Early in the morning, before their father arose, Jakob and Marta had a conversation concerning their father.

“Marta, we must ration out papa’s food and drink.  We only have but a few days to return him to mother,” Jakob said as he filled his quiver with arrows.

“But Jakob, what if papa is hungry?  He needs to eat to keep his strength,” Marta said as she filled the canteens from the well.

“We cannot risk papa becoming as we are, dear sister.  He will only get food and drink as needed.  The sooner we find the village, the better,” Jakob said and Marta gave him sad eyes.  “’tis for the best, dear sister, papa needs to go back to mother.  She is ailing and we cannot risk this.”

“I know, but what if he begs?  You remember our old appetites.  The temptation of the fruits, we would eat till we were sick.”

“All the more reason to ration out father’s portion of the food.  Once the game becomes smaller, we will cease his rations,” Jakob said as he flung the quiver onto his back and tucked his dagger into his belt…

With their canteens full and food packed, Jakob, Marta and Ansel set out through the enchanted forest.  Jakob and Marta paced themselves so as not to leave their father behind.  Both of them didn’t feel it was necessary to carry their father unless that was his wish.  Jakob was feeling frustrated knowing that they could cover more ground but it didn’t take long for Ansel to feel the effects of traveling with two giants. He felt fatigued from trying to move as quickly as he could.

“My dear daughter, you don’t mind hauling your poor old papa around?  Do you?” Ansel asked his giantess daughter.

“No papa, I don’t mind.  Can I get you some water?” Marta asked her father.  She got down on one knee and filled the canteen cap full of water.  Ansel drank of the cool liquid.  Ansel knew that the water in the village tasted nothing like this clean water.  He handed the cap back to Marta after he had emptied it.  Marta asked Ansel if he wanted more and Ansel declined even though he did want more, he had no idea why.  The water made him feel different.

Ansel did his private business before crawling into the pocket on Marta’s pack.  Marta effortlessly put her pack back on and Ansel realized just how gigantic his children had become and Marta wasn’t as tall as Jakob either.

“Do you feel secure, papa?” Marta asked.

“Yes I do, dear daughter,” Ansel responded.  He could not see the smiles exchanged between the two siblings as they began to move at their normal speed.  Ansel held on to the pack when he realized the speed of his daughter’s strides…

Jakob and Marta made it to the stream where they bathed, the same place where Marta had found her small father.  Marta turned her back to Jakob so that he may speak to Ansel.

“Marta found you over by the briar berry bushes.  We shall start in that direction first.  Do you remember what happened, papa?” Jakob asked. 

The stream was one of the few places in the forest where the sun shone.  Ansel noticed the paleness of his two giant children.  Both looked as though they rarely saw the sun, but still they grew tall and sturdy like an oak.

“I will try my best to recall.  A fox chased after me.  That is how I ended up in the briar berry patch,” Ansel answered his son who was looking down at him.

“That is all I ask, papa,” Jakob said with a smile that reached his blue eyes.  Ansel found it strange that his son has blue eyes.   Ansel always remembered them as being brown like his.  In fact, he remembered Marta as having green eyes, like her mother.  It was strange how the forest changed his children.

Marta and Jakob found a way around the briar berry bushes where Marta found a small pack, it was Ansel’s pack.

“Papa, is this yours?” Marta asked as she picked up the small pack.

“It is, my dear girl,” Ansel exclaimed, glad to have his belongings returned to him.  Jakob handed the pack to Ansel.   Ansel looked into his pack to find that everything was untouched.  His bread still looked as fresh as the day he packed it and a few portions of dried fish; also his canteen was still full.  For some reason, the creatures of the Black Forest showed no interest in his belongings.  “I packed enough for two days.  I shall eat what is in my pack so that it doesn’t spoil,” Ansel then said.

Jakob and Marta both sighed, relieved to be given more time to find the village or possibly, more like themselves.  The siblings ventured on with their diminutive father in tow…

As they walked on, Jakob and Marta found a strange path.  The path was wide enough for both of them to walk side by side.  Ansel hadn’t recalled seeing the path, but a long clearing.  Ansel then realized that his view is far more different than that of his children.  Marta felt like a child again as she recalled the paths and roads of the village.

“Shall we walk it, Jakob?” Marta asks her brother.  “I wonder if it’ll lead us to the village?”

“I don’t know, sister?  We can walk it to find out.  What do you think, papa?”

“I don’t see any harm.  This is a big place,” Ansel said, admiring the enormous trees and flowers.

“It’s settled then, we shall follow the path to see where it leads,” Jakob said.

“It could lead up to a powerful wizard,” Marta said, sounding hopeful.

Jakob and Marta walked the path until they noticed the path became narrow.  The trees started to seem smaller to the two giants.  Then a deer cross the path and the giants knew they were no longer in the Black Forest.  A family of hares even crosses the trail and to Jakob and Marta, the hares looked the size of mice to them.

“We are no longer in our forest, Marta,” Jakob said.  Marta held up her hand and a tiny bird landed on it.  Marta couldn’t believe her eyes.  The bird seemed like an insect to the giantess.

“We are in father’s forest,” Marta said with joy in her voice.  Ansel didn’t like that his children didn’t think of themselves as they were supposed to be.   Then Ansel thought it over for a moment.  His children have lived over half their lives in an oversized world that they grew into, of course this would all be small to them.

As they walked on, they came to a small cottage made up of elaborate carvings.  The house looked like it was made of gingerbread and painted in many bright colors.  Two stone lions flanked the strangely carved porch.  Of course this house was only made of wood and not of food.  Several cats laid on the railing of the large porch and many flowers and herbs hung in pots.  The house looked inviting but Jakob and Marta stayed out of sight of the house as they admired its beauty.

“The witch’s house,” Ansel muttered…