She and her brother dashed toward the house and began eating it. They were so hungry and tired from their journey, they didn’t even think to ask the resident for permission. Suddenly, the door of the home opened and a kind-looking old woman stepped outside.

“Who’s there?” the old woman said. “What are you doing to my house?”

“Please forgive us,” Hansel said. “We were hungry and lost in the woods when we found your home.”

The old woman smiled at them, showing rotting teeth behind her wrinkled lips.

“I didn’t realize you were children,” she said happily. “No need to apologize, my dear. I built a home out of food for children just like you. Please eat as much as you’d like!”

Hansel and Gretel were certain the old woman must be an angel in disguise. They ate the candy-cane fence and the gumdrop shrubs. They ate the sugar-pane windows and licked all the frosting off the roof. By the time Hansel and Gretel were full, they’d eaten everything but the gingerbread walls.

“Now come inside and rest, my dears,” the old woman said. “There are more goodies and soft beds waiting for you.”

Hansel and Gretel eagerly did as the old woman requested, knowing they could use a rest after their journey through the woods. However, when they went inside, there were no goodies or beds to be found, only a large cage and an enormous oven.

The old woman threw Hansel and Gretel in the cage and locked the door. She took off the mask of an old woman, and the children saw that the rest of her was as rotten as her teeth. She wasn’t a sweet old woman at all, but an ugly old witch!

“One of you shall be my dinner, and the other shall be my slave!” the witch cackled. “That’ll teach you not to wander the woods alone!”

The witch pulled Gretel out of the cage and handed her a broom.

“Sweep the house, girl,” the witch ordered. “I want a clean home before my meal.”

Not having much choice, Gretel swept the house until it was spotless. The witch lit a fire in the oven and then pulled Hansel out of the cage.

“You shouldn’t eat me yet!” Hansel pleaded. “I’m too thin and frail to make a meal, but if you keep feeding me, soon I’ll make a feast!”

The witch scratched the hairs on her chin and thought it over.

“That’s an excellent idea,” the witch said. “I shall keep feeding you until you outgrow the cage; then you shall be my first meal of winter!”

For weeks and weeks, the witch forced Hansel to eat delicious sweets, while Gretel was forced to clean inside and outside the house. At the end of every day, the witch would peer into the cage and squint at Hansel.

“Are you pleasantly plump yet?” the witch asked.

Hansel assumed the witch must have bad vision. Otherwise, surely she could see that his clothes were much tighter than before and he grew rounder every day. He quickly thought of a way to use the witch’s failing eyes to save his life.

“I’d make a decent bite, but not enough to serve your appetite,” Hansel lied.

The witch huffed and puffed, then ordered Gretel to cook her a rat stew for dinner.

The next day, as Gretel was cleaning up leaves outside the house, she put a couple of sticks in her pocket. Later that night, she slid them into Hansel’s cage just before the witch peered inside.

“Are you reasonably round yet?” the witch asked.

“He’s as thin as he’s ever been,” Gretel said. “Hansel, hold out your hand so the witch can feel your bony finger.”

Gretel nodded to the sticks she had given him, and Hansel knew what to do. He held out one stick like it was a part of his hand, and the witch felt it. She moaned and groaned, then ordered Gretel to prepare spider soup for her supper.

Hansel and Gretel didn’t know how much longer they could continue tricking the witch. They knew she was growing impatient, because the next day she peered into the cage even before the sun had set.

“Are you finally fat?” she asked.

“I’m ample for snacking, but a full meal you’d be lacking,” Hansel lied again.

He held out a stick as he had done the night before. The witch felt the stick, and her face went bright red.

“I’ve waited long enough!” the witch shouted. “Fat or not, I will eat you tonight! Prepare the oven, girl!”

Gretel opened the wide door to the oven and filled it with firewood. She lit a match, and a healthy fire grew inside. The witch stood behind her, and a sinister smile grew across her ugly face.

“Now I want you to test the fire to see if it’s hot,” the witch said.

Gretel knew the witch was trying to trick her—she was going to eat both of them for dinner!

“But I don’t know how,” Gretel said, thinking fast. “Will you show me what to do?”

“Stupid girl,” the witch said. “Move aside and I will show you. It’s very simple; you just lean into the oven like this and touch the flames with your— AAAAHHH!”

Gretel pushed the witch into the oven with all her might and locked the door behind her. The witch screamed as she was cooked to a crisp. When her screams finally came to a stop, Gretel freed Hansel from the cage. Just before they escaped the house, Hansel found a vase full of rubies and diamonds the witch had kept on a shelf. He and Gretel filled their pockets with the jewels and ran into the woods.

They ran far away from the witch’s gingerbread house and never looked back. Eventually, they came to the edge of the woods and saw a very familiar cottage.

“Gretel, look! We’re home!” Hansel exclaimed.

The woodcutter heard his children and rushed out to greet them. He was so overjoyed to see them that tears filled his eyes and rolled down his face. Hansel and Gretel looked around the cottage, but the woodcutter’s wife was nowhere to be found.

“Father, what happened to our stepmother?” Gretel asked.

“The same day you went missing, she got lost in the woods and a pack of wolves found her,” he said. “I was so worried the same had happened to you, but you’re both alive and well, so all is right in the world!”

The woodcutter embraced his children and never let them out of his sight again. They used the jewels to buy a new home much closer to the nearby village, and Hansel and Gretel ate all the sweets they wanted without the fear of witches. The family survived the winter and lived happily ever after.

The End