Chapter 6 - part vi

The first thing Sarah did upon waking was feel her belly. To her dismay and alarm, it was again bigger than when she'd fallen asleep. After opening her eyes, her dismay and alarm reached an all-time high.

She was not at home. She was not at school. She was not in any bed or any place that she'd ever been before, in the real world. She was laying on the bed of pillows in the cell, in Gretel's cell. She was wearing the larger gown from her dream, smelling the fragrance of Gryselda's cooking wafting in from the kitchen of the gingerbread house, and hearing her sweet humming voice.

The witch found Sarah staring wide-eyed and backed up to the wall, as far away from the bars as she could go in the limited space.

'How in God's name can I be here!?' Demanded Sarah.

'Oh, my dear Gretel, don't you remember our little talk yesterday?' Asked Gryselda gently.

'I remember you locking me in here, but that was a dream! I was dreaming that I was Gretel! I'm Sarah! I'm a real person! Not a fairy tale!' Sarah was just short of screaming.

'Oh, but you are Gretel, you're my Gretel. You picked up my book and read my favorite story, and you loved it so much that your mind started to come here. And now, Sarah, you're my Gretel in body as well as mind.' Said Gryselda, with that same sweet menace from before.

'But that's impossible!' Cried Sarah, with tears in her eyes.

'Impossible? You didn't noticed how nicely you were fattening up over the past few months? You didn't notice how much bigger you were after every dream where I fed you here?' Asked the witch.

'I let myself go a bit! It happens to a lot of college students! I wasn't being fed by a witch!' Sarah was a bit quieter this time, the reality starting to sink in.

'You have taken care of your body very well on your own, it's true.' Gryselda smiled. 'And now I'll take care of it, of you, all the time. No more distractions from your so called normal life.'

'Please, let me go... I don't want to get eaten...' Sobbed Sarah.

'Now, my little Gretel... don't you want me to feed you? Don't you want my sweets? Don't you want me to pamper you like you deserve, you darling little mouse?' Gryselda knelt by the bars and whispered almost like a mother comforting her child. 'And I know your family gave you such a hard time, I know how your appearance get's judged. But I love you this way! In fact, the bigger you get, the more I love you...'

... ... ...

The first day in Gryselda's care was the longest. In the dream, even when the witch was scaring 'Gretel,' Sarah was aroused and enjoying the fantasy. With all pretenses put aside, Sarah lived that first 'real' day in a state of unending tears and terror.

When Sarah woke from her first post-meal nap to find herself still in the witch's clutches she wailed long and mournful. Gryselda waited patiently for her to stop, shushing her sweetly until Sarah collected herself enough to eat lunch. She had another such episode after the following nap.

In the morning Sarah was still frightened, but the intensity of her feelings were numbed. The surprise having worn off, Sarah wasn't even upset to learn that she had again put on weight overnight. It wasn't until a week had passed that her situation became real for her again.

The smell of the daily breakfast feast filled the quaint little house as usual, but this time when Sarah woke Gryselda was kneeling close to the bars with an eager look on her face and the plates of confections nowhere to be seen.

'Come here, my darling!' The witch beckoned charmingly.

Sarah crawled forward the short distance and knelt on the other side of the bars.

'Now, I know we've both read that lovely little fairy tale dozens of times...' Gryselda said as she held out her hands for Sarah's. 'So don't think I'll be fooled by any naughty tricks. Let me see your hand.'

Sarah let the witch take her right hand in hers and her now developing chest heaved in fear and excitement. Gryselda pinched her index finger gently with both hands, then squeezed Sarah's hand passionately in her own. The witch beamed.

'Oh, you are such a good girl! Aren't you?' She held Sarah's hand fast and reached out with her free arm to place a finger under the captive girl's growing double chin. 'You're getting... how did you put it... "Ploomp!"'