the beast. It was dark, but by feeling the sides of the creature they could get a pretty good estimate of where in its body they were. They were about halfway through the midsection, following the ridges of the gigantic fish's ribs, and they found something they didn't expect. Gretel had felt her way along the slimy insides of the creature and thinking the way was clear, she moved forward, only to smack her head into something hard. 

"Ow!"

"Gretel? What is it?" Hansel asked nervously from somewhere off to her side. 

"I hit something. Something hard." Gretel complained rubbing her now sore head as Hansel came to inspect. "What do you think it is?" she asked as he brushed his hand on the unknown object. 

"It kind of feels like... it feels like a house. A very big house. Only it's not like any house I've ever touched." He then went back to feeling the house some more.

"How? it felt pretty normal to me when I ran into  it with my head." Gretel complained irritably as she rubbed her sore noggin, hoping she wouldn't be adding another bruise to her collection.

"Give me a second and I'll show you." Hansel replied patiently. It took a moment, soon both children heard a loud crunch that brought a wide, triumphant smile to his face "I thought so. Here sister, taste." He held out something in his hand for her to take.

"Ew, no! I'm not eating building materials. I don't care how hungry I am."

"Would you just trust me?" Hansel pleaded sounding hurt and making the girl crumble at his words.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Gretel sighed skeptically.

"I'm nearly positive."

"Oh alright." Rethinking her life choices, the twin girl gingerly took the unknown substance from her brother's hand, and to her surprise, it felt surprisingly like bread. Reluctantly, she placed it in her mouth and chewed. Her face lit up in delight. It was bread. Honest-to-goodness bread. For the first time in days, a genuine grin crossed her face. It was hard and scratchy, yet food it still was. Gretel was so giddy she let out a little laugh to which Hansel soon echoed. Both grinning from ear to ear, the small twins continued to pick out the house. Nibbling, they picked and picked as much as their nimble fingers would allow, yet both children felt like no amount would fill them. Frenzied and in the dark, neither noticed that they were being watched like a predetor watches its prey

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