It was a few days later that I heard a lot of raised voices. My home was surrounded by a mob of angry men shouting obscenities at me.

They called me an evil old witch. Claimed that I had tried to eat their children. Right there, in the middle of them, was Hansel and Gretel egging them on.

“She tried to cook us,” shouted Gretel, “the dirty old witch. She said we were going to be her dinner.”

“We would have been,” added Hansel, “if we hadn’t escaped.”

I did not know what to say, not that they would listen anyway. I feared for my life. I had shown only kindness to these children and this was the result.

“Burn her, burn her, burn the witch,” the chant went up.

Now I knew I was really in trouble. They tried to get into the cottage but I had built it too sturdy. They had gathered faggots which they set alight and threw at my home. It did not take long before my home was ablaze.

The only hope I had was to go down into the cellar. Luckily there was a vent where I could get fresh air whilst my home burned to the ground. I stayed there for hours hoping that they would not find me.

It must have been the next day when I dug my way out of the cellar. There was nothing left of my home, nothing left of my life. There was nothing even to salvage.

I packed what little food from the cellar was suitable for travelling. With heavy heart I set off to I knew not where. I could only go deeper into the forest and hope that they thought I was dead.

I know how the story has been told. Hansel and Gretel are made out to be the poor innocents when in reality they are evil children. It is no wonder their father had left them in the forest, hoping to be rid of them.

Just because of a medical condition that makes me look unpleasant I have been victimised all my life. I can only pray that this sets the record straight and exonerates me. Edwina Rose Callista Ashwood.