At the edge of a great forest, there lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children — a boy named Hansel and a girl named Gretel. The family had very little money. The woodcutter worked hard, but he could barely afford to feed his family. Times were getting worse, and food was becoming more expensive every day.

One night, when the children were in bed, Hansel heard his stepmother talking to his father in the kitchen. Her voice was cold and practical.

"We cannot feed four people anymore," she said. "Tomorrow morning, we will take the children deep into the forest and leave them there. They will find their own way — or they won't. But at least we will survive."

The woodcutter was horrified. "Leave my children in the forest? I can't do that!"

"Then we will all starve," said the stepmother. "All four of us. Is that what you want?"

The woodcutter wept, but he was too weak to argue. He agreed.

Hansel had heard everything. He crept downstairs and told Gretel. Gretel began to cry, but Hansel held her hand. "Don't worry, sister. I have a plan."

He sneaked outside in the moonlight and filled his pockets with small white pebbles from the garden. They shone like silver coins in the dark.

The next morning, the stepmother woke the children early. "We are going into the forest to collect wood," she said. She gave them each a small piece of bread for lunch.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Hansel dropped the white pebbles on the path, one by one, leaving a trail behind them. The stepmother noticed nothing.

When they reached the deepest part of the forest, the father made a fire. "Wait here," he said, his voice shaking. "We will come back for you later."

But they did not come back. The fire burned down. Night fell. The forest became dark and full of strange sounds. Gretel cried.

"Wait for the moon," said Hansel calmly.

When the moon rose, the white pebbles on the ground glowed like a trail of tiny stars. Hansel and Gretel followed the pebbles all the way home. They arrived at dawn, exhausted but safe.

Their father was overjoyed to see them. But the stepmother was not.