The Witch at the Kitchen Table

When my eyes opened that Saturday morning, I couldn’t believe my luck. Tracy, my six-year-old sister, was still asleep in the other twin bed in my room. Relishing the hope of having the TV all to myself for a bit, I pushed back my covers and lowered myself to the floor on all fours. I cringed every time the floor creaked under me, terrified she’d wake up. It simply wasn’t fair. My best friend Alice, eight-years-old just like me, didn’t have to share the TV with her sister, who was practically an adult. I still hadn’t forgiven my parents for having us so close together.

Through careful crawling borne of years of practice, I got out of our room and made a beeline for the stairs. As my hand touched the railing, I briefly considered performing that oh-so-sweet but oh-so-forbidden-you’ll-be-grounded-for-a-week ride down the banister. Biting my lip, I looked back at my bedroom door and decided not to risk it. My care paid off, as the downstairs was empty, and the remote was on the ottoman, waiting for me. After pulling off the trick of turning the volume down before it blasted and gave me away, I plopped down on the couch to binge cartoons.

I’d gotten halfway through my second episode of Spongebob when a sound totally out of place echoed through the house: the doorbell. I muted the TV, hoping whoever it was didn’t hear anything. I wasn’t supposed to answer the door, but I also couldn’t reach the stairs to get my mom without whoever was at the door seeing me through the glass. I hesitated, waiting for I wasn’t sure what. I started to hope maybe it was the mailman delivering a package when a knock followed.

Darting up, I hid behind the couch even though the living room wasn’t visible to the front door. The bell rang again, followed by more knocks. My stomach flipped, and I felt my breathing quicken. Where were my parents? I’d heard the beeping on the coffee maker a few minutes before, so they had to be coming down soon.

“Mary?” I heard Tracy’s voice from the front hall. “There’s someone at the door!”

“No!” I called, rushing to the foyer. Sure enough, Tracy was there, standing at the top of the stairs, her teddy bear in one hand.

“Who is that?” she asked, looking at the door.

I turned in the direction of her pointing finger and was startled at the figure behind the glass. It was a woman with long red hair and a small black hat that came to a little point. It reminded me of the caps my grandmother’s garden gnomes wore.

Suddenly, she knocked again and put her face to the glass. “Hello? Mary? Or are you Tracy? Can you let me in?”

I didn’t answer but bolted up the stairs, past Tracy and into my parents’ room.

“Mom!” I cried, vaulting onto the bed and landing between my parents.

They gasped and opened their eyes, stunned to see me.

“What’s wrong, Mary?” my dad asked, sitting up.

“There’s a witch at the door!” I cried.

“What?” my mom said, shoving back the covers. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s a witch! Go and see!”

Still confused, both of my parents went down to the foyer. I followed close behind and was joined by Tracy, who was clutching her bear to her chest.

“Oh my gosh!” my mom gasped when she reached the bottom of the stairs. “It’s Sophia!” She hurried to the door and, unlocking it, threw it wide open.

“Hello!” the strange woman said excitedly. My mom cried out and they gave each other a big hug. Then the woman hugged my dad, and they all started talking at once.

I took the chance to study the visitor more closely. Her dress was black, and she had black heels on, but not normal ones. They covered her whole foot and were tied up with ribbons. Behind her feet, I saw a suitcase and another strange box. I started to edge around the adults to get a closer look but shrank back as an animal limb flew out from the side of the box and went back in, followed by a long meeeooooooow.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” the woman, who was seeming more witch-like to me by the second, said. “I brought Harriet. I hope that’s okay.”

On being told by my parents that Harriet was welcome, she dragged the box in and opened one side. A black cat crawled out, stretching and taking in the surroundings.

“Kitty!” Tracy squealed.

Startled, Harriet ran into the house, and my sister followed.

“Well, this must be Mary!” the woman said, smiling down at me. “Sorry if I scared you before.”

I half-stepped behind my mom, clinging to her pajama pants.

“Yes, it is,” my mother answered, putting a hand to the back of my head to urge me forward. “Mary, this is my sister, your Aunt Sophia. Do you remember her?’

I didn’t but I also didn’t feel like answering, so I looked at my slippers instead.

“No, I don’t think she could,” the woman said. “She wasn’t three last time I saw you all together. The only time we saw each other was mom’s funeral.”

“Yes,” my mother agreed. “Mary, Sophia came all the way from Japan to visit us. I meant for it to be a surprise for you, but she even surprised me! Do you think you can show her where the kitchen is?”

I didn’t understand why the witch-lady couldn’t find her own way to the kitchen, but I nodded and started off.

“Wait for me!” Aunt Sophia said. Her voice was high, higher than my mom’s, and I thought it was scary.

“Mary said a witch was at the door,” I heard my dad say as he picked up Aunt Sophia’s suitcase.

“Oh no!” my aunt laughed. “Is it because of my hat, Mary?”

I glanced back at her, again taking in her long red hair and little black hat. “Um, yeah, I guess so,” I managed. Aunt Sophia winked at me, but I didn’t smile.

When we got to the kitchen, my parents and aunt started talking about adult things, and I wanted to escape back to my cartoons, but my dad made me go find Tracy. She was in our piano room, named obviously for the instrument in the corner. Tracy was crouched down on all fours, looking under the table in the corner.

“Come on, kitty!” she called. “Come on out!”

My aunt’s cat, Harriet, was sitting in the corner, hunched up and staring at my sister warily.

“She’s not gonna come, Tracy,” I said in my big-sister way. “She probably hates kids. Alice says all cats hate kids.”

“That’s not true!”

“Oh yeah? Alice told me her friend’s cat clawed some boy’s eyes out!”

“That wasn’t this cat!” Tracy answered, bending down again.

Seeing she had no desire to give up on Harriet, I went back to my cartoons. I’d only just unmuted the TV, when my dad called me to help set the table for breakfast. My spirits were a lifted a little when I saw he was making French toast and bacon. My mom and aunt were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and talking so fast I could barely understand what they were saying. I was about to get the forks when I smelled something funny.

“Dad, what’s that?”

“What, honey?” He turned from the stove.

“That smell!” I sniffed and crinkled my nose.

“Oh, Sophia got your mother a diffuser for essential oils. It’s over there.”

I glanced around the room until my eyes rested on the glowing orb-thingy on the counter. It was changing colors, and a thin line of smoke came from the top. It looked suspiciously like some kind of cauldron, but I didn’t say anything else. Breakfast followed, and I enjoyed my French toast until I noticed Aunt Sophia eating an apple. Rather than stopping at the core, she ate the whole thing except for the stem. Recalling Alice’s warning that apple seeds were poison, I pushed away my plate and asked to be excused so I could go outside.

“Alright,” my mom agreed. “But wear a scarf. It’s chilly today.”

I groaned, but did as I was told, changing into my clothes and putting on a coat and scarf before going to the backyard. Alice lived directly behind us, and we even shared a fence. She was swinging at her playset when I came outside.

“Hey, Alice!” I said, waving her over. “I have to talk to you!” I climbed onto the fence and sat down.

“Yeah?” she said excitedly, climbing up beside me. “Have you decided what you’re gonna be for Halloween?”

“No, not that! My aunt showed up today, and I think she’s a witch!”

Alice reacted in just the way I expected. She loved ghosts and scary stuff, and Halloween was her favorite time of year. Scooting closer to me, she widened her eyes and begged me to explain.

“This lady who my mom says is her sister Sophia came to our door when I was watching cartoons! She has long red hair and a black witch hat! Well, it’s kinda like that, but smaller. But she also brought a black cat, and she’s been burning weird stuff in our kitchen, and she ate a whole apple, seeds and all!”

When I stopped to take a breath, Alice asked, “You didn’t know she was your aunt? She never came for Thanksgiving or anything?”

I shook my head. “She and my mom said she hasn’t been around since I was a baby. She’s been living in Japan.”

“Japan?” Alice cocked her head and crinkled her freckled nose, showing that she was thinking. After a minute, her green eyes opened wide. “I’ve read about some Japanese ghost stories! I can’t remember what they were called, but they were really scary!”

“And there’s all that other stuff!” I reminded her. “She dresses like a witch, she has a black cat, a cauldron, and she eats poison stuff and doesn’t die!”

“She’s gotta be a witch,” Alice agreed. “No question about it.”

“What can I do?” I asked, wringing my hands. “Do you think my parents know?”

She shrugged. “If they did, they’d probably pretend like they didn’t. No, you gotta find some kind of thing she might use to cast a spell and hide it from her. When she freaks out, you’ll have your proof.”

“Of course!” I cried out. “Alice, you’re a genius!” I hopped down from the fence and ran toward the house.

“Do you need my help?”

“No!” I answered. “I don’t want her putting a curse on you or something!”

The only person I saw when I went back inside was Tracy, who was in my previously occupied space on the couch, watching TV. I heard the shower running in my parent’s bathroom, and I went past it to the spare bedroom where we put all our guests. As I approached, I heard Aunt Sophia talking on the phone.

“Yes, I know,” she was saying. “It’s strange to be back, but I think it will be good. Today, I plan to—”

“Mary?” My dad’s voice made me jump.

“Yeah?” I asked guiltily.

“Don’t eavesdrop. It isn’t polite.”

Aunt Sophia’s bedroom door opened. “Is Megan ready?” she asked my dad.

“Yeah, just about.”

“Awesome!” She smiled down at me, ruffling my hair as she followed my dad downstairs.

When they were both out of earshot, I slipped quietly into the bedroom. Aunt Sophia had already put her clothes in the drawers of the dresser, and without a second thought, I started digging through them for some proof of her being a witch. I didn’t find anything helpful until coming to the nightstand drawer. Inside was a circle locket on a gold chain. Deciding it looked just like a witch’s jewel, I opened it up and was disgusted to find bright blonde hair inside.

“Whose it this?” I said. I remembered Alice once telling me spells could be cast with pieces of hair; was this it?

I snapped the locket shut and ran downstairs and out to the garden to bury it. Mom and my aunt went out to the grocery store, leaving my dad to watch me and Tracy. I joined my sister for a while, then asked if I could go to Alice’s house. Once there, I impressed her by telling her what I had done. I ended up forgetting about my aunt for a while and staying there until dinner, as neither of my parents ever called me to come home. Alice’s family ate at seven, so I had to go back then, but when I got to the house, I found it a total mess.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Tracy, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

“Aunt Sophia’s locket is missing!” she said. “Mommy and daddy helped her look all day, but they couldn’t find it. She’s crying and calling the airport to see if they found it.

Suddenly remembering the events of the morning, I tried to look sad but smiled inwardly, at least until I met my aunt in the living room. Her eyes were red and her face was puffy like she’d been crying all day.

“Oh, hi, Mary,” she said when she saw me. “Have you seen a locket? It’s really important and I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Mary,” my mom’s voice was stern behind me, “have you seen Aunt Sophia’s locket?”

My aunt’s appearance had shocked me so much, all I could do was shake my head. My mom didn’t have a chance to say anything else, as the phone rang just then. When I turned again, I saw Aunt Sophia going outside to the deck.

Left alone in the living room, I realized I was starting to feel sick, but not normal sick. It was like a heavy weight was on me, and I found myself going out to the garden and digging up the necklace. Carrying it back into the house, I settled down on the couch, deliberating on how to get it back to my aunt without totally getting in trouble, because even though I felt guilty, my survival instinct was still strong. Finally, though, I decided with the most direct route.

“Mary, is that you?” Aunt Sophia turned in her chair.

“Yeah,” I said, coming out onto the deck. The wood was cold against my feet. I could see from the lights on the deck that she had been crying.

“You can sit with me, if you like.”

I walked forward slowly, bracing myself for what I had to do. Lifting my clenched fist, I opened it up in front of her.

“My locket!” she cried out, grabbing it. “Oh, thank you, Mary! Where did you find it?” She held it against her heart in one hand, smiling at me.

I bowed my head. “I took it and buried it in the garden.”

A silence fell. “What?” she asked finally. “Why?”

“Because,” I started awkwardly, “I thought you were a witch and if I hid that from you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything to me.”

“You…you thought I was a witch for real?”

“Just cause of your hat, and your cat, and the essential oils thingy, and you ate poison apple seeds, and you had the locket with the hair in it.” The words tumbled out of me, one after another. When I had finished, I waited for her to yell or storm inside and call for my parents. Instead, she laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I demanded, forgetting my embarrassment.

“You remind me of me!” she laughed. “That sounds like something I would’ve thought when I was a kid.”

“Really?”

“Mmmhmm!” She laughed again and, sitting back down, asked how I’d made all my conclusions.

I explained each one and Alice’s advice on the subject. “But can I ask,” I said when it was over, “who’s hair is in the locket?”

Aunt Sophia’s laughter stopped abruptly and was replaced with a sad smile. “It’s my little girl’s hair.”

I gasped. “You have a little girl?”

She nodded. “I did, but she died when she was a baby. She was born too early. That’s why I went to Japan and never visited. I wanted to go away and forget how sad I was.”

“I’m sorry.”

Aunt Sophia smiled and hugged me with one arm. “It’s okay. You’re the reason I came back.”

“Huh?”

She chuckled. “Your mom sent me pictures of you and Tracy all the time. Finally, I woke up one morning and decided I need to come back and be a good aunt for my little nieces.”

“Really?” I looked up at her, only realizing then how pretty she was.

“Yep.” She smiled and hugged me again.

“Well, I’m glad you’re back, Aunt Sophia,” I said.

“Me too, Mary. Me too.”

“Um, I have one more question.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think my mom and dad have to know?”

She hesitated, biting her lip. “Tell you what, how bout we tell them when you’re grown up?”