(This looks super long, but I swear a lot of it is just dialogue...)
James hadn’t seen grandma in a long time. Over a decade had passed since he’d last visited her with his family and discovered that the sweet old lady had lost her cookies and developed a taste for children instead. She’d made attempts to contact them over the years, but never had they reached back out to her. Witches had a bad reputation as it was, and the family had no intention of maintaining ties to a witch who only reinforced stereotypes.
After that whole chaotic event, Sophia had been born. She’d never met grandma and, now a stubborn teenager, claimed that she had the right to do so. Apparently informing her of the horrific things the old woman had done did nothing to deter her from wanting to see the old hag. She would not be reasoned with, and while their parents refused to go, they could do little to stop Sophia from doing the same. Sophia had learned teleportation spells when she was ten, after all.
As the responsible older brother, James regrettably decided to go along with Sophia to attend the dinner invitation grandma had sent. So, on the first day of the new year, he met with his sister outside the front of the house.
“I made rolls to bring. Do you thinks grandma will like them?” Sophia asked merrily, flashing him her basket of said rolls.
James barely cast them a glance. “Depends, did you use the actual flesh of children as an ingredient?”
Sophia huffed, puffing her cheeks out as she always did when annoyed. “You guys need to learn to forgive and forget.”
Some things could be neither forgiven nor forgotten. But James copied her nonetheless as she prepared to teleport, quietly chanting the words to the spell. A green mist surrounded their figures, swirling faster and faster and thicker and thicker until their surroundings became completely obscured. Then all at once it vanished, as if a gale had swept through at that very instant.
James assessed their new surroundings, very faintly recognizing the words they now stood in. Above all, he recognized the life-size gingerbread house that had once struck him with child-like joy but now made his gut clench. He had a bad feeling about this.
Sophia clearly didn’t share it as she marched up the wafer steps and knocked on the gingerbread door. Begrudgingly, James followed, though he remained behind his sister.
When the door opened, a very old lady answered, though she looked no older than James remembered. Her nose remained crooked with a disgusting wart on the end of it, and her smile showed the absence of a few too many teeth. Maybe she needed a healthier diet aside from children and candy.
“My grandchildren, how happy I am to see you!” she greeted in a screeching voice that made James wince. It had the opposite effect on Sophia who beamed and went in to hug the woman before stepping inside. James managed to dodge inside without making contact.
Immediately, he took in the home that really had only three rooms and a basement. Last time cages holding children had adorned the living room, but now he saw nothing but normal furniture. Though that wasn’t to say she could have them elsewhere.
“Did you decide to give up on harming innocent children?” he asked, facing his grandmother.
She smiled back sweetly. “You don’t need to worry yourself over that.”
Sophia gave James a look that said ‘I told you so,’ before proceeding to show off her rolls to their grandma who cooed over them. James remained unconvinced. After all, that hadn’t been a ‘no.’
Not long later the siblings found themselves seated at a small table while grandma finished preparing the stew she’d made for them. “So,” Sophia asked, bright as ever, “what’s the special occasion you invited us over for?”
“Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to give you a handsel in the form of food to celebrate James’ graduation from college. I’m very proud of you, my boy.” Then the old lady had the audacity to wink at him. James didn’t know what was worse, the wink, the “my boy,” or the fact that she knew he’d just graduated a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, he said nothing.
Sophia rocked in her chair in excitement as grandma began serving them, taking no time before she began digging into her bowl of stew.
James exhibited more caution. “What is this?” he demanded to know.
“I call it ‘Handsel Hansel,’” grandma replied with a wrinkly smile.
“What’s ‘Hansel?’” James inquired with a frown, guessing it had to be a witchy herb of some sort.
“A chef never reveals her secrets.” Grandma’s sneaky laugh did nothing to ease his concerns. However, when she dished herself a bowl from the same pot, he reluctantly began to eat as well.
A few hours later after the surprisingly tasty meal and pleasant chatter, the siblings began migrating toward the door to leave. While nothing seemed amiss, James continued to feel uneasy. His bladder certainly felt the pressure.
He excused himself to use the restroom and opened one of the two doors. Having a fifty-fifty shot of finding the bathroom, he of course picked the wrong one and spotted a bedroom inside. However, before closing the door, he couldn’t help but notice pictures of children, a boy and a girl, hanging on the wall. A glance back at his sister and grandma proved they were still conversing, so he slipped inside and quietly shut the door.
Approaching the pictures, he at first wondered if they were of grandma’s children, only his father had never had a sister. Evidently, grandma had had these kids for a long time based on the fact that the images showed the two growing older. The girl disappeared at one point, making him frown and wonder if he’d had an aunt at some point. What bothered him more was how tired and beaten down the children looked.
At the last picture of the boy, he stopped and examined it carefully. He certainly didn’t look like James’ father. On a whim, James pulled the picture off the wall and took the frame off, setting it on the bed. With only the picture in hand, he flipped it over and made out some scrawly cursive writing:
Hansel, last picture, age 23.
That alone had James’ heart racing as he recalled grandma’s name for their dinner. The frame and picture fell from his hands with a clatter when he saw that the picture was dated the day before.
