Bittersweet Misery

"How's the bird?"

"Tasty," she answered.

We've been out here on our own for a few weeks. Had she left that bread chunk when we escaped I never would've been able to feed us this long.

Bread lures crow. Crow's trapped. I gut crow. I lure more crows from previous crow's guts.

It's a vicious cycle, but it's worth seeing her smile from a full tummy.

"Hungry, brother?"

"I'll eat the next one."

Dad always said "When you go out into the forest, track which side you have the sun on."

Stepmother never liked me, claimed I ate too much. Called me creepy. I never trusted that bitch. She claimed to save "bathwater" by bathing with her. She made her cry. She caught me peeping, seeing her hands where they should've never been.

Molesting my sister.

She's been trying to ditch us ever since. Too bad I memorized buck rubs, even making a few myself.

Then, when she couldn't lose us, she killed dad. I grabbed sis, and ran far away... into the forest.

We were foraging when we stumbled upon something different. A branch looked like it had a piece of sweet bread growing on it.

"What is it, brother?"

"Odd."

"Is it manna from Heaven?"

"Can't be. We're not in a desert, unlike the Israelites. Don't touch it."

Wandering further we saw more. Trees had stripes. Bushes displayed sugary crystals. Then we saw a cabin.

A woman's voice rose from it.

"Hasten, my pretties! I'll help you!" Bursting forth from her dwelling, she looked like the forest. Perversely inhumanly colorful.

"GET AWAY!" She regained control, displaying humanity, for a split second, fighting her advancements.

We ran, never looking back.

Hauling ass, a candied branch snagged me. I tripped into the twisted foliage's floor.

My throat began constricting internally. My breath was shortening. Something was inside me.

"Stay away!" I demanded.

She backed off, but saw the fear in my eyes.

I didn't want to die alone.

She hugged me in my last moments.

"I can't leave you," she cried.

Thank you, sister. I'm sorry your fate intertwined with mine.

"Run, run, run, as fast as You Can! You Can't Escape Us!"

"THE GINGERBREAD KIDS!"

Thavien's Token: I had this idea about the candy house, and potentially even the forest, ruminating in my head for a few days now.

I hope it makes sense for y'all. My imagination thought of something akin to "The Last of Us" video game. Imagine a fungi that would spread its infection by pushing its host's abundant bodily sugars towards the surface, where they could infect other organisms. Trees, bushes, algae/moss that grows on the trees and even lodges made out of logs, and, worst of all, the animals. The sugars would present as a sweet treat for other living organisms. Making each living being seeming almost candied or candified.

Well, I hope You enjoyed this entry of mine into L.C. Schäfer's "Fucked Up Fairytales - An Unofficial Challenge."