Unhappily Ever After: A Collection of Feary Tales

Before the Gingerbread House

BEFORE THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE

In the year of our Lord, 1396...

There was a time in history when a deep cold swept the land. Called The Little Ice Age, food that had been eager to grow became scarce. The barren earth, once warm and rich with life, was now battered by snow and wind, causing famine and want.

It was during this time that a young woman worked diligently with her husband. Attempting to plant a small field of wheat, they hoped that their efforts would grow to harvest before the fast-approaching winter. Previous harvests had yielded less and less to store with each passing year. Desperate to survive, they had eaten most of the seeds that were meant for planting. Soon there would be nothing left.

Green heads of wheat had barely formed their kernels when the first snow began to fall. Rushing out to gather what they could, their tattered clothes provided little protection against the frosty task. Quickly returning home with what little they had, the couple enjoyed the only thing they had plenty of, warmth from the wood that was gathered from the forest. Snuggled next to a fire, the husband and wife talked of more pleasant things, distracting themselves from their misery. 

It was an ordinary night when a knock sounded at the door. Standing up to answer it, the man stumbled over weakly and flipped the latch. Outside, a stranger greeted him in the snow. Dressed in tattered rags and a wool scarf, a stiff brown hat covered most of his face. Standing there rubbing his hands together, only his piercing dark eyes were exposed.

"I am a peddler on my way to the next town. May I come in?" He asked with a shiver.

"We have no food here." The husband said.

Feeling the penetrating warmth creep into his scarf, the peddler quickly made an offer.

"I will give you this small sack of flour in exchange for a place to sleep."

The husband agreed and let the man in. The stranger, whose name was Tom, had been caught in the storm as he carried his wears to market. As agreed, the peddler handed over a small sack. Taking some of the flour, the wife made a single loaf of bread.

"I also have a large sack of potatoes, carrots and ginger. They can be planted in the cold ground." He said, waving a hand towards his covered wagon where the supplies were kept.

Excited by his sudden good fortune, the husband offered their life savings for what was in the stranger's sack. With a greedy gleam that he quickly masked, the man took their money, agreeing to exchange it for the merchandise in the morning.

Before dawn, while the couple still slept, the man gathered his things to leave. While hitching his wagon, the husband woke up. Noticing that Tom and his sack was missing, he hurriedly rushed out into the snow.

"Hold up there!" He shouted, confronting the man in bare feet.

"Ah!" Tom said startled. "I was just about to leave your merchandise on the stoop."

Caught with his lie, the peddler quickly did so and left.

When the husband came inside, his wife was waiting.

"What's going on?" she asked tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Not wanting to alarm her, he presented the sack.

When the wife opened it, she cried out in dismay. Inside, there was nothing but molded flour and rotten potatoes and carrots. Putting on his shoes and coat, he wrapped his wife's scarf around him and grabbed a butcher's knife. Commanding her to stay inside, he rushed out into the miserable weather and followed the direction of the wagon tracks.

Determined to pursuit the thief, he traveled all day until running upon his camp. Angry and frantic, the husband rushed towards the stranger with a clenched fist. Striking him in the face, it caused the dishonest peddler to fall backwards into hot embers. Hitting his head on a large rock, Tom was instantly killed.

Much too weak to pull his burning body from the flames, the husband was soon overcome with the smell of roasting flesh. Morbid thoughts that were triggered by starvation, he sat mesmerized by the moment, his ghoulish desires taking over. Hunger had overpowered humanity, and the husband couldn't help but to indulge in the perfectly cooked meat.

With a full belly of human flesh, and not much regret, he quickly hitched up the man's wagon and loaded up the partially eaten body. Just before reaching home, he stopped in the forest to chop up the remains. Neatly wrapping several pieces in brown paper, he stored most of it in an old oak hollow, stuffing the rest into the bottom of the sack that he took to his wife.

When she opened it, there was flour, seeds, a large bag of dried ginger and some cloves. Setting them aside, the wife soon discovered the neatly wrapped meat. Delighted, she took it out and made a pie.

Before they began to eat, the husband told his wife the full story. Remaining silent for only a short time, she eventually indulged in the feast.

As winter dragged on, the couple struck upon the idea of drawing in strangers. Baking the flour  and ginger into large sheets, they constructed a large gingerbread house façade on the front of their home. The husband coated parts for the roof with wax and painted candies on the outside. Setting ground ginger and cloves out to lure in their victims with the enticing scent. The couple built a large brick oven to cook their flesh.

The husband eventually died, leaving the woman, now old and decrepit, to continue the grizzly tradition. On a cold, snowy day, much like the one when their first victim arrived, two children appeared outside the house. Hungry and cold, they knocked softly at the door. Knowing the little boy and girl would be a tender treat, the old woman quickly started her oven.

THE END.

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Anyone care to guess who the little boy and girl were at the end of the story?

So what did you think?

Remember that these are simply short stories that are based (loosely) on fairytales and fables so they're going to be pretty quick. A few will be much longer than this one but some will be about this length. This was just a quick scary story I wrote for my kids before I started writing at all.

 After writing this story back in 2015, I wrote a children's book that is posted on Amazon Kindle called, "The Creature in Evans Creek." If you're looking for it on Amazon just type in "Robindolph" in the search bar. It's free IF you have Kindle Unlimited.