I'd been in this woman's house for an eternity it felt like and it felt like longer since he'd been taken away from me. Why had we come across the old woman's house? Why had we been so stupid as to eat candy from it? Candy houses aren't normal, why hadn't we considered that and turned around? Another day with him here, even inside that wretched house with my abusive parents, would've made me the happiest person alive. Why was this woman a witch? So many questions that would never be answered. I sighed and decided not to cry this time at the miserable mess that was my life. I just sat there staring at the witch wondering how a creature could be so evil. She'd captured two sad runaways into her home, forced us to eat, forced us to clean, beat us, taken away my brother's life, and now I was next.
Suddenly the witch rose from her chair quickly. She sauntered over to the door grabbing its handle and swinging it open. There stood a young boy and girl. I instantly locked eyes with the two. Panic and fear flashed in their eyes as I screamed a warning for them to run while they still had the chance, yet, as quickly as it had come, the chance was snatched from them as they too entered the house where it would most likely be all three of our demise.
They were thrown into the "cage", as my brother and I had referred to it. When we would try to escape or fight back, it was used as a mean of restraint and punishment. I'd given up after one last effort, right after she'd eaten and drank every piece of my brother as I lay in the back of the cage, my eyes squeezed tightly shut in fetal position my hands over my ears to refrain from hearing her smacking and savoring every little miniscule of my brother's feeble body. I'd pushed her as she opened the cage. I ran past her only to be snatched back by my hair. Screaming in pain, I fell to the floor and she grabbed my arm. I pulled away retrieving a chair, swinging it up, and smashing it into the side of her face. As she turned back towards me, a sadistic smile spread over her lips. She walked slowly toward me then disappeared just a few feet from me. I turned around frantically only to be knocked again to the ground this time with her broom. She smiled evilly coming towards me again. I quickly stood up readying my stance. She came at me, I side stepped picking up an object and hurtling it at her body. It hit it's target. She stumbled back and I attacked her. I could feel the hurt and emotion from losing the only thing I ever loved spill out of me like a gushing waterfall. I punched and slapped her face. My body was flung across the room and I landed on the wooden table. She grabbed my arm and swung me into the "cage" yet again quickly shutting the door behind her. I ran up to the bars clutching both of my hands onto them as I screamed words of hate unto the evil witch standing before me. She smiled showing her rotten teeth slowly lowering her face so that now she was at eye level to me. She said slowly and deliberately, "There's no point of you trying to escape me because you will end up just like your skimpy, delicious, little brother."
The words she'd spoken stayed with me and I'd decided to live as long as I could manage; for my brother, for myself. I waited for the young siblings to register all that had just happened to them, to weep over the situation they were experiencing, and to pull themselves together and accept the predicament they were in before I spoke. "I'm Charlotte," I said softly looking the children straight in the eye. The boy stared at me with a blank face while the girl sniffled and said, "I'm Gretel. This is my brother Hansel." The boy still stared. He looked about my age with long brown hair. His sister's was much longer almost reaching her rear. She was younger than the two of us yet she'd been courageous enough to speak first while her brother remained silent. She must be brave, I concluded in my head. "I'm sorry," I said.
I wasn't sure why I had apologized, I wouldn't have wanted to hear apologies while I was in the "cage" for the first time, but it just slipped out of my mouth. In that moment, it seemed to be the most appropiate words to say. "It's okay," Gretel said. "Um, what...what happened to you two?" I asked. "Well we-" she started to explain. Her brother cut her off and began to let out his frustrations, directing them towards me. "Don't tell her anything. We don't even know this girl. She could be in league with the witch. How can we trust her? Who are you? Why are you acting like you care anything about us? You're stuck in the same situation we are and us becoming best of friends won't change any of that." I was stung by his words although I didn't know why. "Hansel," Gretel said to her brother. "No Gretel, why are you here? How long have you been here? You haven't told us anything but you want us to share with you?" he said. The witch rushed up to the cage, getting tired of listening to Hansel yell, and pointed a wavering finger towards him.
"I'm going to eat you first, if you don't shut up," she said. "You should eat her first. She has no purpose here. I have Gretel...who do you have?" he spat at me. Although he was right in everything he said, it sparked something inside of me that made me explode. "You SHUT YOUR MOUTH RIGHT NOW. I HAD someone. Someone did love me and I loved him, but he was taken away from me by that evil hag. She ate my brother right in front of me, you UNGRATEFUL, MISERABLE, INSENSITIVE, UNCARING TWIT!" I screamed at him. "Either way, we all are getting eaten and the quicker I go the quicker your sister dies and then you'll be last with all the memory of death still looming making you so depressed you wouldn't mind dying. So before you start proposing who dies first, think about how you have no possibility of surviving this so no sense in prolonging the inevitable. I won't talk to you and your sister since you so clearly have a problem with me doing so, but in turn you should think about getting your mouth sewn shut. It seems nothing good comes out of it anyway. It most likely won't be missed." And with that statement I turned and went to the far back of the cage. The witch had went back to her business, Gretel was probably picturing herself being eaten, she wore a far off look on her face, and Hansel stared at me. His face began to soften and now instead of a look of intense anger and fear, there was a look of guilt and admiration. I sat down on the floor rolling my knees up to my chin and holding my legs in my arms. I turned away from this hurtful place, these hurtful people and eventually drifted off to sleep.
I woke up early morning, as I always did, to, in my mind, speak to my brother. I wiped my eyes blinking them rapidly to adjust my vision. I began talking, "Hey Troy, it's me again. I've got company this time. It looks like we're not the only two dumb enough to eat candy off of a house." I laughed at the joke my brother had always made. My tone turned serious as I began to speak again, "I miss you rascal." I smiled at hearing his nickname, yet tears were streaming down my face. I bowed my head down into my knees and sobbed. I felt a hand touch my knee softly and I looked up quickly finding Gretel's youthful face in front of mine. "Are you okay?" She asked sweetly. "I'm fine," I said smiling appreciative of her constant concern with me. Although I did correct her saying,"We should probably stop talking. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your brother." "She wouldn't be in trouble," Hansel whispered sitting up. His sudden movement had frightened me and I jumped in the air standing up quickly. I took a deep breath after realizing it was only the insensitive boy from yesterday.
"Why is that, you've suddenly had a change in heart?" I spat at him still enraged from his rant yesterday. He slowly stood up walking towards me and sat down at my feet. "I apologize for yesterday," he said. "Ha," I retorted, "Have you suddenly grown some humanity or maybe...some consideration? That would be nice." He patiently waited for me to finish and replied saying, "My sister is the only thing I have and the thought of losing her...of her having to deal with losing me. I just can't imagine...that happening…" He struggled with his words. "I'm sorry for the loss of your brother, but just think of the same thing happening to my sister or even to me, even with the way I was acting...it doesn't seem...you don't seem...like the type of person…" "How would you know what type of person I am?" I asked my anger still not subsiding. "Because I saw the look in your eye when you saw us standing at that door. I saw the warning, the helplessness, the fear...the sorrow." He explained. My face softened as he spoke these words. I stared at him wondering how this boy could be the same person from yesterday. The one who had immediately gone off the handle at the first vulnerable person he'd seen without any concern of their feelings. How could this boy now sitting at my feet be one and the same? He looked at me as well and a smile crept up on his lips begging me to forgive him, look past his transgression and get to know who he really was. His eyes were pleading for a truce...a friendship. I cleared my throat before saying, "I'm Charlotte." I held out my hand. "Hansel," he replied taking my hand in his.