Hanselli and Gretellia

Hanselli and Gretellia

To be blatantly honest, there are many things about Della (or the Witch, as so many now call her) that I can no longer remember. Nowadays in my recollections of her, I can see her face… but I cannot recognize it. I cannot comprehend the sorrow of her miserable life as I once did; I can’t quite recall the timbre of her strained voice, or those dark eyes that had seen so much misery. For God’s sake; these days it is hard to separate the facts of her short life from the misconceptions that the cruelly modern world has branded her memory with. And for this, my son, it is my own fault. In the years after her death, the later years of my confinement, I spent countless hours searching through city records and family archives and various other documentations, searching for any and all insight into Della Delacroix’s life. I called former employers, estranged relatives, past friends… and was usually rewarded with them exclaiming that her life was ‘none of my concern!’ Many times, my interviewees would simply hang up at the mention of her name. But in the end, I usually got the information that I sought, and that inkling guilty notion would sink further into my conscience. So now, here, with me nearing the end of my life, it is time for me to publish her story: the abridged but 100% true account of the final day of Della Delacroix, better known to the world as the Candy House Witch.
Now, to understand Della Delacroix, it is essential to understand her situation. The Grimm History textbooks would have you believe that she lived alone in the middle of the Enchanted Forest (why are forests always enchanted?), and in a house made only of sweets and gingerbread. First off: yes, she lived alone in the Forest. But her house! The notion that her home was made ONLY of candy and gingerbread is common slander! No no no… it was so much more than that… I remember it. The front walk-up was paved with the finest of emerald gumdrops, sprinkled here and there with stalks...