The rays from the setting sun bathed the roof of the house in an ocean of orange when Hansel finally emerged.
“Hurry up!” Gretel urged. “It’s getting dark. We need to head back home now.”
Ignoring his sister’s warning, Hansel held up the object in his hand. Smiling proudly, he said, “This should fetch enough to feed us for a week.”
Gretel peered at the cylindrical shape. A glint of sunlight caught the end of the tube and quickly vanished as her brother waved it in the air.
“What is that?” she asked. “Old World tech?”
“Watch this.”
Hansel pressed his thumb against the side of the object. To his sister’s amazement, the end of the tube glowed faintly.
She gasped. “A flashlight! It still works?” With three quick strides, she closed the distance to her brother and snatched the artifact from his hand. Gretel had seen a few flashlights in her lifetime, but the last time she held one that still worked was on her twelfth birthday.
“Hey, I was the one who found it!” Hansel reached for the flashlight, but Gretel turned her back to him.
“I’ll return it in a second.” She admired the metal tube and the transparent bulb and lens on the end. It was a minor miracle to find a flashlight with the bulb intact and the lens unscratched. However, what was truly unbelievable was the fact that the battery still held a charge. “Where did you find it?”
“Underneath the kitchen sink next to some decomposing boxes of who knows what.”
Gretel handed the flashlight back to her brother. “Take good care of it.”
“Of course,” he answered with irritation, annoyed that she treated him like a baby although she was only a few minutes older than he was.
Hansel found a place for his prize inside the backpack. In addition to the flashlight, the scavenging trip also netted a somewhat rusty can opener, some plastic cups, a small box holding thick thread labeled “Floss” that they didn’t understand the purpose of, and bottles of pills that expired in 2018 and 2019. Hansel doubted that anyone would buy the thread or the old medicine, but the can opener and cups ought to earn enough for a decent meal for himself, Gretel, and their father.
The flashlight, on the other hand, was a real treasure. Finding Old World tech in working condition was so rare that someone would surely pay a handsome price for it.
With his head swimming in thoughts of the real food they could buy, Hansel zipped his backpack shut and slung it over his shoulder.
Gretel led the way back in the direction from which they came. The house they visited was the only one on the street that didn’t lie in ruins. Few other buildings on this side of town survived, but since everyone else also avoided the area, she thought it would be a good location for her and Hansel to try their luck. Based on what they found that day, she planned to return again.
Their father didn’t know where they were, but that wasn’t unusual. He worked in the quarry from dawn until well after sunset and came home in time for a late dinner that Gretel or Hansel prepared, usually too meager to satisfy any of their stomachs, but it was all they could afford.
Life wasn’t much easier when their mother was still alive, but at least her income from laboring in the fields used to mean that they didn’t need to worry about food or clothes.
Gretel looked forward to her and Hansel’s sixteenth birthdays next month. They would finally be old enough to work full time and help contribute to the family’s coffers. She planned to take her mother’s place in the fields while Hansel talked of heading to the quarry with their father. With all three of them working, she hoped that their father didn’t need to put in the long hours that he volunteered for now.
Lost in thought, Gretel stumbled upon a root that broke the surface of the road. She turned to see a nearby tree cutting the figure of a monster with claws, causing her to jump. She turned around, inspected her surroundings, and frowned.
“What’s the matter?” Hansel asked, stopping suddenly behind her.
Gretel studied the street they were on and the ruins nearby. She looked for a familiar landmark but instead pointed to the crumbled remains of a fountain. “I don’t remember seeing that when we came this way earlier. Do you?”
Hansel considered the fountain. With its hideous statue sticking out from the pile of stones, it was certainly an unforgettable sight. Then his gaze swept the landscape to either side. “No, this place doesn’t look familiar.”
“I think we’re lost.”
“How did that happen?” Hansel’s tone clearly implied where he felt the blame lay.
“How should I know? And why is it my fault? I wasn’t the only one walking along this path, you know.” Gretel put her hands on her hips.
“I was just following you,” her brother protested.
“But you have eyes too, don’t you? If you saw that we went off course, you could’ve said something, but you didn’t.”
Hansel didn’t reply. He didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going either. Ever since leaving the house where he found the flashlight, he only thought of going back to the neighborhood and discovering more treasures, along with the luxuries that selling those treasures would bring.
There was nothing wrong with occasionally daydreaming of a life of comfort for himself and his family, Hansel thought. Maybe he didn’t even need to work when he turned sixteen. He could make a living scavenging for Old World artifacts to sell. The idea appealed to him more than working at the quarry or in the fields.
“Don’t worry,” Hansel finally said. “We’ll find our way back.” He turned toward the direction where the sun set, now marked by a slightly redder shade of darkness than the rest of the sky. “If that’s west, then that way must be south. We’ll just go in that direction until we come across something we recognize.”
Gretel nodded in silence, but she started south. Hansel caught up to walk beside her rather than trail behind.
Their surroundings increasingly meshed into the night’s blackness as the last glimmer of sunlight vanished behind the horizon. The few stars that peeked through patches of clouds provided their only source of light. Since they didn’t expect to stay out so late, neither of them brought a torch or lantern. Their eyes strained to see a clear path to walk through, but in the darkness, they could only make out rough shapes. As much as they wanted to hurry, they carefully tread through the deserted streets. If one of them fell in the dark and suffered an injury, it would only make matters worse.
More than once, they considered using the flashlight that Hansel found. However, its battery was already weak, and if they used it up, its value would significantly decline. In the end, they both agreed that they didn’t need the flashlight to find their way home.
The farther south they traveled, the closer the nearby forest loomed. In this part of town, the boundary between civilization and wilderness blurred as foliage grew unchecked in the streets and among the rubble. Each time the siblings detoured away from the woods, they soon ran into the encroaching vegetation again a block or two later.
Gretel finally broke the silence. “Do you think Dad’s home yet?”
“I don’t know.” Hansel’s attention stayed on his footsteps as he cautiously navigated via starlight.
“I hope not. I don’t want him to worry about us.”
Hearing the uneasiness in his sister’s voice, he added, “We’ll be home soon.” Yet Hansel’s voice lacked the reassurance that he tried to project.
The wind picked up, and the clouds increased overhead, making it more difficult for them to find their way through the darkness. A howl drifted across the wind. They attributed it to a stray wolf in the forest, hoping it wasn’t anything worse.
Gretel reached for Hansel’s hand, something she hadn’t done since they were young children. He felt the chill in her fingers and the trembling that consumed not only her hand but her entire body. He held her hand firmly in his, sending what comfort he could muster through their contact.
> Hansel was concerned but not afraid. In his mind, he still believed that they were moments away from stumbling across familiar surroundings.
Suddenly, Gretel stopped and pointed. “Look!”
Following her finger, Hansel sought the reason for her exclamation. At first, he saw only the trees in the adjoining woods. Then he slowly made out the speck of light.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s too far to tell from here.”
Hansel started toward the light.
“Where are you going?” his sister asked.
“If there’s someone out there, maybe they can help us find our way home.”
Gretel hesitated before agreeing. “All right, but let’s be careful.”
“Careful is my middle name.”
“Sure it is. I’m just saying, we don’t know who the light belongs to. It could be someone dangerous. We should approach quietly in case it’s a camp of thieves or something like that.”
“Good idea, sis.”
“Good idea is my middle name.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. Your middle name can’t be two words.”
“Shut up. Get going.”
Instead of prolonging the argument, Hansel obeyed and headed for the light again. He felt rather than heard or saw his sister following him.
Once they traveled well inside the boundary of the woods, it became more difficult to maintain their silence. Without the ability to see where they were going, they often stepped on leaves or twigs that gave away their presence. Hansel hoped that if the light did belong to a group of dangerous people, they were louder than the two siblings.
Within minutes, it became apparent that the light was deeper inside the woods than they first thought it was. And more troubling, the source of the illumination wasn’t torches or candles or lanterns. There was no camp. Instead, they saw a house in the woods.
Hansel and Gretel were soon close enough to see that the light emanated from a square window. Instead of the flickering of flames, the light offered a steady glow that reminded Hansel of the flashlight he found. The window belonged to a house that was much larger than the shelter where their family lived.
They couldn’t see the rest of the house, and all of the other windows remained dark. Aside from the light, there was no indication that the house was occupied.
“What’s a house doing in the middle of the woods?” Hansel wondered.
Gretel shook her head, as bewildered by the sight before her as her brother was. “Do you think we should go any closer?”
“Let’s peek in through the window. I’ll go take a look first, and you stay here.”
“Be careful.”
Hansel suppressed the urge to comment on his middle name. Instead, he crept toward the house while scanning the vicinity for signs of other people. He approached from an angle so that if someone inside chose to look out of the window, they wouldn’t see him unless they knew where to look.
When he reached the corner of the house, Hansel placed a hand against the wall. It felt cool and smooth, like Old World construction. His heart beat faster at the thought that the resident might be an Old World survivor who still possessed Old World tech.
Lowering himself to a crouch, Hansel stepped to the edge of the window. He stole a quick glance inside. The room he saw appeared unoccupied. He chanced a longer look through the window and was astounded by the sight.
Hansel had seen pictures of how a typical home used to look from Old World magazines that had survived. The sight that greeted his eyes resembled those images.
A sofa and a table sat in the middle of the room. Unlike the few pieces of tattered furniture that his family possessed, these looked brand new. There were no tears in the cushions of the sofa that Hansel could see, and the table shined with a layer of polish.
Across from the sofa was a large, flat, rectangular panel affixed to the wall. The panel displayed a uniform gray background, but Hansel had a feeling that he knew what it was. A television! He had heard of such things from his father, but he had never seen one with his own eyes.
As astounding as the furnishings was the source of the light that drew them to the house. Hansel saw two lamps on either side of the room. Both gave off a brilliance that matched a sunny day. How did the house’s occupant manage to keep all of these Old World items working and in such pristine shape?
He had to tell Gretel about his discovery. Abandoning any pretense of stealth, Hansel ran back to his sister.
Gasping for breath as he stopped before her, he nearly shouted, “You’ve got to see this! It’s wonderful, all of the stuff inside. You won’t believe it!”
Gretel didn’t have a chance to respond before Hansel pulled her by the hand to the window.
The same sense of wonder swept across Gretel’s face as she stared into the house.
“How?” she uttered, too speechless to say more.
“I don’t know, but I want to meet whoever lives here.” Hansel hurried past the window to the only door he saw. Gretel didn’t stop him or caution him against his reckless action.
He rapped his knuckles on the door, noticing the resonance it produced against the sturdy wood surface. A few seconds passed without a response from inside the house, so Hansel knocked again. More seconds came and went.
“There’s no one home,” Gretel said.
Hansel tried once more, thumping his hand against the door harder than the first two times. The door eased open a crack.
The siblings exchanged glances that carried opposite intentions. Hansel pushed the door open wider, but his sister hissed, “No! We can’t just barge in.”
“They left the door open. That’s an invitation for visitors to enter.”
“I highly doubt it. I’m sure they never even thought they would get visitors.”
Ignoring his sister, Hansel stepped inside. “Hello?” he shouted into the house. Receiving no answer, he took another step into the entryway. “Is anyone here?” Talking to the empty air, he continued, “We don’t mean to trespass, but your door was open.”
To one side of the entryway, Hansel saw an unlit hallway. The room that he viewed through the window was on the opposite side. Soothing strains of music flowed from the room, too quiet to be heard through the window. The melody was hypnotic and unlike anything he had heard before.
Hesitantly, Gretel walked through the door too, shutting it closed behind her. She wandered into the room, admiring the artifacts she saw.
“This is amazing!” She sat gently on the sofa. “Wow, this is more comfortable than anything I’ve ever sat on.” Gretel closed her eyes and settled deeper into the cushions.
When she opened them, she found Hansel on all fours next to the far wall. “What are you doing?”
He lifted his head. In his hands, he held a beige cord. “I’m trying to figure out how these lights are working. Where is the power coming from?”
Uninterested in her brother’s investigation, Gretel tuned him out and closed her eyes again. She wished that this was their home.
The sound of a door opening and closing startled both of them to alertness. A light came on in the hallway and from it, an elderly woman shuffled into view.
“Who’s there?” the woman asked. She squinted in the direction of the siblings. “Who are you?”
Gretel jumped up from the sofa. “I’m so sorry to intrude. My brother and I got lost and saw your house. We knocked on the door, but no one answered. Your door was open, and we didn’t know if anyone was inside. I know that’s not a good excuse to trespass, and I apologize for both of us. If you can point us in the direction we need to go, we’ll leave you alone immediately.”
Instead of scolding them, the woman greeted her intruders. “There’s no need for you to leave so soon. I rarely get visitors anymore, and anyone who drops by is a welcomed guest.”
“That’s very generous of you, but we’re still sorry to enter uninvited. We won’t bother you.”
“It’s no bother.” The
woman waved the siblings to sit on the sofa. She smiled briefly, but then her mouth drew downward into a sad frown. “I’m the last of my friends or family to survive, and it’s been lonely living here by myself.”
Gretel began to feel sorry for the woman. With her obviously deteriorating physical condition, she was likely confined to this house in the middle of nowhere. If everyone she knew had already passed away, Gretel doubted that anyone else came of visit the woman.
She wondered how the elderly woman managed to survive for so long on her own. Hansel thought the same thing, blurting out, “How do you feed yourself if you live alone?”
Gretel’s face flushed in embarrassment at her brother’s frank question, but the woman kindly answered, “I maintain a garden in the back yard. Sometimes I’m also lucky enough to catch food in my traps.”
Gretel was surprised to hear that the old woman set animal traps to catch her food. Perhaps she wasn’t as frail and helpless as she appeared.
“How inhospitable of me,” the woman said suddenly. “I should have offered you two something to eat or drink. Where are my manners?” She turned to go back down the hall.
Gretel wanted to protest, but she knew hunger for too long to turn away an offer of food. From the longing on his face, she could tell that Hansel also anticipated whatever the woman planned to provide.
A moment later, the elderly woman reappeared with a tray holding three cups and a plate of pastries. She passed a cup to each sibling and set the pastries in front of them. Holding the third cup in her hands, she watched Hansel and Gretel devour the food.
Never in their lives had either teen eaten such richly delicious food. Even the drink was delightful, a sweet concoction that made their taste buds dance for joy.
After finishing her pastry and drink, Gretel felt guilty about rudely gulping down the old woman’s offerings without thanking her. However, as she began to speak, she found her brain turning foggy and her mouth unresponsive. Alarmed, she turned to Hansel and saw his unconscious body lying on the sofa.
Gretel wanted to ask the woman for help, but the old, wrinkled hag only chuckled.