The Witch Misadventure

As a child, I was quite a fan of fairy tales. Whenever I wanted to hear a story, I would follow my mother around the house, endlessly pestering her to tell me a story. My mother would try to resist me, but in the end, she was no match for the tenacity of a wound-up 5-year-old. Her favorite story was the one about our town witch. This witch, she informed me, had been created by this town’s desire for help of some sort.  Our town was a small one, near a lake in a valley by some hills. It wasn’t the easiest town to get to, and was often forgotten, even by other residents of our state. This would often result in a lack of support from the state, financial and otherwise, financial and otherwise, forcing our community to more desperate measures to keep our town afloat. The witch was there to help the townspeople, my mother said, but there were rules. (No one remembered where the rules had come from). The first rule stated that there would always be a witch at the end of the lake, across from our town. The second rule stated that you could only talk to the witch if you were desperate to have a wish granted. You wouldn’t be able to find her otherwise. The third rule had been forgotten. According to my mother, as the need for a witch lessened, the townspeople had forgotten what it was. Tales of the witch were my favorite, and I had them memorized by the time I had reached the third grade. I honestly think that my brother Leon would have loved them as well. I think my parents would have loved to tell them to him as well, but they both died a

while ago. Maybe they would have had a stronger influence on him as well. Better than the one I

did, anyways.

   Our town usually held a town hall meeting once a month. Its usual purpose was to air grievances and problems in our community, as well as encourage positive relationships between the villagers. However, no one in the town had any misgivings about what this meeting was mainly to be about. I had not wanted to attend this month’s meeting but had decided to anyways. It was better to know what people were saying. While there had been rumors, someone had finally discovered offerings left to the witch. While you could hear whispers among the crowd about it now, no one other than the council would dare to broach this topic. The council stepped in, and the crowd was silent. An uneasy silence spread. Please, please, don’t be true. I thought. Just for once, don’t be in the center of it all. The Head Councilor August raised his hand. “I am sure that you all know what the most pressing part of this town hall is. Someone has been leaving what the council assumes are offerings to The Witch. I should not need to say why this is wrong.”

The crowd burst into nervous whispers. And here I had hoped... Just then, I voice I had dreaded to hear, but knew that I would hear speak up, clear and unafraid. “They weren’t offerings.”

The Head Councilor leaned forward and squinted. “I beg your pardon?”

Leon stood up straight and unafraid. “They were gifts. Not offerings.”

Another council member, Jasmine sighed. “Of course. I assume that this is a confession then?”

My younger brother scowled. “I haven’t done anything wrong, so it isn’t a confession.

She’s helped this town out many times, and I thought—“

“There is a reason we do not interact with the witch.” Councilor Marion stated. Waving her hand in a dismissive gesture he continued. “I don’t know if you fancy yourself some moral

hero, above the rest of us, but you are sorely mistaken.”

My brother’s hands tightened, and his face reddened. “I never said that I just thought— “

Marion turned her head and looked calmly at him. “You know what the rules are; we all know what the rules are. These rules protect both us and the witch. Do not forget this.” With that, the matter was settled, and Leon sat down in his seat with a huff. I glared at him. “What?” he said, although I suspected he knew exactly why I was so annoyed with him. “You shouldn’t provoke them like that,” I said, trying to keep my voice low and under control.

He scowled, endlessly annoyed by my advice. “Why? You don’t believe in the witch anyways.”

I sighed, not wanting to create a scene. “We can talk about this at home.” At this, Leon rolled his eyes and stood up. “Alright then. See you there.” With that casual dismissal, he walked to the door and left, leaving me to clear up any resentment in the community about his actions.

Again.

 I ended up trudging back home after the sun had set, after voicing endless platitudes to the townspeople and the council. Especially the council. I had texted Leon to let him know that I

was coming home, but I hadn’t received a response yet. What exactly does he get up to in this small town? I wondered. It wasn’t as if we had numerous entertainment opportunities. Once again, I wondered if my parents would be as frustrated with him as I was. No one in town believes in the witch. All he has to do is follow tradition. When he leaves, he can do what he wants. I wondered what my life would be like if my parents were still alive. If my parents were here, I would leave this entire town behind without a second glance. I wanted to escape from this town where everyone knew each other’s secrets, and I was sure that Leon felt the same way.

 The night passed, but Leon didn’t come home.

The rest of the week seemed to pass by at a painfully slow pace. Leon had yet to respond to any of my text messages. I knew that I could ask for help and people would be more than happy to help me, but a larger part of me hoped that Leon was just throwing a tantrum after the town hall meeting. Besides, I didn’t have it in me to deal with anyone. I couldn’t handle another round of sympathetic glances and well-meaning wishers who would wait until I was out of sight,

and whisper about how concerned they were. I could imagine Mrs. Hendrickson exclaiming how heartbreaking it was that something like this was happening again, how close she and my parents were, and how she would make it her mission to make sure I would be alright. While I

appreciated the help and affection born from worry, I needed personal time and space to process what was happening, and what I should do next. Yet another smaller voice in my head reminded me of the times that I had wished that my parents were alive and I didn’t have to be the only one taking care of a younger brother who didn’t seem to appreciate my efforts. No, I thought. These thoughts aren’t important right now. What I needed to do was find out where my brother had been.

 The first few places had been a bust. Jimmy Hendrickson had been the only one admitted that he had seen Leon, but had no idea where he had gone after they split up. I had no hints,

clues, leads—nothing. I could feel the panic and anger rising in my chest. In an attempt to fight the rising tears, I forced myself to stop and sit down on a bench and distract myself by looking around. I had grown up in this town. The water fountain in the middle of the town square that had seemed much larger as a child was far less impressive now. As a child, Leon had loved the fountain too, and after we were done running around town, we would go to Councilor Marion’s diner and order a sandwich to eat. Then our parents had died, and nothing had seemed as fun as it used to be. I had planned to pick up some groceries at Shop Rite, but I wasn’t sure that I could make myself power through and do it. Just then, a hand pressed down on my shoulder. I looked up. It was Mrs. Hendrickson. She smiled. “Isabelle.”

I had gone with her to her house. Her husband her children were out. She offered me some food, and I ate, surprised at just how hungry I was. She waited for me to finish. When I was done, she nodded her head with satisfaction. “Now, tell me what’s wrong.” I froze, hesitant.

She sighed. “Isabelle, I know how you are about asking for help, but if you don’t ask, you don’t know what kind of help you can receive.” 

I steeled myself, pushing past my apprehension. “I’m looking for Leon. Have you seen him?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him for a couple of days. The last time I saw him, he was heading across the bridge to the other side of the lake.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

Mrs. Hendrickson nodded her head. “He’s been going there more often as of late. I know most of you children today don’t believe in the witch, but there may be something he wants.” I looked at her, confused. “He’s gone to the other side of the lake quite often—“ 

I stood up. “We need to go there now.” 

Mrs. Hendrickson clicked her tongue. “Not right now. We can’t just run all over the place. We need to make sure we have a way to go there and get back,” Tilting her head, she pressed her lips together for a moment. “Going there after 6 in the evening would be best. It’s

easier to get across the bridge then.”

A few hours later, I was in her car as she drove us towards the other end of the lake. As we drove, she told me how often Leon visited her house, and how he would often ask her about our parents. “I told him whatever I could remember,” she smiled sadly. “It’s a pity he was too young to remember them properly.” I felt an embarrassing heat pass through me. He had never asked me about our parents, but he went around asking other people?! Mrs. Hendrickson looked at me, then sighed. “We’re here.”

I pulled out my phone, planning to call him. Mrs. Hendrickson shook her head. “Those

don’t work out here.” It was true. My phone wouldn’t even turn on. Mrs. Hendrickson took me by the arm and pulled me along. “Follow me carefully,” she instructed. “This is an old place, and

we don’t know what is lying around.” She seemed to know where she was going, which seemed like a miracle, considering how thick the fog was. It had risen as we were crossing the bridge,

and seemed to stretch endlessly. After some time, Mrs. Hendrickson stopped in front of a cabin.

She looked back at me. “Be careful.” With that warning, she stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a minute, a door swung open. There was Leon.

Behind him was a smaller figure. It was a young woman with long black hair and a white dress. I felt as if I had known her at one point, but I couldn’t recall exactly how we would know each other. I could hear Mrs. Hendrickson speaking, but the blood rushing through my ears made it difficult for me to hear her properly. After a moment, she pushed me inside. My main focus was not the two women, but my brother, who had yet to speak a single word. I wanted to say something. But I didn’t know what. Was I supposed to ask him if he ever planned on letting me know where he was? Did I matter that little to him?

And then I heard Mrs. Hendrickson speak, her voice raised. “Enough! You know the

rules as well as I do. Either deliver what was agreed upon or return what he paid.”

The witch stiffened. “You wouldn’t ask me to do that. Not if you knew what he asked.” 

Mrs. Hendrickson seemed to soften then. “I know you think you have his best interests at

heart, but sometimes you need to let them learn that they don’t have as much control as they

think they do.”

The witch closed her eyes. “Leon. You wanted to see what your parents were like. You

have paid the price, and I will use the power granted to me to make your wish a reality.”

It was then I heard a noise. It was too loud to be the wind but was otherwise indiscernible from a loud sigh. I could hear movement close to the cabin, and I heard Leon ask, “So they’ll be like they were before they died?”

The look that passed on the witch’s face made her look far older than she should be.

“You didn’t ask for that. You wanted to know what they were like, and they were brought back that way. I have no control over how they’re revived. You’ll be lucky if they are though.”

I looked at the witch. I couldn’t see what they had become. The image of dead, rotting corpses flashed in my mind. The damage from the car accident had been so bad that the funeral had been closed casket. To have them brought back like that… what if they were it pain?! “I’ll pay any price. Just please, make them go away!”

The witch watched me for a while, her shoulders sinking in relief. She nodded and closed her eyes. The knocking stopped.

When the three of us made it back into town, Head Councilor August was waiting. The

Head Councilor rubbed the sides of his head. “So you went to see the witch without me?! What would you have done without backup? You could have been stuck there, and no one would know

where to find you!”

Mrs. Hendrickson sighed. “It was a simple matter. There wasn’t any reason to bother

you.” As the married couple began to argue, Leon tapped my shoulders. I turned my head towards him. “Yes?”

“Next time I have any questions about Mom and Dad, I’ll ask you.”

I frowned, confused. “Who?”