~ The Mystery of the Gingerbread House ~

     In the deep forest lived a poor woodcutter, Hansel and Gretel. They
both are plump and they have blond hair.  They love the outdoors except for
the wild animals.  They also live with their stepmother, the woodcutter's
wife.  Lately the food has been very scarce for the woodcutter and his
family.  One night after the children went to bed, the woodcutter said to
his wife," There is almost nothing for my children to eat and only a little
bread for you and me."
     The woman said, "In that case tomorrow we will take them into the
forest and leave them there to find their own food."
     "Never!" the man exclaimed.
     "We have to, if they stay here they will starve," the wife insisted.
     The woodcutter eventually agreed to the plan for the sake of his
children.  Hansel could not fall asleep that night, he heard part of the
conversation.  He knew that they were going into the woods and never come
back but he didn't know why.  After everyone fell asleep Hansel snuck out
side and grabbed some of the glistening white pebble to drop the next day.
He went back inside and went to bed.
     The next morning the woodcutter and his wife took the kids in forest.
Along the way Hansel dropped the white pebbles so they can follow their way
back.  They got to the thickest part of the woods and their stepmother said,
"You children stay here, when we are done cutting wood we will return for
you."
     Although Hansel heard the plan the night before and told Gretel after
their parents left.  Gretel started to cry, Hansel told her not to cry
because he knew how to get back.  They fell asleep on the forest ground and
then woke up when it was nighttime.  They followed the trail back to their home.
Their father was happy to have them back but their stepmother just scolded
them for getting lost in the woods.
     Days later, when the father was away the stepmother took them out in to
the woods again and left them there.  Hansel had no pebbles to leave behind
so they were stuck in the woods.  They started walking back to their house
after their stepmother left.  They found a little cottage among the trees.
The walls were made from gingerbread, the roof was made of cakes and cookies
and the windows were made of spun sugar.  They didn't know who lived there,
no one could live here they thought.  It is a mystery maybe they can find
out.  They were so hungry they broke off pieces of the house and at them.
     They then heard an old crackled voice that called from inside "Nibble,
nibble like a mouse, who is nibbling at my house?"  Well we are going to
solve that mystery soon.  The door opened and out came a shriveled old woman
that was leaning on a crooked stick.
     The old lady spoke slowly, "Oh, come inside and I will take good care
of you."
     The children followed, they were fed cakes, fruit, nuts and candy.
They ate like hungry elephants since they don't eat much at home.  The woman
tucked them in to soft bed and they fell asleep in an instant.  Hansel and
Gretel thought she was strange and they didn't like her much.  They wanted
to find out what she was about so they stayed.  What they didn't know about
her was that she was a wicked witch, not a kind lady that she appeared to
be.  She was thinking how good they would be for dinner once they get fat
and juicy.
     The next day the witch looked at them and smiled as she mumbled, "What
a fine meal I am going to have."
     She took Hansel and threw him into the chicken coop.  She went back to
the house and woke up Gretel.  She told Gretel to cook something for her
brother so he will fatten up.  She exclaimed "When he is fat enough I will
have a tasty feast!"
     Gretel cried in shock, she found out the mystery.  The witch wanted to
eat them.  The mystery was not solved though they had to find a way to
escape.  Gretel was made to cook the finest meals for her brother three
times a day.  Each morning the witch told Hansel to stick out his finger to
see how fat he was getting.  Hansel knew the witch had weak eyes so each
morning he stuck out a small chicken bone and it fooled the witch.
Four weeks later the witch thought Hansel wasn’t getting any fatter.
She was frustrated, “Gretel I don’t care, start a fire for Hansel no matter if he is fat or thin.”
     Gretel shrieked in horror, “Spare his life, he is my brother and I love him!”
    “Shush, do as I say,”screeched the witch.
     Gretel built a fire that afternoon.
The witch said, “Go inside and see if the oven is hot enough for me to cook our meal.
Go on step in side.”  She pushed Gretel towards the fire.
Gretel then realized that the witch was going to shut her in the fire and bake her.
     Gretel lied trembling, “I don’t know how to get in there, I am sorry.”
     The witch shouted, “You stupid girl, I will show you how it is done!”
     Gretel shoved the witch in the fire and shut the door.
She ran out and freed her brother, she told Hansel that the witch was dead and they were saved.
They ran in the house to get food for their journey back.
In the deep corner of the house they found barrels and barrels of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and many the jewels.
They stuffed their pockets with jewels and traveled home.
After they walked for miles they came to a big river, they didn’t know how to get across.
They saw a swan and asked if they can fly over on the swan’s back.  The swan flew them over the river and they ran al the way home.
     Their father shouted for joy when he saw them and told them how their stepmother left him because he went out to search for the children after they were lost.
They all were happy, but the father said he was a poor woodcutter.
Their father said he would try to feed them as much as he can.  The children answered by, “You are not poor father.”
The children emptied their pocket and dumped all their jewels on the floor.  They lived happily ever after and they were not poor anymore.