The Witch of Shepard Street

"Don't tell me you’re scared of the Witch, Sam!" questioned my friend Mikey as we all gathered in our neighborhood cul de sac.

The day had started like any other Saturday of my childhood, only then something shifted. I don't know how it started or why it started, but suddenly I was being challenged to take on the one thing that we had always feared...The Witch of Shepard Street.

"Hell no!" I yelled back with confidence. "Why would I be scared? She ain't nothin' but an old bag! I'm not scared of an old grandma!" I was terrified...

"Do it then! Go up to her door, ring the bell and ditch! We'll be waiting in the bushes across the street."

The Witch lived in an old wooden house along the street of her namesake. She kept to herself in there. No one had ever seen her enter or leave her old shack and her reclusive nature only added to her legend...the boys just wanted a glimpse of mythical old maid.

"My brother told me that The Witch has grey skin and black eye balls. Completely black! Can you believe that?!"

"Your brother's an idiot, Nate. How would he know? She's probably just some old cat lady. Who cares?" I was deflecting. Somehow I had been elected to be the sacrificial lamp that would lure the Witch from her cave and my only hope was to make this adventure seem as unappealing as possible.

"Is not," Nate responded. "You're just scared to ding dong ditch the Witch! We all know what happened to Jimmy Jacobs!"

Poor Jimmy Jacobs, legend had it that he had accidently strayed into the Witch's yard back in 1999 and was subsequently morphed into a chipmunk. While it seemed unlikely, it was hard to argue the facts. No one had seen Jimmy since the alleged munkification. In fact, it was hard to find anyone who had met him before the incident...It was like he never existed at all.

Regardless, I was not in the mood for some sort of Animorph situation. I had a little league game on Thursday and I had a pretty decent average going into the final weeks of the season. Being a chipmunk would surely hurt my ability at the plate.

"I don't even want to see the Witch," I pleaded. "Why don't you do it, Mikey? You're the one who seems to be so obsessed with her. What do you have a crush on her or something?"

The boys busted out laughing. I had done it, hit him where it hurts, his reputation.

"Mikey has crush on the Shepard Street Witch!" yelled Nate.

"You want Sam to grab a love potion while he's at the house, Mikey?!" inquired my friend Evan.

Perfect, I thought. Shift the focus. Deflect.

"Hell no!" Mikey was swift with his rebuttal. "I don't have a crush on the old lady! You were the one who was saying she doesn't exist at all. So why don't you prove it? What are you scared of?"

Busted. Truth was I had been talking a big game. Refuting the existence of the Witch may have finally proved to be my downfall.

"I'm not scared," I replied desperately. "I just don't see the point. That's all."

"The point is I dare you, Sam!"

Yikes. Now it was do or die time for Ol' Sammy Boy. Was I going to face the Witch or spend the rest of my youth branded a coward by the peers. What did I value most? My human form or my reputation? The answer was easy...

"Fine! I'll do it!"...I marched down the street and towards the house of the Witch. The boys followed behind me cheering and laughing like a parade of idiocy. Soon the house became visible. My fear of what might happen as I stepped onto the yard of the wicked began to grow.

The cheering stopped and the boys had retreated behind some shrubbery across the street. I was alone, looking up at the dark rotting wood of the house erected before me. The yard was unkept and weeds burst out of cracks in the cement walkway that led to the front door. I stood silently...was it too late to turn back?

"What are you waiting for? Do it!" came a heckle from the bushes.

It was too late. I was all in. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and stepped onto the property...when I opened my eyes everything seemed normal. I looked at my hands...human. Thank god.

I stepped forward toward the door looking into the small windows that lined the sides of the frame in order to catch a glimpse inside the home...nothing.

I stepped in front of the door and cocked back my fist to knock when suddenly a chipmunk dashed across my feet like a bolt of lightning. I screamed. Was that Jimmy Jacobs?! I looked back up to the side window to see an old corpselike face staring back at me...Oh no, I thought, the Witch!

The door flung open with a bang. "Come here!" she yelled but I refused her request opting to dart in the opposite direction instead.

My friends followed suit, bursting out from behind their hiding spot and scattering in every possible direction. The Witch was dazed if only momentarily after being caught off guard by the tornado of 11 year old's that had appeared around her before chasing after me again.

I had never run faster in my life. Cutting around corners, sprinting down streets in an attempt to lose the my predator. I had to think fast. I jumped into the safety of a trashcan that had been left out on the street corner and caught my breath. I was safe...for now.

Minutes felt like hours as I sat amongst the garbage and reviewed my actions. Maybe I should have thought things through a little more and I wouldn't have ended up sitting on top of last night's dinner in a dark trashcan.

Then I heard footsteps from the sidewalk...This was it, being human was fun while it lasted. I closed my eyes as the footsteps grew louder and then...

"Sam! Sam where are you?"

Mikey?

"Sam!"

It was Mikey. I flew open the lid and my friend jumped.

"Jesus, man, you scared me," said Mikey.

"Where's the Witch? Did you see where she went?"

"Hell no! I ran like hell when she burst out that door but I think we all lost her. She didn't exactly look like the sprinting type."

A feeling of relief flooded over me as I climbed out of the can.

"Where did everyone else go?" I asked.

"I don't know we have to find them. Come on."

We walked together down the sidewalk for a moment and both recanted our experiences. Mikey had run to the local park and hid in the slide before he came searching for me.

"Did you see her eyes?" asked Mikey.

"I did."

"Were they black like Nate's brother said?"

"Oh yeah." I said.

"Did she say anything to you at the door?"

"Yes," I chuckled. "She asked if you wanted to go on a date."