Hansel and Gretel – Part 2

Hansel and Gretel – Part 2

His name was Walter Grimmson. He was the grandson of the infamous Hansel Grimmson of Hansel and Gretel fame. You remember that incident. It was only natural for him when the twins were born to name them Hansel and Gretel. Then his wife died and after some years he remarried.

His two kids were good-natured children growing up and loved hearing the story of their Grandfather and Grand Aunt. However, their stepmother was not fond of them at all. 

“Why did Walter always dote on the two of them?” After all, she had a child of her own too. Her daughter’s name was Babayag, named after her great grandmother Baba Yaga, whose first daughter was murdered in that same Hansel and Gretel incident so long ago. This was a piece of information that Walter was not aware of. 

As this story goes, Walter was away on a two-month business trip when the stepmother decided to get even and do away with Hansel and Gretel. She sent them on a long journey through the Black Forest to find a special gem that was needed for a party she was planning to throw for their father on his return. The gem didn’t exist and she made sure when they left that they had no source of food or communication with them. 

As expected they got lost and did not have the skills they needed to survive. Unexpectedly, what the stepmother had not foreseen was that Babayag would go with them. 

Babayag was aware of the Hansel and Gretel incident, yet only knew it from her mother’s point of view. In fact, anything that happened prior to the original pair finding the witch’s house was unknown to them both. Knowing what her mother had told her over the years did not endear her to the twins, but she also didn’t like that they got to go on all the adventures, so she tagged along. 

To no surprise, deep in the forest, they found a cottage. It was quite enchanting even if it wasn’t made of things to eat. There was a woman outside working in a garden and on seeing them looking so forlorn, invited them into the house. This woman was not what she appeared to be. She was the great-granddaughter of Maleficent. And as bad luck would have it, just as mean. All three of the children were now held captive. And unless they could come up with a plan they would all surely die. 

It was at this time that Babajag started sharing with Hansel and Gretel the story her mother had shared with her and Hansel and Gretel shared their version with Babajag. It was clear to each child that the stories that had been spun to them certainly had way too many pieces missing.  

Determined to work together, they came up with a plan. Hansel played the part of the willing sacrifice and suggested to the witch that she take him and hold him as ransom, for his father would surely pay anything to save him. The witch being intrigued by this idea separated Hansel from the other two to figure out a way to contact the father and which finger on Hansel’s hand would be most recognizable. 

Meanwhile, Babayag used one of the special words that she had learned from her grandmother, that her mother knew nothing about, which called on the black rider of the night to ride over the witch’s house, leaving the house in complete darkness. 

Gretel’s job was to escape from the house in the dark and using a word that Babajag had taught her, create a fire surrounding the house with flame. 

This all worked with artistic perfection. The witch panicked as the three children escaped into the forest before the house was completely surrounded by fire. The fire created enough of a flame to have the proper authorities come to put it out and on finding the three children returned them to their home, just one day before Walter returned from his trip. 

In relating their story to the stepmother a realization came to her. The fate of her great-aunt’s demise was well deserved and the conditions that led the original Hansel and Gretel to the witch’s house was unforgivable. Babayag’s mother begged forgiveness for all she had done, which Hansel and Gretel being the kind of people they were, gladly gave. 

Their stepmother promised that she would make it up to all of the children. And she did. The next day a grand party was made for Walter’s homecoming. Not a word was shared about what had happened. In fact, there was no evidence that anything did happen. The house in the forest had burned down and there was no sign of the witch that lived there ever again. All that was left was the love for each other which blossomed on that day. 

Author’s note: Some stories are meant to repeat themselves. In this case, a family learned more about what it means to be a family when you allow past mistakes to be forgiven and let trust and respect grow in order to build a happy ending.