Twisted Disney

Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel stumbled around the dark green forest with its uninviting branches forming scary shapes in the dim light of the evening that drew ever closer to its dark demise.

"Share my piece of bread." Gretel pushed half of her own small slice towards Hansel who was trying and failing to climb the tree to search for a way out.

It was no use, for the trees were too tall and far too high for little boys to climb. After the last crumbs of the bread had been eaten Hansel and Gretel began their journey again to nowhere in particular, to be out of the woods was the aim but they'd been lost for too many hours with no glimpse of hope left of finding an exit and being reunited with their father. Hansel had grown annoyed of their stepmother; it was her who suggested they were to be taken to the woods in the first place.

Eventually they came upon a stream. There in the distance, stood an amber coloured house brightly in the dark forest, that looks peculiarly out of place. Its colourful sweets contrasting with the darkness surrounding it. Hansel and Gretel gingerly stepped across what seemed to be a gingerbread bridge each dipped a finger into the creamy icing that held up the great weight of the children and the gingerbread, the icing tasted sour though it ought to taste sugary and sweet.

Gretel watched her brother break of a piece of the sweet-looking biscuit roof that oozed like honey onto the evergreen grass, how odd! Gretel stepped forward and touched the ruby door handle that was in fact on closer inspection a mouldy red sweet. Gretel stepped backwards in disgust as the door swung open and an old lady protruded from inside the sickly sweet house.

"Oh dear children, who brought you here? Just come in and stay with me. No harm will come to you here." The old lady, having seen the two skinny twigs of children, that both looked in desperate need of something warm to eat, said as she stepped back. Hansel and Gretel both peered into the house, which mirrored the outside of the house with its confectionary goodness' of sugared sweet furniture and chocolate cabinets, that Gretel thought were slightly impractical.

The children sat at the peppermint swirl table that was so minty as to case sternutations to both children, who also had such growling stomachs from the small slice of bread previously shared. The aroma of nice food filled the sweet cottage as the peppermint table was laden with food of vast array, variety and quantity. Much of this, the two children's poor father and stepmother had never been able to afford. Mountains of food was piled onto the plates by the children with howling stomachs and was very well received which pleased the old lady with a devilish plan.

The old lady laid the children to bed with fresh linen, then she thought of her plan. She awoke Hansel early and took him to a cage; inside that, that Hansel now had to reside, in was as dark as the forest they stumbled through yesterday, it was just as cold and the cage was rather uncomfortable. Poor Hansel cried, confused and scared for he had no idea what the old lady had planned for him.

Twenty-nine marks on the cage wall later, the old lady had begun to grow impatient, for she had put Hansel in the cage with lots of good food every day to plump him, however Hansel did not eat it all and shared much with his sister who had been ordered to clean the house up and down! Hansel would drop a chicken stick on the floor so that Gretel could gorge on its meaty flesh; Gretel always gave Hansel the bones back and used them to scratch each day marking on the cage wall. It was hard for him to tell when day or night was but he took a good guess.

The old lady decided on the thirtieth day that Hansel had grown sufficiently plumper in size, and to satisfy her hunger she thought that today would be the day, the day that she ate well. Very well. The old lady chained Gretel to the outside of the house and sent her to work on the rotting gingerbread roof that Hansel had broken when they first came across the witch. Meanwhile the old lady took Hansel out of his cage; it took a while for Hansel's eyes to adjust to the brightness of the colourful sweet house that he had not seen for a long time. The old lady gripped Hansel's shoulder and dragged him to a room that had what looked like a pool in the centre.

"Wouldn't you like to go for a swim?" She asked sweetly. Hansel reluctantly climbed into the pool after some time in it Hansel had to wipe his sweaty brow as the water around him rose to bubbles, the heat was too much for him but could he do anything? No. For the pool was in fact a shiny, grey cooking pot and the sides were far too high for him to climb out. Hansel came to a boiled end.

A few hours later the old lady allowed Gretel back into the house, the old lady sat her down at the peppermint swirl table and returned to the room with a bowl.

"What is it?" Gretel asked gingerly, taking hold of the spoon.

"Chicken broth." The old lady smiled whilst eating the meal, Gretel took a spoonful and ate it. Her eyes widened with delight for the meal was delicious, there was small chunks of meat and root vegetables in the broth, all of which was delicious and all of which, unbeknownst to Gretel was the remnants of her late brother Hansel, all cooked and boiled up in the very same broth.