After a famine hits the land, a poor family of four: a woodcutter and his two children, along with their cruel stepmother, are greatly affected. Being in the dire situation that they are in, the stepmother devises a devious plan in order to ease the struggle of the sudden food shortage. Convincing the reluctant woodcutter, she decides to take the children out the next day and leave them in the woods to rot. The children overhear of this plot and secretly collect pebbles, in order to create a trail back to their cottage. The next day goes as planned and, to the parents' surprise, the children are able to find their way back home with little trouble. The stepmother, unwilling to give up, decides to once again try her luck and abandon the children out in the dark woods. This time, however, she manages to lock Hansel and Gretel's door, making sure that everything goes accordingly the following morning.
With the siblings having been trapped in their room all night, they secretly grab a loaf of bread and hope that the small crumbs they leave behind will help them find their way back. However, as night falls, the children notice that all the crumbs have been eaten by the passing birds. After wandering desperately in the tree-ridden forest, the children stumble across a small hut made of goodies of all kinds: gingerbread, cakes, and candies. They delightfully feast on all the sugary treats, not realizing that an old and kind lady has come out to greet them. She offers them warm beds and delicious food, noticing that they look ever so tired and weary. To their dismay, Hansel and Gretel soon find out that this old woman was nothing other than a child-eating witch that intended to cook them alive and devour them whole.
The next day, the witch shoves Hansel in a cage and forces Gretel into becoming her slave. As days go by, the witch continues to feed Hansel, slowly fattening him up. Then, after a while has passed, the witch decides to see just how plump Hansel has gotten. Realizing the witch is blind, Hansel sneakily sticks out a thin bone he'd found lying around in the cage. The witch feels the bone, foolishly thinking it to be Hansel's finger. Seeing as how it is much too slender, the witch continues to feed Hansel, wanting him to be as juicy as possible when the day comes for her to cook him alive. Weeks pass by and, each time, Hansel uses the same trick. The witch becomes increasingly frustrated and impatient, having felt no difference in Hansel's finger, and finally decides that she will eat him nonetheless.
As the witch prepares the oven, she realizes that with her appetite having grown so large, Hansel, alone, will not satisfy her. She then concocts a treacherous plan to trick Gretel and cook her, as well. Seeing that the oven has heated up enough, the witch tells Gretel to lean in and check if it is finally ready, hoping to fool her and push her in. Gretel, being the quick-witted girl that she is, recognizes the witch's true intent. Gretel outwits the witch and acts as though she doesn't understand what she is asking her to do. The witch, annoyed by her futility, demonstrates, however, to her surprise, Gretel pushes the witch into the oven and closes the door, leaving the witch screaming as she burns to ashes.
After releasing Hansel from his cage, the kids discover a load of priceless jewels and riches that the witch had kept hidden. Grabbing as much as they can, the children head home, unexpectedly meeting a delightful swan who ferries them across the water to their house. The children arrive to see only their father there, hearing that their stepmother had apparently passed away. The father is overjoyed to see his beloved son and daughter, having felt so regretful and miserable after they had disappeared. With the family now together at last and no longer impoverished, thanks to the witch's riches, they all live happily ever after.
This ever so eventful and merrily-ending story of Hansel and Gretel is a tale known by almost all, but, unfortunate to say, this isn't quite how the story went. See there was most surely bread crumbs, a witch, and a house made of delicious splendors, but as to how these all came to be is anything but fantastical. How absurd you must be thinking, but just wait and listen, there's much to tell, for in every lie there is a truth and in every fantasy, there is most surely a reality. Let me tell you the true story of the whimsical children you know as Hansel and Gretel.
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a little boy named Landon with his two wonderful parents. Landon was loved and cared for, never once feeling the slightest ounce of despair. Every day was bright and merry, as the three failed to live without a smile stretched across their faces. Ironically, Landon's life was almost like that of a fairytale, as he abided in his quaint little cottage surrounded by beautifully tall trees, never expecting things to change, never wanting life to be different. Until one day, when life decided otherwise.
See, Landon's mother and father were pitiful people, having experienced a loss unfathomable to most: this beloved couple was not able to birth children. After years of lost hope, they happened to stumble upon a scene of a crying woman kneeling on the dirt road, tightly holding her newborn infant wrapped in rags of brown. Her story is but a miserable one:
She had married her husband in secrecy, after her parents refused of their courting. However, after losing his job, poverty overwhelmed them and he eventually turned to drinking. As alcohol filled his blood day in and day out, obscuring his own judgment, suicidal thoughts began to creep in. Soon after, she'd found her husband in the process of attempting his own murder. To his dismay, she was able to prevent such vice, yet that only inflicted more pain in his heart. Finally, there came a day when her husband left, kissing his wife as she slept and muttering the words, "I'm so sorry. I don't want you or our son to see me like this anymore. I've hurt you enough. I love you." She'd realized it all a second too late and chased the fleeting car, the child cupped in her arms and pressed against her chest as she fell to the ground helplessly.
Hearing her tale, the pair felt nothing but remorse and sorrow for such an innocent, young lady. Seeing her shivering and pale, the two helped take the woman home and kept her company for a while. After some time she managed to calm down and asked them whether they'd experienced a loss as grave as hers, for their eyes seemed to be filled with such sadness and anguish. The woman sat there with a frown, hearing the unfortunate reality that was forced upon these newfound friends. Day turned to night and, just as the couple was about to leave, the woman dropped down on her knees in front of them and began to cry, holding each one of their hands. The two were shocked and taken aback, becoming utterly speechless, as the words of her shattering voice surfaced.
"I...I've been poor for such a long time and this was a decision I had to make. He's been suffering and crying, while I sit here unable to do a thing. I want a better life for him; I want him to be happy. I don't know if that can happen here, so I beg you...please take my child with you. You're incapable of bearing children, yet, with a heart as kind as yours, you are of most deserving. You mustn't refuse my request, for it'll only leave me in complete agony."
After what seemed like a decade, the pair left with the baby in hand. What they'd said or done after hearing the woman's plea was quite frankly a blur. It all happened so fast, just like a dream would appear. Life changed for them forever, as they had now become mother and father. As days, became weeks, became years, the parents raised the boy with pleasantness. Yet, as he grew older, they realized that bearing this lie held its own burden, for the thought of this poor child being robbed of his own origin had become deafening. They desperately hoped not to hurt him, but the choice was no longer theirs to make. He had to know where he came from. The three of them had to face reality.
"Landon, sweetie, sit down, we have something to tell you. I beg you, please don't be angry, because we only wanted you to be happy. I... am not your birth mother, nor is he your birth father. We saw her when you were ever so young and her love for you was very evident. She wanted better for you; your mother didn't want you to live in tragedy. I'm so sorry, my child. I hope you can forgive us and remember that we're always here for you."
For a mere ten seconds, Landon sat still with sheer shock. A mere... ten seconds... that lasted longer than human history... His expression of sheer shock that twisted our own human anatomy-and... his body... so still it palpably crumbled nature's geography. He slammed the door open and ran out, ignoring the shrieks that echoed from the illusion he once believed to be home. Landon raced into the woods without the slightest notion in turning back. He ran and ran, drowning in tears and choking in the blood that filled his throat; nonetheless, he ran.
"It...it was all a lie. She would always sit at the table and smile at me. He would-he would always grab my shoulder and...and look at me so wholeheartedly. Did they actually mean it, or was all out of a favor, a plea for help? Did they just sit there day and night pitying me, only seeing me as the child that was tossed away, handed to strangers? Did they ever really...love me? THEN WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME THE TRUTH? WHY DIDN'T THEY TRUST ME? Or did they just think that I wouldn't care as long as I had food in my mouth and a place to sleep? WHYYYYYYYYY?!?!... Mom... Dad... W-Why?"
Once his legs gave way, causing him to fall onto his knees, did he finally stop. Landon continued to look down at the ground, endlessly crying, his thighs decorated in teardrops. Eventually, his tears receded, refusing to come out of his eyes that had now become so dry, it was very possible they would crack at the slightest breeze. Lifting his head up, Landon was surprised to see the place that he'd ended. It was their Other World.
Despite Landon being an only child, he'd never felt alone because he always had... her. He always had Silver. Silver was incomparable to anyone else in his life, other than his parents. She was the sister he desperately needed, the best friend he eagerly wanted, and the person he always expected to stay by. Silver lived in a cottage similar to his, just a many trees away. His family first came to know of Silver during the time that Landon was around six or seven; they'd been gathering herbs from the forest, as his father often liked to do, when Landon spotted Silver playing and jumping near the river. From that moment, Silver had now become a part of his life.
She lived with only her grandfather, so after a while, it was safe to say that Landon's parents became just as much her mother and father. The two of them loved to venture off into the woods, however, their parents restricted them from entering too far in. While Landon had too much respect for his parents, Silver just couldn't help but be slightly rebellious. Hence, one day, Silver grabbed Landon and decided to do exactly what they'd been told not to. Of course, they both knew all too well that getting lost was very possible, so instead of being reckless, at least any less than they were already, they built a small little pathway of large pebbles. As they indented the trail of vibrantly white rocks into the forest floor, they eventually came across a beautiful area where two trees intertwined, twisting around each other, almost as if they were foolishly dancing or fighting.
"This must've been what Hrothgar dreamed about, the symbol of his ill-fated relationship with Grendel." "What are you talking about, Silver?" "It's the story of Beowulf. You haven't read it before?" "No." "I'll let you read it sometime... Hmm...? I can't help but wonder why we've happened to run into such a tree as this."
Ever since that day, Silver and Landon continued to go back to their "Other World," as they called it.
After snapping out his lengthened trance, Landon was able to catch his breath, stand up from where he was, and sit down right near the tree with his back to its winding bark. Without a single word, he sat there, gazing at the trees vibrantly swaying and listening to the rustling leaves being swept up by the wind and coating the sky with the colors of autumn. It was illuminating and calm. It was his eye of the storm that had unexpectedly introduced itself to his happy and perfect life. Soon, sunset had approached. Landon looked at the sky, recalling something that Silver had said the first day he'd met her.
"Hey, I'm Silver." "My name is Landon." "Hmm...judging from your height and baby face, I presume you to be one year younger than me." "Oh, really." "Mhmm, which means I'm officially your older sister. Now, make me a sandwich." "Seriously?" "No, but I always imagined that if I ever had a little brother, I'd say that to him." "I guess you really like sandwiches." "Maybe I do. Anyways, just know that I will always be the more mature sibling." "What makes you more mature?" "I don't really know, but I think that as long as you don't let your emotions get the best of you and prevent you from doing what's right, you're at least the slightest bit mature. Most people can't do it, really."
"Silver definitely wouldn't think I'm being mature now. I shouldn't of ran away. Yes, they did hurt me, but I'm sure they do love me and only want to protect me. I need to go back home and make things right; I need to talk to Mom and Dad and stop them both from worrying. Everything will be fine."
With a sigh of relief, Landon stood up, catching a glimpse of the pathway of pebbles they'd made before. As he slowly followed the trail back home, a sudden rainfall began to trickle ever so slightly. He could hear the subtle sound of the droplets gently hitting the leaves. Landon lifted his jacket hood over his head and picked up his pace, not wanting to get drenched. The sunlight had almost completely faded and the rain cloud casted a huge shadow over the forest, making it so that the white pebbles could barely be seen. At an enthusiastic rate, the rain continued to pound down harder and harder, casting a blur over the forest. Landon paused, realizing that he could no longer see where he'd been going. Had he left even a minute earlier, he might've been able to make his way back, however, it was too late to regret now. Landon carried on in the direction he'd been walking, now at a running speed, hoping it would lead him outside of the forest.
"Wait." Landon stopped and listened carefully. He'd heard those sounds before. It was evident and unmistakable. He must've gone the wrong way, deeper into the forest. From where? In front- no behind- e...e...everywhere. Without hesitation, Landon darted straight to his right, assuming, hoping, that he'd made the right decision. There was no turning back. There was no looking back.
"FASTER LANDON!! FASTERRRRR!!! ... What...what have I done?"