Gretel: Book 1 Chapter 3

Verse 1
The girl walked the forest at night.

She heard a rustling in the brush.

"Hansel? P-Please... I'm scared."

"Won't you tell me a story?"

"Hehehe. You're such a liar..."

"Hansel! Stop joking around."

Did you see the girl's blissful smile as she conversed with herself?

Had it always been the path that was shrouded in darkness? Or was the darkness

in that young girl's heart?

Even she could not say for sure...

Deep within the forest of confusion.

Hey, Hansel. What should we make next?

Sweet cookies? Or cupcakes, perhaps?

Just make sure you don't eat too much!

The evil witch will find you if you do.

She just keeps talking to herself.

It's gross! She weirds me out!

Verse 2
I love my brother's musical voice.

Yet... I struggle to recall the way words sounded on his lips.

Verse 3
I love my brother's soft hands.

But... I can't remember the warmth of his touch.

Verse 4
I love my brother's gentle eyes.

Yet... I can't remember the color of life in them.

Verse 5
I love my brother's swift legs.

But... I suppose he cannot chase me now.

Verse 6
I love my brother's strong arms.

But... I've forgotten how firm they were when he held me.

Verse 7
Hansel?

When was it that we stopped holding hands?

Verse 8
Hansel?

When was it that we stopped speaking?

Verse 9
Hansel? Answer me, Hansel!

Don't leave me here, all alone!

Please... I beg you!

Verse 10
Though she could not believe her eyes,

she dared not look away from him.

For it was the figure of her cherished brother.

They held hands there in the dark forest.

They met a witch in the cottage made of candy.

They defied death with a clever escape plan.

And then, with these very hands---

The girl cried tears of joy

as she spoke the name

of her beloved sibling.

Hansel...There you are!

Nah, guess again. That's a nightmare.

Well, it's him for sure. But yeah, a nightmare.

Oh, Hansel. Come! Give me a hug!

Ugh, this again. She just won't listen.

It's obvious she's one bird short of a birdcage.

The girl sobbed and grieved,

her cheeks pressed against the pale belly,

now bloated and reeking from decay.

Alas, she could not trust her senses,

corrupted by the darkness.

The object of her morbid affection,

reflected in those empty hollow eyes.

"...Where did I go wrong?"

She placed her lips on the corpse and wept.

A taste like sugar, saccharine and cloying.

Discordant Poem
She floated, gently drifting

through those familiar, deformed woods.

It did not take long for her to slip into despair.

A star appeared from nothing,

deep in the dark, fathomless woods.

This was no beacon of hope.

It cast light on the sins of the world.

A candied home in a moonless forest.

The siblings once held captive there,

now prisoners of a different horror.

They stuffed their faces with succulent sin.