I Am Not Gretel

Hansel and his older brother
led me into the forest behind their house.

Just after we crossed the road
it became darker.

The trees, a canopy of great height
obscured the sky.

We walked through thickets
and brush for what seemed hours.

Along the way, we picked
blackberries and salmon berries.

We ate them and saved
some in a paper sack.

We planned on taking them
home to make a pie.

We crossed a stream, rippling
and cold.

Before us was a ramshackle cabin
covered in vines.

Though it appeared to be abandoned,
there were signs of recent activity.

In a fire pit, there was a pile of cans
and paper charred at the edges.

Hansel told me that a
witch lived here.

His older brother told me that
no one had ever seen her.

We heard a rustling in the brush
a few feet away.

We ran and the sack of berries
fell from Hansel's hands.

Maybe, it was an offering
to the witch.