Chapter 99: S#17. Gingerdead Girl (1)
by fnovelpia
S#17.
I grabbed the handle of the lawnmower.
It was a push mower, like a shopping cart for cutting grass.
When I pressed the start button, the engine rumbled to life.
I headed toward the lush green lawn in the front yard.
A new house stood where the old one had been demolished. It was completed at a speed that made me suspect shoddy construction.
The Strode women and I had returned here.
Ziiiiiiing-
I pushed the mower, cutting the grass.
It wasn’t the new house’s yard. It was the front lawn of the Hyper sisters next door.
Zelda Hyper had asked for help, saying the lawn grass had grown knee-high. As it was my employer’s request, I couldn’t refuse.
Halfway through mowing the yard, Zelda and Hilda came out to the porch.
Hilda was carrying something. A tray with orange juice and golden-brown cookies.
“Summer, try these. They’re freshly baked ginger cookies!”
Zelda said, munching on a cookie.
Though I’m not particularly fond of ginger, it would’ve been rude to refuse.
I looked at the tray Hilda was holding. The ginger cookies were shaped like people.
Stubby arms and legs, round faces with cute little eyes and mouths drawn on.
“They look fun.”
“They’re Gingerbread Men.”
Ginger + bread + men.
Gingerbread humans.
In the West, they used to eat bread with ginger in winter to prevent colds.
Of course, children probably didn’t like ginger bread. So adults baked ginger cookies in unique shapes for kids’ tastes, which is the origin of Gingerbread Men.
I picked up a Gingerbread Man. I bit off its head first, like eating a fish-shaped bun.
The taste exceeded my expectations. A crisp yet moist texture. The sweetness of sugar blended perfectly with the ginger flavor, creating a fantastic taste.
“Wow… this is really delicious.”
“It’s not just tasty. It helps boost immunity. Hilda made them herself.”
“She could open a bakery with skills like these.”
I meant it sincerely.
I looked at Hilda while munching on the Gingerbread Man.
Hilda shyly avoided my gaze. Her white ears turned red.
“Summer, take these to Nancy and Ellen.”
Zelda handed me cookies wrapped in pretty packaging.
Instead of bald men, these were Gingerbread Girls wearing skirts with tied-up hair.
They were so well-made, it seemed a shame to eat them. The appearance was cute too; Nancy would probably like them.
As I was about to leave after finishing mowing, Hilda stopped me.
She offered to buy me dinner for my hard work today.
I hadn’t expected any compensation. But I had no reason to refuse, so I gratefully accepted.
Hilda beamed with joy.
I went upstairs to Nancy Strode’s room.
When I knocked, a voice told me to come in.
Nancy sat at her desk, holding her head in her hands. She was wrestling with a college assignment.
“Summer, do you know any fairy tales?”
“Fairy tales?”
“This assignment is about researching world fairy tales.”
She needed a tale that was easy to present, with historical significance or clear metaphors.
“How about a Korean folktale?”
“A Korean folktale…?”
I told Nancy the story of Kongjwi and Patjwi.
“…It’s like an Eastern Cinderella. Interesting, but not quite what I’m looking for.”
Nancy crossed her arms, deep in thought.
The longer you deliberate, the further you stray from the answer.
At times like this, a change of mood is necessary.
I handed her the package I was holding.
“Think about it while eating these cookies. Hilda baked some Gingerbread Men.”
Nancy’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“That’s it, the Gingerbread Man story!”
“The Gingerbread Man story…?”
The tale of the Gingerbread Man.
An old woman bakes cookies, but as soon as she takes the pan out of the oven, one of the cookies – the Gingerbread Man – comes to life.
Not wanting to be eaten, the Gingerbread Man flees from the old woman. Not just her, but the farm animals chase after him too.
He smelled too delicious.
The Gingerbread Man was fast on his feet. He even sang a cocky song, taunting his pursuers.
‘Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man♪’
While running away, he came to a river. But the Gingerbread Man couldn’t swim.
Just as he was about to be caught and eaten by the old woman and farm animals – a fox appears, offering to help.
The Gingerbread Man climbs onto the fox’s back. The fox swims across the river.
But the water gets deeper and deeper.
When the water reaches his back, the fox tells him to climb onto his head.
The Gingerbread Man climbs onto his head. The water gets even deeper, submerging the fox’s head.
This time, the fox tells him to climb onto the tip of his nose.
As the Gingerbread Man climbs onto his nose, the fox’s mouth opens wide.
The fox swallows the Gingerbread Man in one gulp, ending the tale.
It was a typical fable of an arrogant fugitive falling prey to a cunning trickster.
“Isn’t it fun?”
Nancy said.
It was entertaining, but I couldn’t shake the impression of a twisted, bizarre story.
I understood the moral of never being overconfident in any situation.
But it seemed a bit creepy and grotesque for children.
In fact, Cinderella is just as creepy.
Cinderella driving out her wicked stepmother and stepsisters after marrying the prince is the sanitized ending.
The original is pure madness.
The prince, searching for Cinderella who stole his heart and fled the ball the night before, arrives with the glass slipper.
When the stepsisters’ feet don’t fit the glass slipper, the stepmother cuts off their heels with a knife.
But even these modified feet don’t fit the slipper.
Only Cinderella had the beautiful feet that fit perfectly in the glass slipper.
In the finale, the stepmother and stepsisters who tormented Cinderella meet a gruesome end.
They’re forced to wear glass slippers heated red-hot in a furnace.
They hopped about in such agony that they danced a painful dance until they died.
Kongjwi and Patjwi is even worse.
Patjwi, who tormented Kongjwi, has her body torn to pieces and made into jeotgal (salted seafood).
The jeotgal in jars is sent to the stepmother. The stepmother eats it with relish, unaware of what it is.
Later, when the stepmother realizes the jeotgal was her own daughter, she dies of a heart attack from the shock.
Fear and pain paradoxically have a life of their own.
Entertaining but terrifying fairy tales have such strong vitality that they may remain classics forever.
“By the way Summer, what do you want to eat for dinner tonight?”
“Sorry, I have plans for dinner tonight.”
“Plans…? But the vampire hunting is over now, right?”
“It’s a dinner date. I’m eating out with Hilda.”
Summer left the room.
Nancy bit her nails anxiously.
Summer having dinner alone with Hilda Hyper. She imagined the worst-case scenarios.
Her head spun and she felt short of breath.
At first, she felt sympathy for Hilda.
But now, only jealousy remained. She feared losing her future husband. It didn’t help that Hilda was quite pretty.
She looked at the cookies in the package. Hilda had baked them, right?
The delicate girl-shaped cookies. They showed considerable skill.
But then the cookies started sobbing.
Not just making a crying expression, but actually moving their arms and heads. Tears streamed from their button-like eyes.
Nancy screamed.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
The cookie in the package screamed identically.
Nancy jumped to her feet. She searched for a baseball bat to smash the living cookie.
The cookie wept and pleaded.
“Please don’t eat me…!”
“How could I eat something like you…?!”
She had to crush it immediately. Nancy gripped the baseball bat.
“How can a cookie speak?! It’s disgusting…!!!”
Seeing the raised bat, the cookie trembled.
Though smaller than a palm, it feared death. She curled up painfully and sobbed.
“Please… I beg you… Don’t hurt me……”
Nancy hesitated as she was about to swing the bat down hard.
The cookie prostrated itself and spoke pitifully.
“Nancy… My name is Gingerbread Girl.”
“Gingerbread Girl?”
“Please help me, Nancy…!”
The cookie clasped its stubby hands together, begging.
“Please, help me escape!”
I shaved my beard. I neatly combed my bangs back with pomade.
My serial killer-like image faded somewhat.
Though my face was naturally rough, when groomed it became quite presentable.
I went to the meeting place.
I arrived 30 minutes early, but Hilda was already there.
How long had she been waiting?
Hilda waved cheerfully when she saw me.
She was all dressed up today. A dress that accentuated her slender figure and slightly high heels. She had let down her usually tied-up beige hair.
Her noble beauty shone. She was so beautiful it made my chest tight.
The place Hilda took me was a fairly well-known restaurant.
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