Lured [The Broken Lollipop]

Heard

       That was my dream. My father's story on how he got Hansel, a story stuck in my head. My story was not as interesting. It was just that evil-evil-Mia gave birth to me, named me Gretel because she regreted of having a daughter. She never did say outrightly, but it was obvious by the way she treated me -- cold and emotionless.

Rubbing my bleary eyes, I tried to get up, only to have my forehead numb with sudden pain from hitting against something. I heard Hansel laugh. I opened my eyes and saw the bottom of the bed. 

"That's what happens when you steal my bed." he said, still chuckling.

I rolled my eyes at the absurd statement. He slept on a mattress in the first place, I didn't 'steal' his bed. "How did I get here?" I asked, rubbing my forehead as I crawled out of the dusty place, even though I already knew the answer.

"You fell off your bed. Again." he said.

We heared mother shout, " Kids! Get up and eat your breakfast! You have to hunt later!"

I suppressed a groan. I always wanted to correct her when she called us kids, because Hansel's 18, and I'm 16, and we are definitely not kids. When we finally hauled ourselves out of bed and arrived at the dining room (it was pretty much the kitchen actually), we saw two quarter loaves of bread. I raised an eyebrow. It was unusual because we always had half loaves each. I didn't bother asking Mother about it because I knew that Father was not earning much for the past few weeks, so I just gave Hansel my share without saying a thing. After breakfast we immediately rushed to get our bows and arrows outside. As always, Hansel was the first to reach there. When evening came, we counted the total catch we had, two rabbits and a squirrel. We usually caught more, but we didn't have enough energy to hunt on that day. We kept one of the rabbits for the family and sold the rest in the market for two dollars, which we gave to Mia.

For dinner, we each ate another quarter loaf of bread before going back to our room. Lying on our beds, we tried to rest our tired bodies, but hunger was too great. Listening to the rhythmic growling of my stomach, I tried to succumb to the beckoning sleep. As my eyes slowly drooped, I heard Mother and Father talk in the other room.

"We only have a loaf of bread left. How can we divide that for the week?" Father's usually soothing voice was filled with anxiety.

"Well," she started arranging the dishes in the cabinets. "I suggest we put your bastard and our idiot kid in the woods and leave them there," Mother spitefully replied.

" Mia! I will never ever do that!"

"I'd rather do that, than watch the four of us die!" and with that, the paraffin lamp was blown out.

Pure silence filled the house.

Silent tears trickled down my face. I did not want to be chased out and left to die in the woods. Hansel got up and hugged me tightly. "You heard?" I asked with a shaking voice. "Yeah." 

"If they push it through, we will find the way back home... I promise." he said, stroking my hair.

I looked out to see the moon and the perfectly smooth pebbles on the narrow dirt lane that reflected its light. I soon started to fall asleep in his arms.