Title: Hansel & Gretel: Dice Collectors
Summary: A ficlet collection written to prompts drawn from storycubes I bought to deal with Lockdown's entertainment limitations. The stories vary in length, but I do try to keep them over a hundred words. If you're looking for something similar in another fandom, I have You're A Ficlet, Harry (HP), There Is No Chance, Only The Force (SW), d100 (The 100), Dragondice of Pern (Pern), and Horizon Zero Dice (HZD). No prizes for guessing the naming scheme that I'm using.
Chapter Title: sugar lips
Prompt: sweet
Chapter Summary: Sugar is no longer sweet.
Character swap, or the one where it's Gretel who gets sugar sickness.
Candy, even small, hardboiled and unshapely, is a treat. Special. A celebration.
It sits like salt on Hansel's tongue. Chokes it down, grimaces his gratitude - it was an uncommonly kind gesture, from people who had little to give and had already taken the two of them in on naught but the word of their misfortune - and glances sidelong at his sister. Bad for him, but for his sister - worse.
He had been fed, provided for, fattened like a pig for solstice slaughter. He cannot stand the thought of excess. Even all these months later the thought of food richer than rough bread and thin gruel sickens him.
But Gretel had scraps, or no food at all. She had to keep sneaking when witch dozed, snapping off bits and pieces of the cottage when she could no longer live off tastes of Hansel's meals. She had grown sick of taste before first week was through. More than two months, and closer to three, before oven door had slammed ending to witch. But when the only alternative was starving - starving and leaving Hansel trapped - what choice did she have?