Free Ladle Rat Rotten Hut by Cameron Jace

on
my desk.
    “So that’s why you are here,” I rubbed my chin, looking at
the seven items on my desk:
    A fork, a plate, a mug, breadcrumbs, a chair, a knife, and
some magical beans.
    “Remember those?” She wondered.
    “Who wouldn't? Isn’t this the part when the seven dwarfs
come back from work to their cottage and keep asking, ‘who drank from cup’ and
‘who slept in my bed’ and so on?” I squeaked the last part.
    “Dwarves my butt.”
    “Yeah. I forgot you like that phrase.”
    “Because they weren’t dwarves. They were the Lost Seven who
had helped her.”
    “So why are you obsessed with the Lost Seven?”
    “Don’t you get it?” She sighed. “They were the ones with
her in the cottage. They were the ones who helped her escape two hundred years
ago.”
    “So what?” I swooshed the unfinished apple into the
garbage. Basketball style. I am amazing. “Didn’t you say you got hold of her? I
don’t want to know what you have done to her, but I take your word for it that
she can’t hurt us for the next hundred years.”
    “Not if she finds them,” The Queen shrugged. “Or if they
find her.”
    “Good point,” I considered. “So why are they so important,
again?”
    “There is a secret,  a puzzle, that each one of them holds
a clue to it.”
    “And I assume you’re not going to tell me what that secret
is, of course.” I said, fiddling with the breadcrumbs on my desk.
    “You know how this works, Peter. The only thing that makes
us on the same side is that we want to get rid of her. Other than that, I could
not care less about you and your Wonderland.”
    “It’s Neverland, my Queen,” I plastered a fake smile on my
lips. “Wonderland is someone else’s department. What's with everone confusing
his roles today?”
    “Wonderland, Neverland, and Disneyland. They are all
childish names for places I hate the most,” She said. “Now listen, I need you
to tell me what every item means to you.”
    “Hmm. Did you say that each item belonged to a fairy tale
character?”
    “That’s what I think,” She pointed at the breadcrumbs. “Who
do you think the breadcrumbs belong to?”
    “That’s a silly question, my Queen. Where there are
breadcrumbs, there are Hansel and Gretel.”
    “And a witch.” The Queen said.
    “And a witch,” I agreed. This woman thought everything
over. I always thought she could use a weekend in the sun and do something
nerdy, so she would relax. The thought made me remember Count Dracula playing
Zombie Attack on my Xbox inside the chamber. I wondered if he broke my high
score record. I killed 4000 zombies with one thumb once. “But why would a witch
help Snow White?”
    “Good point.” She said.
    “Besides, weren’t you the witch in the Hansel and Gretel
thing? I’ve always thought all bad characters were only a personification of
you.” I started chewing a peach-flavored gum. I liked those.
    “Funny funny,” She mocked me. Finally, she didn’t neglect
my sarcasm. “So you know where Hansel and Gretel are, or if they still know who they are?”
    “It’s going to be hard to find Gretel. She’s been into
witchcraft herself, and probably lives with some Voodoo cult or something. As
much as I love her, she’s become pretty cuckoo in the head lately. I guess that
after she had saved her brother from the witch, she lost it.”
    “And Hansel?”
    “I don’t think Hansel is one of them. He is a dependent and
useless boy who is hungry all the time. Had his sister not been saving him
repeatedly, he would have been dead by now. Believe me, the breadcrumbs belong
to Gretel. She was obsessed with Snow White when we were in school. She adored
your daughter. But I can’t help you with finding her.” I said, checking my watch.
It was almost midnight. I had an appointment with my love at midnight, but I
wouldn’t tell the Queen.
    “And the fork?” The queen held a silver fork in front of
her. It was rather fancy for a sixteen-year-old fairy tale