Updated Hansel and Gretel and the Poor Witch

Hansel, Gretel and the Poor Witch

Scavenging through her cupboards trying to scrape up a meal, the old lady said,
“I’m starved and I have not eaten in anything in days. If I don’t have a meal soon I am going to die.”
She was a petite and decrepit old woman with bloodshot eyes and thin grey hair. She moved slowly about the house that she had build of candies and treats and relied on crutches to stand. She was secretly a witch and had terrible vision but her sense of smell was intense. She had an undisclosed room in her house where she kept her spells. In this private space she also stored hundreds of glass jars that held the organs of the many children she had eaten in the past. She entered her sanctuary daily and each time she visited her true appearance was revealed. Immediately, her hunched back would straighten and her eyes turned piercing blue. Her hair would multiply into rich black strands of licorice and she would see herself as the tall and beautiful witch that she really was.
The witch had vowed to be kind and had refrained from eating children for many years. Because of this her true beauty was fading away and could only be seen in her sanctuary. The witch did not want to see how unattractive she had become so she removed all but one mirror in her home. The only mirror left was hidden in her sanctuary where she visited daily. The witch took pride in her home and did her best to maintain it but recently vandals had continuously been eating appetizing home. This was causing her heart to harden again and after several vandalisms she became outraged.
“I am sick of being kind. It’s not doing me any good. The next person that I catch snacking on my house will be eaten for sure.”
Early the following morning the witch was up as usual cleaning her house. Crack, nibble and chew. She heard someone outside her house. She bellowed from within,
“Nibble, nibble, gnaw who is nibbling at my house”
Two voices replied,
“The wind, the wind, the heaven born wind”
And they continued to munch on her beautiful home.
The witch was furious and rushed out know that she would finally catch the She was pleasantly surprised to see a young boy and girl there savoring each bite, but when they saw her they were afraid and dropped what was left in their hands. With a mischievous grin the witch said,
“Oh! Dear children, who has brought you here? Do come in, and stay with me. No harm shall happen to you. What are your names?”
As she took their hands the young boy said,
“My name is Hansel and this is my sister Gretel”
The scheming witch led them into the house and prepared a feast for the two of them. After devouring as much as they could, the witch set up to beds for them and they rested through the night.
The witch watched them as they slept and planned her evil deed.
“I haven’t eaten a child in years. This will be a grand feast. I must prepare and get everything I need”
She spent the night dancing in her sanctuary chanting,
“In the dark of night with the rising moon, Ill brew up this child and eat him soon”
The morning came and the evil witch snatched up the Hansel and carried him out the door. She drug hi out to the back of the house and locked him in a small wooden stable with a gated door. He shrieked with fear to no avail because they were so deep in the wood that no one would hear him. The witch shuffled quickly back to the house and shook Gretel saying,
“Wake up lazy and get some water. Go and cook some food for your brother, he is in the stable outside. When he is good and fat I will eat him”
Gretel sobbed, but was forced to do as the old lady commanded. The witch fed Hansel the best food to fatten him up while giving poor Gretel only crumbs to eat. Each Day the old witch went to Hansel and said,
“Hansel, stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soon be fat”
Hansel was smart and knew she could barely see so each day he stuck out a bone for her to feel. The witch was astonished that after many weeks Hansel was still thin so she told his sister,
“Whether Hansel is fat of thin I will eat him tomorrow.”
That evening, Gretel prayed for God to help them.
Early the next morning the witch sent Gretel to fetch some water. While she was away the witch was heating the oven for baking. When Gretel returned the witch she said to her,
“Gretel climb inside to see if the oven in heated well enough to bake the bread”
All the while, she was planning to push Gretel in a let her bake so she could eat her too. Gretel said to the witch,
“I don’t know how to do it, how will I get in?
And the witch replied,
“Silly goose, the door is big enough. Just look, I can get in myself.”
The witch crept in and put her head in the oven. Then suddenly she felt a push from behind and the door to the oven slammed and locked. The poor witch shrieked and wailed as her body burned. She died and Hansel and Gretel ran away.