Gransel and Hetel

Once there lived a family so poor
That the father couldn’t feed his two children any more
So he led them through the forest in the depth of night
And once they fell asleep, he crept out of sight

When Hetel awoke, she cried, “Daddy is gone!”
But Gransel had been expecting that all along
“Don’t cry, darling Hetel,” he kindly said
“We’re not lost…I’ve been dropping crumbs of bread.”

Off to find the trail of breadcrumbs they ran
But there was a glitch in Gransel’s plan
For not a crumb was left in sight
The birds had snatched them during the night

Meanwhile, a witch, who loved to eat
Woke up with a craving for little-boy meat
She had a long green nose and beady eyes like a mouse
And strangely enough, she had an edible house

Gransel and Hetel, lost and alone
With hungry tummies that were starting to groan
Went wandering sadly through the trees
When they suddenly noticed…a pathway of peas!

The children couldn’t believe their eyes
The peas led to a house of enormous size
The bricks of the house were chunks of potatoes
The door was of carrots, and the hedge of tomatoes!

It had cucumber windows and curtains of leeks
A mailbox of spinach and a chimney of beets
A fence of broccoli and a porch of soy
An olive for a doorbell and gutters of bok choy

From indoors, the witch hungrily eyed her prey
She cackled, “I’ll be eating kid-stew today!”
But the kids took one look and said, “Vegetables? Ew!
Let’s blow this joint. We’ve got better things to do.”

“Drat!” said the witch. “Another meal lost!
This real estate sure wasn’t worth what it cost.
Stupid kids ran away! Well ain’t that just dandy!
I knew I shoulda built the damn thing outta candy.”