Many years had gone by since rain had fallen on Vidarr. Before the drought, a strange sickness began infecting the vast forests across the planet. Day by day, the inhabitants helplessly watched the trees withering away into skeletons of their former green glory.

Scientists were at great pains to come up with a solution to the dying trees. But the moment they managed to produce the tree supplements (which looked like silver bullets and were shot in as such), the clouds vanished from the sky.

Eventually, the once lush planet which had sustained its human diaspora for centuries had turned into a globe of sand. It wasn't long before the richest inhabitants took all of the intergalactic spaceships, filled them with food and countess stacks of Jupiters (one of the universal currencies) and left Vidarr behind in a literal cloud of dust.

In time, the remaining Vidarri people retreated underground. There they found refuge from the sun's scorching rays and the sand tornadoes that turned the cities above ground into ghostly ruins.

Not long after, a rumour began circulating through the underground tunnels. Mr. Woods had heard the whispers on the hover-train that the food vaults were running low, and soon there wouldn't be enough to feed everyone on Vidarr.

At first, Mr. Woods did not want to believe that the food was running out. But as he looked at the reduced amounts of powder food packets in his metal container, Hansel and Gretel's father knew it was only a matter of time.

That night, Mr. Woods gave his two beloved children the last of the gingersnap cookies he'd bought before the dome markets closed down in the city. As Hansel and Gretel ate their treats, Mrs. Woods watched from the kitchen with contempt.

Her burning gaze soon drifted away from the children eating by the fire and to her husband. And he already knew what was on her mind. Mrs. Woods's blue eyes had a way of speaking without words.

She wanted him to send them away, so they too could become a part of the growing number of "missing" children. And as soon as Hansel and Gretel were sent to bed, the topic was broached once more.

"They have to go," Mrs. Woods said, looking at her husband as they lay in bed.

Mr. Woods did not respond; sending them away felt like murder, he thought.

"Did you hear me?" his wife asked, sounding annoyed.

"Is there nothing else we can do?" he replied. "Maybe we could just eat less food—I'll skip a meal."

"Skipping two wouldn't make a difference," she said coolly. "The fact is we have two mouths too many to feed, and you don't have a job at the lumber lab anymore."

Mr. Woods sighed. "Maybe we should just eat what we get together and—"

"And what?" Mrs. Woods interrupted. "Die together? Don't be an idiot. We can have other children when there's food again. Plus, there's a Talorian ship at the edge of the galaxy. Apparently, they picked up the Miller children. We could send Hansel and—"

"So they can become slaves?" Mr. Woods said incredulously.

"Better to be living slaves than dead Vidarri children," Mrs. Woods replied. "When the Talorians get bored with them, they'll just let them go. Maybe by then, the rains would have returned; they can come back, and we'll be together again."

"But what will I tell them?" he asked with a cutting feeling in his heart.

"That it'll be an adventure," Mrs. Woods said calmly. "They always like when you tell them adventure stories before bed. Now they'll get an opportunity to experience one of their own."

"You tell them then," Mr. Woods said with a touch of anger in his tone.

"My love," Mrs. Woods said softly, stroking the stubble on his face with the back of her hand. "You know those...sweet children," she almost choked on the word sweet, as if she wanted to say something else. "You know they've never really seen me as their real mother, so they'd take it better if it came from you."

Mr. Woods turned away from his wife to face the patchwork, metal wall. Soon, he felt his wife's slender arm around his waist, and she kissed his neck.

"It won't be the same without them here," she whispered in his ear. "But it's what's best for everyone."

Mr. Woods wanted to believe her, but he couldn't bring himself to call sending his children away the "best" solution. It might be necessary, in one sense, but it was not best. Somehow, it felt wrong or even evil. But the poor man knew his wife would not stop until she saw them gone.

He didn't want to admit it, but Mr. Woods did feel she had a point. Yes, the Talorians would work his children ragged, but they'd be fed, and eventually freed. There was some hope in that notion, he thought.

"I'll do it," he said with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"It's for the best," she smiled triumphantly.

A deep sigh passed Mr. Woods's lips. He turned away from the wall and stared up at the stalactites hanging from the cavern behind the glass dome; knowing sleep would not come to him that night.

But what he did not know was that Hansel was also not asleep. In fact, he'd heard the entire conversation from the air vent over the living room while trying to charge his hologram tablet.

The little boy immediately set the device down and went to warn his sister.

***

Upon returning to their bedroom, Hansel went to wake his sister, sleeping on the bottom bunk. Gretel's pink blanket was covering her from shoulder to toes, and she was facing the wall.

"Gretel," Hansel whispered, but his sister did not stir. He called her name again and decided to gently shake her awake. However, when he leaned down to touch Gretel, his hand went right through her.

Hansel stepped back and stared, then he saw the image of his sister flicker like an old light bulb about to go out. Gretel started giggling from behind the closet; Hansel rolled his eyes.

"Gotcha!" Gretel beamed. "I love the new projector upgrade," she smiled, looking at the silver-white casting watch on her wrist. "I'd just finished downloading it when you left the room—want me to show you how it works?"

"Not now," Hansel sighed. "We have a problem."

Gretel wrinkled her brow and stepped closer to him. "Are you trying to scare me again?"

Hansel shook his head. "She wants to send us away."

"Who?" Gretel twirled one of her blonde pigtails with her finger.

"The witch," Hansel quipped. "Who else?"

"Papa won't listen to her," Gretel scoffed.

"This time he did," Hansel frowned.

"What?" Gretel yelled.

"Quiet," Hansel said in a whisper that could have been a shout.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Hansel gave Gretel a hug. "I'll figure something out; try to get some sleep, okay?"

Gretel returned her brother's hug and got into bed. Hansel climbed the ladder up to the top bunk, flopped his head on the pillow and gazed at the ceiling. Hansel spent the whole night racking his young brain, trying to come up with a solution. By the time the sun rose across the desert-like landscape of Vidarr, he'd hatched an idea.

Two heavy knocks struck the door, and Mrs. Woods came barging into the children's room.

"Time to wake up little bed heads," she said in her fake sing-song voice. "Breakfast is on the table, and your father has something to tell you—hurry along now."

The children walked out of the room and into the hallway, yawning and rubbing their eyes. At the table, two rice flour pancakes and a quarter glass of soy milk awaited each child. They kissed their father before sitting down.

While the children struggled to eat, Mr. Woods sat quietly with a grim look on his face. Mrs. Woods shot him an angry look from across the table. Then Mr. Woods took a deep breath and began to tell the children about their upcoming "adventure."

"When can we come back?" asked Hansel.

"Why when the planet has enough food again," said Mrs. Woods condescendingly.

"And when will that be?" Gretel raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, in no time at all," said Mrs. Woods. "But you'll both be having so much fun, you'll hardly miss us—time will just fly by."

The children did not believe Mrs. Woods as far as they could throw her, so not missing her would be very easy. But they would miss their papa, who sat at the table with slouched shoulders and a long face.

Mrs. Woods told the children to have a shower and to put on their grey, space jumpsuits; adding that she had a special going away present for them. Maybe she's not so bad after all, Gretel thought to herself as she walked towards the bathroom.

Hansel, on the other hand, quickly slipped into the living room and retrieved his hologram tablet. While his sister showered, he downloaded an app to help cut their impending adventure short.

While getting changed, Hansel slipped into a pair of shorts, reduced the size of his tablet down to a pebble and slipped it into his pocket. From there, he put on his jumpsuit, zipped it up and joined the rest of the family in the kitchen.

Mr. and Mrs. Woods took the children to the launching area located in the opening of a canyon. Once Hansel and Gretel were strapped into their bubble-shaped ship with two wings and three cone-shaped rockets sticking out the back, Mrs. Woods handed them a loaf of crusty, zucchini bread.

Some present, Hansel thought.

"Now make sure you share this," Mrs. Woods said. "Don't eat it all at once."

Both children forced a smile. They wanted to say thanks, but the word seemed to be stuck in their throats. As the craft lifted off the ground, tears welled up in Mr. Woods's eyes. He wanted to watch the ship disappear into the sky, but his wife jerked his arm and reminded him that it was time to get more food rations.

"What are we going to do now?" Gretel asked as their ship left Vidarr's atmosphere and vast dark expanse of space unfolded before them.

"One second," Hansel held up a finger, unzipped his suit and reached into the pocket of his shorts.

He produced his hologram tablet, tapped on the screen and said, "Pilot."

Instantly, the figure of an old man was cast from the tablet. He greeted the children, looked around, then told Hansel the ship model and instructed him on how to disengage the autopilot and plot a new route away from the Talorian ship.

"We won't go back right away," Hansel said. "We'll make a few trips around the planet and then go back home just before sunset."

Gretel smiled and proceeded to play with her watch. They shared the disgusting bread evenly, and when evening came, Hansel landed the ship in the canyon; they caught the hover-train and went home.

When they knocked on the door, Mrs. Woods opened it and pretended to be happy to see them.

"Back so soon," she smiled awkwardly.

The children nodded, walked past her, entered the house, and embraced their papa in the living room. It was then that Mrs. Woods noticed Hansel's hologram tablet's empty charging station in the corner of the room.

Mrs. Woods immediately made some more zucchini bread by putting one of the food packets into the macro-oven. She smeared some lactose-free butter on thin slices of bread and gave it to the children. Then she crumbled two of her sleeping pills into the glasses of warm soy milk and took them to Hansel and Gretel.

***

The next morning, when Hansel woke up, he tried to find his hologram tablet, but couldn't find it anywhere. When he sat down to eat his single pancake, Hansel couldn't help noticing the satisfied look on his stepmother's face as she sipped her vegan, herbal tea.

Once the children were strapped into their ship once more, they both had a sinking feeling that this would be the last time they'd see their father again. They waved goodbye to him, and five minutes later, their rocket-propelled ship left Vidarr's atmosphere.

Soon, the brown, dusty planet melted away into the black void of space, becoming just another twinkling light among trillions. Hansel tried to take control of the ship, but all he managed to do was change the course, though not towards home.

Hansel and Gretel held hands and cried until they both fell asleep. And although they were sad, they felt some comfort knowing they had each other.

Suddenly, something hit the glass dome covering the top of the spaceship, producing a tapping sound. At first, it was soft but gradually got louder.

The children's eyes grew wide as they looked outside; meteors of every size and shape were hurling towards them. The screen behind the steering wheel began flashing red.

A robotic voice coming from the speakers kept repeating "Manual control and danger." Hansel grabbed the steering wheel and tried to hold it steady. Off to his left, he saw something green. It was a small planet or a large moon. Either way, it would be better than being caught in a meteor shower, he thought.

Crash! A meteor smashed into the right wing; it began sparking and smoking. Everything started wobbling. Hansel quickly swung the steering wheel in the direction of the green planet and told his sister to hold on. Crash!

Another meteor made contact with the left wing, snapping it clean off. The ship began to spin, and everything looked like a swirl of meteors, blackness and the verdant planet.

Hansel and Gretel screamed as green became the most prominent colour in the swirl outside the glass. And in what felt like a single second, the spinning stopped. The sound of metal scraping against ground grated on their ears.

Then there was a thud, and a large, dark column appeared in front of the glass. Bubbles encircled each child on impact and popped when the ship came to a complete stop. As their vision steadied, the children realised that their ship had crashed into a tree.

Once they had a moment to steady their thumping hearts, Hansel pushed the button that released their seat belts and flipped the glass dome open. As he jumped out, Hansel looked up and saw thousands of shooting stars streaming across the night sky.

He was also surprised that the collar of his jumpsuit flashed green, indicating the air was oxygen and didn't activate the bubble helmet.

Gretel looked around and took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of earth and pine trees. Then, she saw a cobblestone path leading into the heart of the forest and pointed it out to her brother.

"Maybe that will lead us to someone who can help," she said.

Hansel nodded. "Maybe."

The children followed the path and soon came to a house that looked like something out of one of their great, great grandmother's fairy tale books. It was made of pink, wooden siding with white shutters and elaborate, white gingerbread trim all along the triple gable roof.

There was a sweet, spicy aroma in the air, floating from the direction of the house that made the children's stomach's rubble. They walked up to the door, and before they could knock, a thin woman with reddish eyes and greying hair opened the door. The smell of fresh gingerbread cookies emanated from within.

"Welcome," she said with a wide smile. "Please come in."

But something about her manner gnawed at the children and prevented them from moving. They just stared. She looked human, even though her skin had a green tinge to it. She was also wearing a grey Vidarri jumpsuit just like theirs.

Perhaps if the woman hadn't been wearing that particular jumpsuit, Hansel and Gretel would have run away. But she must have just crashed there just like them, they concluded and went inside.

Once they were seated at the table, the woman introduced herself as Hexe. She told them that this was her moon before setting an entire tray of people-shaped gingerbread cookies in front of them.

"You're the only one that lives here?" Gretel asked, biting the head off one of the cookies.

"Yes," Hexe grinned widely. "Would you like some milk? It's fresh," she added, staring at Hansel.

"Is it soy milk?" he asked, feeling a chill crawl down his spine.

"Oh, no, my dear," said Hexe. "Milk should come from flesh—I mean cows. Milk from flesh, how silly," she snickered to herself.

She quickly got up and walked over to a refrigerator with steel doors and took out a glass bottle of milk. As she poured it into two cups, Hexe added something to the white liquid that briefly turned it green.

But she was so fast that even if Hansel and Gretel had been looking at her the whole time, they would have missed it.

"Here you are my sweet children," Hexe set the two glasses of cold milk down in front of each child.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

"Oh, you both are just darlings," Hexe grinned. "Such delicious manners. I could just eat you right up."

There was something more than unsettling in Hexes eyes when she said the word "eat." And now Gretel was sure that her eyes looked redder than when she had opened the door; they were almost glowing. A pit began to form in her stomach.

Hansel took a sip of milk, not noticing how pale Gretel's face had gone.

"May I use your bathroom?" he asked.

"Yes, my dear, strong boy," she grinned at him. "It's that door right over there," Hexe pointed to her left.

Hansel excused himself, walked over to where Hexe had pointed and reached for the knob.

"Not that one, my sweet," Hexe quickly said. "The one beside it."

"What's in there?" he asked.

"Oh, that's just my medicine closet. For the bathroom, you'll want the other door," she grinned. "Trust me."

Hansel nodded and entered the other room, closing the door behind him.

"Have some milk, my sweet," Haxe turned to Gretel.

"Could I have some water instead?"

"But it's fresh," Hexe said with gritted teeth.

Hexe rose without taking her eyes off Gretel and backed away towards a small button on the wall her. As Hexe's finger pushed the button, a locking sound came from the bathroom.

"Help!" Hansel hammered on the door.

"Come here, my sweet," Hexe said to Gretel. "Come, and we will help your brother."

Hansel's cries for help grew fainter by the second, and Hexe lunged at the trembling little girl who just managed to avoid her claws. Gretel made a dash for the front door, and Hexe ran after her.

***

Gretel raced down the path towards where their ship had crashed; heart kept time with the pace of her feet. She looked back only once, and her blood ran cold.

Hexe no longer looked human. Instead, she was a howling creature with slimy, green skin and burning red eyes. Her body was fat and round; she ran on all fours with foam covering her jagged teeth.

When Gretel reached the ship, her lungs felt like they were on fire. She panted and looked around for a place to hide. But after glancing at the rockets, she got an idea.

"Where are you, my sweet?" Hexe said, scanning the area. "You smell so tasty," she smirked. "Come, we need to help your brother."

Hexe froze and saw Gretel hiding behind the crashed ship and crept up behind her.

"Got you!" she grinned, reaching for trembling Gretel with her slimy claws.

A wave of confusion washed over Hexe. Her claws went right through the child.

"No—got you!" Gretel yelled and pushed the ship's ignition button.

Hexe's eyes grew wide as the rockets shot out an inferno of flames, engulfing her in their snare. She screamed as her body melted into a smoking heap of singed, black slime; Hexe was dead.

Gretel kissed her casting watch, covered her nose and walked back to the house. Once inside, Gretel pushed the button Hexe had pushed earlier and pulled her brother's limp body out of the bathroom. He was unconscious but breathing.

Eventually, Hansel woke up then he and Gretel carefully explored the house. Soon, they discovered that the door next to the bathroom led to a basement laboratory. There the siblings found dozens of Vidarri jumpsuits and metal briefcases filled with vials containing a blue liquid.

A week later, Hansel accidentally turned off the moon's cloaking device while poking around in the lab. When they looked outside, the children were surprised to find that the pine trees had disappeared, and had been replaced by strange wire-trunk trees with round, purple leaves. There was also a grey coloured lake in the distance, and the house itself was just a cube-shaped structure.

Within the hour, a huge, blue, crescent-shaped spaceship landed on the rocky lakeshore. A kind-looking robot hovered over to the cube and knocked on the door; Pato was his name.

Pato had spinning blades on his oval head which made his silver, triangular body float just off the ground. He showed them his badge explained that he was with the Intergalactic Guard and they'd been trying to find this moon for years.

Apparently, Hexe was the head of an organisation that was harvesting humans and other sentient beings to produce Cellemene, which is an illegal substance used to grow organs. Hexe used to extract the cells she needed and then eat the bodies of her victims.

Since the children had killed her, they received the reward money of eight billion Jupiters. Pato took Hansel and Gretel back to Vidarr where their father welcomed them with open arms.

"Where's our stepmother?" Hansel asked his father.

"Among the stars, my son," Mr. Woods kissed his son's blond head.

Gretel wrinkled her brow. "Is she off exploring the universe, Papa?"

"No," he shook his head. "A few days after you left, your stepmother stole a prototype ship from the factory we'd just gotten a job at. When the ship reached Vidarr's atmosphere, it exploded..." his voice trailed off.

"Are you okay, Papa?" asked Hansel, examining his father's face.

Mr. Woods nodded. "I guess you could say she went out with a bang," he chuckled.

With the reward money, Hansel, Gretel and their father were able to move to a new planet that hadn't gone to complete shit.

The End