“Our stepmother hates us,” Hansel said to his sister Gretel on one chilling night, They had overheard her talking to their father about abandoning them in the dark, creepy forest. “We are already cold, hungry, and unloved by that witch of a woman…now she wants to dump us in the woods,” Hansel continued. Gretel shuddered at te thought of her treacherous stepmother and agrees wit Hansel; “You are right. I believe she will try to get rid of us tomorrow. Let us be prepared.” The young children hid a sharp knife and scraps of cloth in their clothing and tried to sleep for the night. “Get up now you brats!” their stepmother shrieked the next morning. She leaned close to their faces to frighten them. The woman was quite sepulchral in appearance; she always had a pale, cold glow about her and strange reddish eyes. “We are going to collect wood in the forest. Come now and I will lead you there.” The children trailed after her, peering about them as they walked. They saw strange shapes, glimmering eyes, and creepy movements as they trudged through the woods. Although it was the middle of the day, one could barely see ahead of them in this thick, overgrown forest. The children felt uneasy as if they were being watched from afar. Secretly, they had been dropping bits of cloth behind them as they journeyed through the woods so that the could find their way home later. Strangely, they heard ravenous noises behind them, as if a pack of wolves was eating for the first time in weeks. Finally, their evil stepmother stopped in her tracks and said “I will see you back at the house. Your father will retrieve uou later.” She then traipsed back home led by her on candlelight. “What do we do now?” Gretel whined worriedly. “We will simply retrace our steps,” Hansel answered, “remember? We left a trail of cloth.” They children searched everywhere for the path of cloth but it seemed to have disappeared altogether. The two were worried sick; they were lost in the cold, dark, gloomy secluded woods, and it was late at night already. They huddled together for warmth and finally fell asleep. The next morning, though, they awoke worried, chilly, and horribly hungry. “Look,” Gretel shouted excitedly, “ I see a house in the distance! Let us go and ask the owner for help.” The young children ran to the house and gasped in awe when they arrived. The whole house was covered in various dark candies- black licorice, dark chocolate, breads, and even dark red sugar glass made up the whole abode. “ How wonderful!” Hansel shouted as he ran to devour the house, “ we will never be hungry again!” The kids engulfed the candy- covered house, and had no idea that an old woman was walking towards them. “Oh, children, I am so glad you like my home,” the elderly lady said. “Come inside, and I will get you more treats.” The children happily obliged; they were oblivious to the familiarity of the woman. “Here children, have some more. Eat as much as your heart desires.” The young girl and boy ate until they felt like bursting, and then the woman shuttled them off to bed. “Here, come and take a rest. You have both had a weary day, wandering lost in the forest.” The children did not notice that the woman knew their whereabouts, and they quickly fell asleep. When they woke up the next day, they were in shock; the old woman had chained them to their beds and placed the beds in a small jail-like room. “Enjoying yourselves, little brats?” the woman asked mockingly. At that moment, Hansel and Gretel realized that the elderly woman was actually their stepmother in disguise. “I will fatten, cook, and eat both of you ungrateful little children,” she continued. Over the next few days the evil woman fed and fed and fed the kids until they barely fit on their confining beds. She unbound them and led them to the large, ominous oven to be cooked for supper. As she opened the creaking oven door the children cried in fear, “Get in, both of you,” she shouted, “ I will have you for dinner, and I will enjoy it too!” She pushed them further, but in the blink of an eye they seized her, and they threw HER in the oven. “That’s what you get, you evil woman” Hansel said with a blissful expression, “Come Gretel, let us flee.” The children ran out of the house with delight, but ran slowly due to their newly gained plumpness. Both gasped in shock and horror when they turned a corner in the forest; there, right in front of them, was the stepmother herself- burnt, red-eyed, and fuming. She captured the children by the wrists, and dragged them back into the house. Somehow, though the children escaped again and ran all the way across the forest, safe and sound. While the children believe they are free now, to this day moaning voices taunt them through the forest calling “come and eat more, you little brats!”