Hansel made his choice, he couldn't abandon Gretel in the hand of a witch, standing behind her, he grabbed his sister under the armpits and tried to move her as well as he could; she, on the other hand, didn't quite see things that way, still munching on some candy from the wall, she struggled, kicked and squirm against her older brother's grip.
No matter how much he had told her to silence, how they were in danger, the frenzied sister hadn't listened at all, fighting and shouting, refusing to leave all these delicious candy. The only thing that did bring her to silence was the opening of the door; as Hansel had managed to pull her sister a few meters away from the house, the doorframe filled with light and blinded them, leaving them both silent.
"Well, well, well ... It is all silent here,
Have I dreamt or did I just mishear ?" A soft and deep woman voice came out of the door, preceding the outline of a wide and feminine silhouette.
"I must then be crazy:
For I heard a feasting frenzy!"
Only silence answered the sarcastic tones of the mysterious woman; Hansel was standing still, frozen in place, holding onto his sister. There was still hope, maybe she wouldn't see them, in this darkness, maybe he had brought his sister far enough from the light of the windows...
"I heard a great deal of nibble,
Voracious chewing, without shame!
But only I would be to blame
Since I made it all edible!" The silhouette approached again, slowly stepping out of the blinding light of the door, she raised a hand to a hole that had been dug by Gretel's hungry mouth and giggled. But as she came out of the light, Hansel managed to distinguish her figure better, and was quite surprised.
Witches had always evoked him some tall, slender and black haired women, riding brooms are ready to snatch on some children or lure men to her den. Here the two children were facing a rather round and wide figure, for what they could make out, she was chubby, tubby, fat, even, and with a thick curly red hair, but most importantly, Hansel saw a pair of black glasses on her round face, and a thin wooden cane in her hand, the young boy smirked.
"Why I wasn't mistaken,
Bits of my wall were taken!
Now what a shame if they fled,
Surely, they'd need more,
I'd give them what they adore:
With me, they'd be well fed...!"
Assuming the witch was blind, Hansel had started very slowly walking away, if they were sneaky enough they could get away without problems, perhaps even come back later!
All his hopes were promptly swept away: he felt his sister wriggling in his arms and before he could do anything, she broke the silence :"What would you feed us, madam ?" She asked enthusiastically.
Hansel felt shiver of despair and disappointment against his naive sister, now all he could do was remain silent himself, the witch knew about Gretel, but he could still flee... Alone in the night, in a unknown forest ? Leaving his sister behind ?
Another plan came to his mind: the witch would surely invite Gretel inside, and perhaps lock her up, but he could sneak inside behind them and free her. As the woman was approaching them, a satisfied smile pushing her round cheeks, he quickly whispered to his sister's ear not to ever mention him.
"Well there we have it:
A little girl wanted to eat!
Who could leave you unsatisfied?
You'll taste it all, just come inside..." The buxom red-haired woman came and greeted the little Gretel with a gentle pat on her face, and as she touched her scrawny cheek, her smile turned into a concerned expression, she took the young girl's hand and quickly waddled toward the door.
"Now look at you, poor little thing!
So thin, so cold and all alone,
You will tell me everything
And I'll put some... Meat on these bones." Gretel Giggled, not too bothered at this idea; upon hearing the little girl's chuckles, the woman smirked.
Hansel followed them as stealthily as he could, the wide hipped witch passed the door, followed by his sister, tiny in comparison; luckily and ever so conveniently, the witch asked her new guest to close the door, so Hansel managed to sneak in and close it himself. He sighed, relieved to see his plan work.
"Come in, sweatheart, have a seat,
Just sit, relax and eat!"
The woman opened a thick red fabric curtain to reveal her guests the most marvelous sight they had ever seen: not only were the walls made of biscuit and candy, but all around them were broad biscuit shelves crammed with all sorts of sweets: shiny pastries, big fluffy cakes of all colors, armfuls of delicious looking candies, big jars filled with mouth watering juices and creams, all waiting patiently for hungry mouths to gobble them up. But the most impressive feature of this room was the huge table that was set right in the middle, and which was also covered in somehow even more appetizing treats. A mountain of macarons, big shiny éclairs and cream-puffs, huge cakes with multiple layers of sweetness and hearty garniture, massive bowls of crisps, piles of biscuits with all sorts of glazing, and a few of these jars to wash all that good fodder down.
"Gorge yourself full, and furthermore!
Eat like a sow, till your belly's sore...
I'll be back in a minute, dear,
But you're home now, have no fear." The young woman giggled softly as she was exiting the room through another curtain.
Hansel wanted to talk with his sister, to tell her his thoughts and concerns, to think of a plan, but once again, little greedy Gretel didn't have it this way: the little girl just dashed to one of the -weirdly large- chairs and grabbed a big creamy éclair. She took a bite and moaned with gustatory pleasure, savoring the rich cream that flooded her tongue, the next bite was already quicker, she gulped it promptly, only to bite one more time, and soon the éclair was gone. From this point on, the little girl just became more and more voracious, grabbing a snack after the other, chewing and gulping everything down in mere instants.
Her brother looked at her in disbelief, she was like hypnotized already. Now all this food did look very tasty though... He considered the curtain behind which the witch had disappeared, the looked back at the table... Should he ? Was it wise to simply indulge even tho this woman might very well be a witch ?
Should Hansel join his sister in her voracious feast or wait and see what this woman was up to?
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