A Grimm tale: The oven’s heat crawled up Gretel’s neck as she scrubbed the hearth.

[waferboard@mstdn.ca]

A Grimm tale: The oven’s heat crawled up Gretel’s neck as she scrubbed the hearth. Through the heavy door, she heard the rhythmic scrape of a spoon against a ceramic bowl. Hansel was eating again. Each metallic clink felt like a clock ticking toward a feast she was forced to prepare. Her chest tightened with a cold, sharp dread. Did he even see the cage anymore, or only the buttered mash? She gripped her rag until her knuckles went white. "If he only eats," she muttered to herself, "he will forget how to run."

​#microfiction #aiart #vss