The Witch of the Gingerbread House

Released on February 5, 2024



"Hansel, I'm hungry," I said, tugging on my big brother's sleeve as we continued to walk.

"I know, Gretel," he said, "Me too..."

We had been wandering in the forest for what seemed like forever, trying to find our way out.

A few days ago, our stepmother had taken us into the forest while our father was out working.

"Stay here, children," she had said to us, before turning around to leave.

"B-but, I'm scared!" I cried out.

She turned around and glared at me.

"Stay! Here!" she yelled, with a fero- feroci-... an anger that had stunned us.

Frightened, Hansel and I could only quietly look back at her, hoping that she would change her mind.

"Good," she said instead, "Stay here. I'll be back for you shortly."

Then, she turned around and left.

I started to cry soon after, though Hansel did his best to comfort me.

We waited for what seemed like hours, until Hansel decided that we should try to find our way home ourselves.

And so, we had wandered the forest for the last few days. We were cold and hungry - there was nothing to eat, except for the few berries that we could find.

Now, it was starting to get dark again.

I was getting scared - I couldn't stand the thought of having to spend another night in the dark and scary forest.

Suddenly, Hansel had stopped walking and I bumped into him.

"W-What's wrong, Hansel?" I asked, as I looked up at him.

"L-Look," he said, as he raised his finger up.

I turned to see what he was pointing at, and it was...

A giant gingerbread house?

Shocked, I stared at it for a moment, before my stomach growled.

I looked back up at Hansel, "Do you... Do you think they have food for us?"

"Maybe..." he said, his stomach also growling.

Hansel took my hand, and we began to slowly approach the house.

Suddenly, the door to the house creaked ajar.. almost like it was inviting us in!

Smells began to drift out from the house - delicious smells of delicious food!

I began to walk towards the house again.

"Gretel, wait!" Hansel called out as he hurried behind me.

We reached the door.

"Hello?" I called out, as I knocked on the door.

I slowly peeked inside.

An elderly woman sitting by the fireplace turned to look at me, "Why hello, deary."

She slowly got up and began to move towards us.

"And who might you be, my dear?" she asked.

"I-I'm Gretel," I said. Then, I pointed up at my brother, "And this is Hansel."

"You poor dears," she said, "You look so cold and hungry!"

"W-We are, ma'am," Hansel said.

"Come in, come in!" the elderly woman said, gesturing for us to enter.

Hansel and I entered the gingerbread house.

"Please, make yourselves at home!" the elderly woman said, as she walked over to the kitchen.

Moments later, she returned, with a tray in her hands, "Would you poor dears care for some cake?"

She placed the tray down onto the table, and on that tray was the most delicious-looking cake that I had ever seen!

"Yes, please!" I said, as I rushed to take a seat at the table.

I watched hungrily as she sliced up the cake.

As soon as she had placed a slice on my plate, I began to scarf it up!

Hansel took the seat next to me and began to do the same to his piece of cake.

After we had finished the cake, the elderly woman brought out another tray.

"Care for some gingerbread cookies?" she asked, as she placed the tray down in front of us.

On the tray were some beautifully decorated gingerbread people of all shapes and sizes!

"Yes, please!" I said, as I reached for one of the cookies.

Suddenly, I began to feel woozy.

"Oh, dear," I could hear the elderly woman say, though she sounded very distant, "What's wrong, deary?"

"I feel... tired," I said, while yawning.

"Well then, why don't you go to sleep?" the elderly woman said, "We'll take care of you."

"W-We?" I could hear Hansel asking, his voice sounding tired too.

"Yes, we," the elderly woman replied, her voice sounding omi- omino- ...ominous.

Then, the gingerbread people on the tray began to move.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes - did that really happen?

I watched as one of the gingerbread people on the tray sat up, smiled, and waved at me.

"Am I...," I began to say, "Am I dreaming?"

"Not yet," I heard the elderly woman say, sounding even more distant than before, "but soon, you will be."

My eyelids began to close - too heavy to keep open.

And the last thing that I saw, before I faded away, was the gingerbread people leaping off the tray and jumping around us.

***

I opened my eyes.

Still drowsy, I blinked them several times, trying to wake up.

"She's awake!" the gingerbread person in front of me yelled.

"Ah!" I screamed and bolted backwards, pushing away on the floor with my hands and feet.

The gingerbread person that had been on my face fell down and hit the floor.

"Ow...," it groaned as I watched it pick itself back up.

Then, I heard my brother's voice calling out, "No! Stop! Please!"

I turned to see Hansel trapped in a cage, with gingerbread people surrounding him.

"Please, stop! My tummy hurts!" my brother cried out in tears.

A gingerbread person held a piece of cake in front of my brother, while others wielded knives and forks at him.

"You better eat," the elderly woman said, standing over the cage, "or you're going to get hurt."

The elderly woman grinned wickedly as she snapped her fingers.

One of the gingerbread people charged forth and stabbed my brother with a fork!

Hansel screamed out in pain...

And the gingerbread people forced the piece of cake into his mouth!

Hansel cried as he chewed and finally swallowed the cake.

"Good," the elderly woman said, her wicked grin becoming even more wicked, "You'll get nice and fat soon."

"W-Why?" Hansel asked, between sobs.

The elderly woman cackled, "So that you'll be tasty when I eat you, of course!"

My brother shuddered and began to cry again.

"Now," the elderly woman turned towards me, "as for you..."

I scrambled back as she began to walk towards me.

Suddenly, a chain pulled taut and I came to sudden stop.

I looked down and saw that my ankles had been shackled together with a chain, with another chain running from my shackles to the cage.

I had been shackled to my brother's cage!

The elderly woman approached me.

I shuddered as she crouched down in front of me.

Her hand reached out.

And she patted my hand.

Staring at me, her face twisted into an evil smile.

And she said to me, "You're going to be working for me."

***

Scared and frightened, I was forced to serve the witch - that's what the gingerbread people called her.

"The witch must be obeyed!" they had said, as they scurried about, doing the witch's bidding, "She'll eat us if we don't obey!"

I would scrub the floors, clean the furniture, and do whatever the witch ordered me to do.

Cake and candy were fed to Hansel every day, while all I got was a thin slice of cake each day.

"Can't have you getting too thin," the witch had said, licking her lips, "After all, even lean meat needs some fat."

At night, I would sleep on the floor, curled up next to Hansel's cage.

Even if I could escape, I couldn't leave my big brother behind.

The gingerbread people, thank their little hearts, would do the cooking for the witch.

"Don't look! Don't look!" they had said, as they prepared the witch's meals.

I didn't understand why, until, one day, I accidentally looked.

They had dropped some meat on the floor by mistake.

As I went to help by picking it up, I saw what it was...

It was a human finger.

I fell back onto the floor, staring at the finger.

A scream welled up inside of me, and as I was about to-

"Don't wake the witch!" one of the gingerbread people had climbed onto me and had placed its hand over my mouth.

Bit by bit, they managed to calm me down, and they led me away from what I had seen.

We had been spared the wrath of the witch, who had been napping at the time.

But the nightmares of what I had seen would stay with me for a long time.

***

Several days had passed.

The witch walked up to me, and with a twisted grin on her face, she said, "Prepare the oven, my dear - it's time for me to have a taste of your brother."

"And if you're good," she said, "maybe I'll even let you have a taste."

She cackled and began to walk away.

I lunged and grabbed her legs.

"No!" I cried, "Please, don't!"

The witch crouched down.

She lifted my chin up tenderly and looked into my eyes.

Then, her face twisted into an ugly grimace.

"I didn't feed your brother my cake so that I wouldn't eat him."

She slapped me across my face.

I yelled out in pain as I fell backwards onto the floor.

With tears in my eyes, I tried again, "Wait, ple-"

The witch waved her hand and it pulsed with her magic.

Suddenly, cakes leaped up from where they were and charged towards me.

I scrambled backwards as the cakes barked and bared their sharp teeth at me, as if they were mad dogs. They surrounded me as I huddled and shuddered in the corner.

The witch turned and glared at a group of gingerbread people.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" one of them nervously said.

They quickly dashed towards the oven.

Though they struggled, they managed to get the oven doors opened, and they lit the fire inside.

Then, they closed the oven doors again, so that the oven could heat up faster.

As the oven heated up, my brother began crying.

"Please," he cried out, between sobs, "don't eat me!"

The witch snickered, "Don't worry, little one. It'll be-"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

The room became silent, stunned by the sudden inte- inter- interruption.

Another set of knocks came.

The witch groaned, before saying, "Go away!"

As if in response, another set of knocks came - this time, they were loud and impatient.

The witch groaned again and walked towards the door.

As another set of knocks began, the witch opened the door.

On the other side of the door, was a woman wearing a red riding hood and cloak.

The witch inspected the woman, and then said, "You're too old, I don't have any candy for you! Leave!"

Surprised, the woman outside began to say, "I'm not here for candy. Have you-"

I gathered up my courage and screamed, "Help! She's going to eat us!"

The cakes barked and lunged at me.

I screamed again, thrashing my arms around, trying to fend off the cakes as they bit me.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash.

I looked up and saw that the woman in red had kicked open the door. As she entered, she drew a thin sword.

"Get her!" the witch yelled.

The cakes stopped attacking me and charged at the woman in red, alongside the gingerbread people.

"What?!" the woman in red cried out, surprised.

Suddenly, a grey wolf and a white wolf appeared by the woman's side, and the three of them started to fend off the army of attacking sweets together.

The witch focused on her new enemy, using her magic to bring to life more mad dog cakes and gingerbread soldiers.

Then, in the air, ingredients started to mix together, and the witch lit her hands on fire.

Was she... making more food to fight with?

Then, I remembered the oven. And I watched as the witch was backing ever closer to it as the lady in red and her wolves fought off the sweets.

I hurried over to the oven... It was much taller than I was!

Still, I reached up with my hands to grab the handle, and I started to pull.

With a little bit of a struggle, I managed to pull open the heavy door to the now burning oven.

I turned around and yelled, "Miss Red!"

I caught her attention and pointed at the oven.

The witch turned around, one of her fiery hands cooking a floating pan of cake while the other was cooking a tray of gingerbread cookies.

"What are you up to?" she yelled at me.

From behind the witch, the lady in red charged.

With her thin sword, she managed to fend off several attacking cakes and gingerbread people as she made her way to the witch.

Then, with a giant kick, she sent the witch flying into the oven.

Quickly, I began to push the door shut.

"You little demon!" I heard the witch yell.

The door suddenly jolted to a stop - the witch was pushing back!

"When I get out, I'm going to eat you first!" the witch yelled.

The door was slowly opening again - how was she doing this while on fire?!

Suddenly, I felt the door jolt to a stop, before being pushed slowly forward again.

I looked down - some of the gingerbread people were helping me!

"Burn the witch!" one of them yelled.

"What?!" the witch screamed from inside the oven.

A mad dog cake splatted against the wall above the oven door.

The lady in red rushed up, having fended off her remaining attackers, with her wolves keeping the rest at bay.

"Wait!" the witch yelled, "I know powerful magicks! Let me out, and I can grant you anything!"

The lady in red paused.

She gave me a look.

And then, she reached out and pushed the door shut.

Quietly, under her breath, I could hear the lady in red say, "She wouldn't have wanted that."

The witch screamed in pain as she burned in the oven.

***

The gingerbread people waved goodbye to us as we left the dead witch's gingerbread house behind.

I waved back from atop the grey wolf that I was riding on.

Hansel rode on the white wolf while the lady in red walked alongside us.

While the lady in red was making sure that the witch was dead, the gingerbread people managed to tame the cakes.

They also found where the witch had kept her keys, and they freed me and Hansel.

In return for their help, the lady in red agreed to spare the gingerbread people and let them live peacefully in the gingerbread house.

When we were freed, I gave the lady a hug.

"Thank you for rescuing us, Miss Red!" I said, "What's your name?"

The lady in red raised an eyebrow, amused, "It's Red Riding Hood. But, you can call me Red."

"Oh!" I said, surprised that I had already been calling her by her name.

"Hurray for Miss Red!" one of the gingerbread people shouted, "She freed us from the witch!"

And we had cheered for joy!

Now, we had finally reached the edge of the forest and we would be back home soon.

As we reached our village, I spotted our father.

I waved and shouted, "Father!"

Seeing us, our father hurried over.

"Oh, Gretel!" he said, picking me up as I laughed with joy.

Then, he walked over and helped my brother off the wolf, "Hansel!"

"I missed you both so much," he said, "I am so sorry!"

"That... woman's gone now," he said, "She won't take you away from me again!"

Hansel and I hugged our father, who hugged us back.

Then, Father took a good look at us, "Are you both alright?"

I nodded, smiling, "Yes!"

Hansel could only give a weak nod.

"Hansel?" Father asked, "You don't look well!"

"He was forced to overeat by the witch," Miss Red said, "Keep an eye on him, and he should recover soon."

"W-Witch?!" Father exclaimed.

Miss Red explained to our father what had happened.

"T-Thank you," Father said, after Miss Red had finished explaining.

"I can't believe that my... former wife did this," he said, "I know that we're poor, but... doing this just to have less mouths to feed..."

Father looked at Hansel and me, with tears in his eyes.

Wiping his tears, he turned back to Miss Red and said, "Is there any thing that I could do to repay you, Lady Red?"

"Well," Miss Red said, "do you know of a cure for a magical poison?"

Stunned, my father took a moment before answering, "N-No, I don't... I'm sorry."

Miss Red sighed, but she forced a slight smile, "Then, just take care of Gretel and Hansel here."

"Of course," my father replied, "Thank you, Lady Red!"

"And if I could ever help you in any way," my father continued, "Just say the word!"

Miss Red smiled and nodded.

Soon, it was time for her to go.

And as Miss Red left, Father, Hansel, and I waved goodbye to the lady in red and her two wolves.

~~~

Epilogue



"Are we there yet, Red?" the Gingerbread Man asked me from atop my shoulder.

"We should be there soon," I replied to the gingerbread cookie.

We were making our way through the forest.

"So there are other gingerbread people like me?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yes."

"Made by this witch that you were telling me about?"

"Yes," I said, "that was probably her magic - being able to imbue life into the food that she cooked... or something like that."

"What about all the cooking in mid-air that you were telling me about?" he asked.

"That was probably some more magic that she had learned," I said, "in order to complement her natural magic."

The Gingerbread Man crossed his arms and nodded, "Hmmm, I see."

I had stumbled upon my companion as he was being chased by a fox.

After scaring the fox away, I had taken him back to his bakers.

His bakers were an elderly couple who had known nothing about magic their entire lives.

All they knew was that they were talking about how the only thing missing in their lives was that they never had any children, and then, before they knew it, one of their gingerbread cookies had jumped out of the oven as the oven was being opened.

Perhaps some passing-by fairy or mage or... something had heard the wish, and they had granted it - though, who knows if it was someone being mischievous or if they were just oblivious...

Regardless, the elderly couple had no desire to raise a gingerbread cookie.

So, I decided to take the Gingerbread Man to the gingerbread house where I had saved Gretel and Hansel from the witch.

"You think they'll help me pick out a new name?" Gingerbread Man asked, "Maybe something like... Tough Cookie?"

I chuckled, "I'm sure they will."

I knocked on the gingerbread house's door.

The door opened, and one of the gingerbread people peeked out.

"Oh!" they said, as the door swung open, "It's Miss Red!"

"Miss Red!" I heard more gingerbread people from inside shouting, as they welcomed me into the house.

I explained why I had come to visit.

"So," I said, as Gingerbread Man jumped off my shoulder and onto the table, "Do you have room for one more?"

"Of course, we do!" one of the gingerbread people said.

Another walked up to Gingerbread Man, "Welcome!"

A group of gingerbread people gathered around the new arrival.

As they welcomed Gingerbread Man into the fold, I looked at the oven.

Could the witch have cured her?

Could the witch have cured my beloved Princess Snow White?

I shook my head.

It didn't matter - Snow White wouldn't have wanted children, or anyone, to have been sacrificed for her.

"Would you like some tea or some food?" one of the gingerbread people asked, taking my gaze away from the oven.

"Oh," I said, "no, thank you."

"Gingerbread Man," I said, "will you be staying?"

He turned to me, "I think I will, Red."

He jumped onto my shoulder, and hugged my face, "Thank you so much for bringing me here!"

I smiled.

Soon, assured that Gingerbread Man would have a place with the gingerbread people, I took my leave.

And so, I continued on my way to find a cure for my beloved sleeping beauty - my beloved Princess Snow White.



Commentary:
This was probably the straightest retelling of a fairy tale that I've done for the Red Riding Hood Saga yet.
As this would be the first story after the trilogy (as well as having taken a break after the last Retelling Myths), I felt that this was the best way to reintroduce Red to the readers.
This story was also loosely structured similarly to the first Red story on purpose for that reason - with the narrator being a child that Red shows up later in the story to help.
As for the retelling itself, I took out quite a few things and streamlined the story overall.
Readers familiar with the most well-known version of the Hansel and Gretel story (as told by the Brothers Grimm) will notice that I removed the first successful attempt and the second failed attempt of the children to return home by using pebbles and then bread respectively.
This was because I wanted to make the story feel a bit more horror tinged - this included making the siblings feel more helpless, until the critical moment when Red shows up.
The gingerbread people and the mad dog cakes were added to make the witch a more viable threat to Red; and also to add a bit more flair, which was in-line with the magic shown in the series so far.
The gingerbread people were also one of the first things that I had come up with for this version of the story, so I had to work it in.
Luckily, this serendipitously tied in nicely to The Gingerbread Man retelling that I wanted to do, which is partly how the epilogue came about.
I had come up with an idea on how to adapt The Gingerbread Man, but I didn't want to write a whole new story for it, so I decided that it worked as an epilogue to this Hansel and Gretel story.
Most versions of the tale (including the well-known one that had appeared in an 1875 issue of the St. Nicholas Magazine) had the Gingerbread Man (or Boy) spring to life for no reason. I decided to keep that in, but also added that it could have been a passing fairy or something - since I had added in a "good" fairy in Red Riding Hood and the Tower of the Glass Coffin (like those found in more modern depictions of them), I wanted to, at least, hint that there were also some fairies who're more mischievous and harmful (like the older depictions of them as tricksters).
The events of Hansel and Gretel were also sped up from weeks to days - this was because I didn't feel like torturing the poor kids anymore. (I know that, in real life, people don't usually "fatten up" noticeably in just a few days - so, you can either just have it be explained by the cake being magic, or that the witch was just impatient.)
Another change that I had made was that I had taken out the witch not having good eyesight, which meant taking out the whole thing where Hansel tricks the witch with bones to convince her that he wasn't fattening up (which also didn't work because I had changed it to him getting fed cake instead of meat with bones in them).
Lastly, I took out the witch having lots of wealth which the children then took back to their father, because that felt too neat of a wrap-up for my version.
In regards to the timeline, I was originally going to leave it vague as to when this story took place.
But, I ultimately decided to set this story after Red defeats the Queen. This was so that the story could set the theme for the Further Adventures of Red Riding Hood - that mostly being Red searching for a cure for Princess Snow White, but getting caught up in various adventures on the way during her long and winding journey.


If you enjoyed this story, you can follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new stories!