The Gingerbread Trap (short story)

Lost in a forest, Everlyne and her brother, Malkus, find a house made out of gingerbread and sweets. But the kindly old woman who lives there is not all she first seems – in fact, with her strange metal craft and mysterious barrels of oil, she might not even be human . . .

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Two siblings named Malkus and Everlyne enjoy playing in the forest between their home and the lake. When Malkus is unable to sleep, he looks out the window at the night sky, wondering if there are other world like his own. One night, however, he sees an extra star near the constellation known as the Lion's Paw. The star falls down to the earth until it disappears into the depths of the forest.

The next morning, Malkus tells his family about the star that fell into the forest. While Malkus' mother doesn't believe him, Everlyne is captivated and agrees with her brother's idea to find out where the star landed. Eventually, the siblings find themselves in the darkest part of the forest. Everlyne suggests that they return home and Malkus begins to wonder if he dreamed about the star.

As they try to find their way home, the siblings soon realise that they are lost. Everlyne sits on a tree stump as her brother encourages her to not give up as they continue searching for a familiar path by walking in a straight line and they can walk along the great lake if they end up going the wrong way. After an hour of searching, they come across a blackened clearing that appears to be where the star had fallen.

At the end of the burned path is what appears to be a small cottage made of gingerbread and other pieces of confectionary. When nobody answers Malkus' knock at the door, they both decide to try and eat pieces off it. Just then, the door opens and the children see a table that is piled high with cakes and biscuits. The children are drawn inside by the sight of the delicious cakes, but once they enter the cottage, it vanishes and the children find themselves trapped inside a metal cage.

As the children sit on the floor of the cage, an old woman steps towards the cage and laughs at them when Everlyne asks her if she will let them out. She offers to bring them some dinner if they don't make any fuss and the children agree. The old woman leaves and returns to them with two bowls of fried potato slices, which she gives them after opening the cage by pushing a button.

That night, the woman gives Malkus and Everlyne blankets for them to sleep under. While Malkus is asleep, Everlyne thinks about the falling star that had led them out into the forest. She then sees a bat-like shadow fly across the moon.

The next morning, the children are fed fried potatoes again. On the third day of their imprisonment, the children are told that the old woman might let them go if they agree to help her. Malkus is let out first and led to a long metal object that has been buried in the ground. He realises that this must be what he saw falling from the sky.

As Malkus thinks about how easily he can overpower the old woman, she suddenly clamps her hand on his shoulder and shoves Malkus into the metal object through a panel that opens in it. The old woman then tells Malkus to work the controls that he sees inside the object. Despite not knowing how the controls work, Malkus soon surprises himself when he manages to read the symbols that he sees on the screen. After briefly seeing what looks like a giant bat in the old woman's place, he is told that it's amazing what a little diet can achieve.

As Malkus works, he sees the old woman lowering a cage full of sliced potatoes into some hot oil which she steps back from, allowing him to realise that she is worried about getting the oil spilled on herself. She gives Malkus a bowl full of fried potatoes before delivering one to Everlyne in the cage.

When Malkus gets tired from working, the old woman brings him back to the cage and brings Everlyne over to take his place. To Everlyne's surprise, she is just as good at working on the old woman's work as her brother is. She soon figures out that they are working to repair the old woman's ship so that she can escape, but she believes that the old woman won't release her and Malkus and that the giant bat is the same as the old woman.

That night, Malkus and Everlyne talk to each other about how the old woman has the ability to make certain things look like other things, including herself. They also figure out that the oil that she cooked the potatoes in is what has made them clever enough to repair the ship and also escape. When Everlyne wonders why the old woman can't eat the potatoes herself to become clever, Malkus realises that it might be because she can't eat or touch it. With this knowledge, the children begin to formulate a plan.

The next mroning, the old woman orders Malkus to continue repairing her ship, Malkus lies that he doesn't know why eating makes him work harder and faster. When the old woman goes to fry some more potatoes for Malkus, he follows her and unscrews one of the barrels of oil. The confused woman tells Malkus that they don't need any more oil, only for Malkus to charge into her with his shoulder before opening the barrel, allowing the oil to pour over the woman's feet.

The old woman reveals her true bat-like form and tries to fly up, but the oil puddles over her feet, causing her to explode. Malkus immediately sets his sister free from the cage and they both watch as the old woman's ship is destroyed in the fire before deciding to head home.