The Untold Story of the Lubkuchenhexe

The Great Famine revealed the true depths of human desperation. When humanity is pushed to the very edge, they tend to do one thing or the other - try to help as many from falling over or look out for themselves.

Frail and hungry, her long life had become bitter by poverty. The old woman toiled daily in her small abode. At one time it felt like a home, with warmth and happiness. Now, it was the one thing keeping her alive, as she felt death's crooked touch getting closer.

She needed sustenance, as we all do.

Why did she have to suffer?

She worked hard, baking a delicious lure. In one last ditched attempt to hunt, before her untimely demise.

Fortune fell, as two took her bait. She would be full for weeks. Stews, steaks, and cakes. The blood and guts for flavour. The bones, skin and teeth for clothing and jewellery.

Death begone, she thought, you'll have to wait a little longer for my wretched life to be over.

She could smell them, feasting their eyes and daring to touch and taste the delicacies she had laid out for them upon the sides of her cottage.

The old woman, practically dripping with disgusting, dusty saliva from her mouth, listened. She had missed the sound of...well, anyone.

"Hansel, we should go somewhere else...I don't trust this place"

The woman marvelled at the girl's smarts.

"Gretel...where do you suggest we go? That old witch that Dad married will kill us for certain if we go home"

The old woman was taken aback a little, at first. Of course, in these desperate times, she had heard of families giving up children and even eating them. She was about to do the same, but not to her own flesh and blood.

She shook her head. Needed to stay focused on the plan.

She listened and watched as the little children started licking at the boiled sweet pebbles that lined the window frames and took chunks of rich chocolate-covered ginger slates from the walls of the house.

"This is too good to be true, Hansel. Why would anyone just cover their cottage in food?" Gretel reasoned, while grabbing some marshmallows from the plant pots on the front step of the cottage.

"Let's just eat a little more and then get on our way" Hansel replied, with a little disappointment. He knew his sister was right.

The old woman couldn't shake off that thought that parents would give up two spirited and clever children as these too.

She then began to hatch another plan in her crafty mind.

She pushed the door open and beckoned the children in.

"Dearies, don't be afraid. I am glad you've been helping yourself to the tasty treats on my humble little abode. If you want something even tastier for those bellies, step inside"

Trying her best to do her sweetest voice, she was aware that it still sounded crooked and wretched.

Hansel walked towards the door slowly, stopping only because Gretel had grabbed his shabby ragged robes. "No, Hansel...it's a trap"

Hansel insisted they go inside.

"Deary, please trust me. I couldn't help overhearing you speak of your parents. They sound frightful indeed. How could they send you off to die?" As her voice softened, and Gretel felt the warm tingles of the hot air escaping the opened door, her cautiousness was diminishing.

"How can we trust you? If I come in there, how do we know you won't just lock us up and eat us?" Gretel argued.

"Because...deary. I am just like you too. I've been forgotten and tossed aside in this hellish famine the land has been experiencing." she replied, starting to weep, for the first time in so long.

"Well...my father told me not to trust crocodile tears" countered Gretel, not ready to give in fully...still being cautious.

"Your father was right about that. But, if your father is so smart, why didn't he come up with a better solution to your food problem than getting rid of you?" the witch moaned, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"I have a plan, which will help us all. You can live with me, but I need your help" said the woman, as she came to the front door.

Gretel gasped a little at first, but not because she was scared. Her gasp was one of sympathy and sadness. The woman did not look how Gretel imagined she might. She was old, yes, craggy, yes, bent over slightly and with warts here and there, but there was a kindness in her eyes.

Still unsure whether she was going to help the woman, she looked over to Hansel who had made himself at home at a table with what looked like the most delicious roast chicken.

"Okay...what do you need us to do?" Gretel asked.

"I need you to guide me to your home, so I can discuss some things with your parents."

Gretel quirked an eyebrow, she was sure something sounded off in the woman's voice but was softening up to the woman more by the second. Ever since her mother had died, as one of the first to fall victim to the effects of the famine, she had felt disconnected. She and Hansel both had. As the oldest, though, she felt a weighty responsibility towards Hansel. She had promised in her heart she would take care of him for her mother.

"If we show you where our home is, you will talk to father and our step-mother and then we can come stay with you?" asked Gretel, failing to hide the growing joy in her voice.

"Your dad and stepmother are clearly not suitable parents. I would be happy to have a busy, noisy home once again. Just lead the way."

"Come on, Hansel."

Gretel pointed and directed for Hansel to come along, but the woman interrupted. "Hansel can stay...that is, if he wants to?"

"Please Gretel? I promise to save you some chicken"

"You better not be tricking me..." Gretel turned to the woman.

"I wouldn't dream of it, deary" she replied with an even softer and warmer voice than before.

Gretel led the way back to their house, thinking it was fortunate that she had left special etchings on the trees, so she didn't get lost. Upon approaching the shabby old shack Gretal and Hansel had called home their whole lives, the woman told her to wait outside and that she would go and speak to her father and stepmother.

Gretel watched curiously as the old woman seemed to knock the door quietly, then light from the inside shone out as her stepmother opened the door. Keeping her eyes fixated on the door, Gretel saw the old woman walk straight in. Which was a little odd, because her stepmother didn't like surprise visits and didn't really like people.

She shrugged and decided to step a little closer to the cottage and heard a large thump followed by another. Creeping closer to her home, she peered into the window and saw the old woman standing over two bags. Her father and stepmother were nowhere to be seen.

"Gretel deary, I need your help" called out the old woman as she looked over to the window and her eyes locked on Gretel's.

"What happened?" she shouted, walking into the empty front room of the shack.

"Your parents...sorry your father and stepmother will no longer be a problem. You can come live with me. I need you to grab hold of this other bag, it's not nearly as light as it looks, but you're a big strong girl who will soon become a big strong woman. I think you can manage it."

Gretel was feeling a mixture of emotions, but the kindness in the old woman's eyes reminded her of her mother's.

She grabbed hold of the heavy bag, wondering what was in it, but figuring it must be supplies her father gave the old woman, she ambled along, back the way they came to the old woman's cottage.

Admittedly, she was a little nervous, still thinking it could be a trap, but was delighted to see Hansel at the front door waving at them "Can we stay? Can we stay?" he shouted with the biggest grin on his face Gretel had seen in a long time.

"Yes, deary. You can both stay with me" the old woman said as she walked carefully up the steps to the front door and ushered the children into the warmth. She shut the door and felt a sense of fulfilment and joy.

Not only had her dream come true of having children of her own, but she had plenty of food to feast on, thanks to the children's father and stepmother.

*

Thanks for reading!

So, this is a rejigged and extended version of my The Tragedy of the Lubkuchenhexe.

This was originally written for the Tales Retold Challenge from a year or so ago, but I have resubmitted it for the Legends Rewritten Challenge, which you can find out about here:

I was really quite pleased with this, for the Tales Retold Challenge, which you can find out more about here:

I also have one other entry in that challenge: