A Good Witch Is Hard To Find

The brother and sister had been wandering throughout the depths of the forest for days. The girl, Gretel, was growing increasingly anxious and pessimistic about their chances of survival. Presently, she was recounting the tale of an ancient, cannibalistic witch who supposedly resided somewhere deep in the woods. “She eats children, Hansel! That’s her specialty. I don’t know about you, but I’m simply terrified of meeting someone with such an under-developed conscience!” Gretel considered her own conscience to be highly admirable, and was disdainful and slightly fearful of anyone morally inferior to herself. Hansel blatantly ignored Gretel’s story, choosing, instead, to study the uniform lines of trees that surrounded the siblings. The trees offered no insight into their location within the forest, or, for that matter, in relation to their old home- but no, they couldn’t return there. They had no home anymore, Hansel remembered, not since they had been cruelly thrown out by their stepmother.

Suddenly, Hazel spotted a subtly marked path leading through the trees. She was positive that she had seen this trail before, on an earlier hike through the woods with her father, and that this particular path lead directly to a village where the two children could find food and shelter. “Hansel, look! I know this path and I’m sure that it will lead us to safety!” Hansel was hesitant to vary from the southward path they had been following,  but allowed himself to be lead down the path on the strength of his sister’s conviction. As they walked on the trail, with no village in sight, an embarrassing thought occurred to Gretel: there was a possibility that this was not, in fact, the trail which she and her father had traversed, but instead a random route through the forest. She was so shocked by this revelation that she promptly tripped on a tree root and tumbled down a large hill, landing haphazardly next to the strangest house she had ever seen. Hansel quickly caught up with her, but did not even scold her for her clumsiness, so transfixed was he by the house at the bottom of the hill. It was made entirely of candy, with windows fashioned from clear sugar and walls of gingerbread.

From the perplexing house, an elderly woman emerged. As she walked towards the children, Hazel studied her and a dawning recognition was visible in her eyes. “I know who you are,” Hazel shouted, “You’re the old lady who lives in the forest and eats children! I’ve heard about you!” This proclamation shocked all three of them into momentary silence. The old lady continued to walk slowly towards the children, a slight smile on her face. “It would’ve been better for both of you if you hadn’t recognized me,” the old lady drawled, “but since you’re here, and you both seem tired and lost, why don’t you come inside? I have food to spare, and beds for both of you to sleep in.”

“You wouldn’t lie to us, right?” Gretel asked anxiously. “I mean, you seem like a good person, like your family has good blood in it. You seem like a nice woman, and you wouldn’t hurt children, I know you wouldn’t.”

“I appreciate that, child. Now would you mind stepping inside the house?”

So Hansel and Gretel stepped into the house, so mesmerized by the confectionary creation that they neglected to notice the door locking ominously behind them.