the witch

It was difficult to see where she was going as the last rays of sunlight withered away and her eyes still dewed with angry tears. She threw her crown of flowers into the muck, soiling it as her white offal-drenched dress was soiled and her loud sobs drifted into a high pitched growl of frustration as her sorrowful anger grew hot and hateful. How could they have done this to her? After all these years they could not let her have this one day?

The forest disappeared in a sudden blur as she fell into a groove in the trail, scraping the palms of her hands as she managed to catch herself. At first, she did not know what she was seeing, then she did not believe it but after wiping her tears and rising up she could not deny it. It was the footprint of a giant duck. Her mind was quiet as her fiery anger gave way to pure, cold hate and she followed the abnormal duck trail as if gliding through a dream. In that deep dark wood, on the edge of a river, she found a house standing on the legs of a duck and sounds of merriment wafted from inside. A rickety set of stairs was furled down from the door like a tongue and she climbed them, pausing only a second before knocking on the door resolutely. The revelries inside went quiet and the door creaked open revealing a horrid scene, a banquet of flesh and blood and terrible monsters were guests! And yet, she approached the gathering, her eyes fixated on the host at the end of a table, a crooked old lady with empty pits for eyes and jaws more terrible than any wolf, Starushka Klevat. “Look, my guests” the witch laughed with a voice like teeth grinding on rocks “the food delivers itself on the door!” With awful sounds that might have been laughter the rancid revellers clawed and swiped for her but she stared into the bottomless pits of the witch's eyes and spoke with the confidence reserved for those who have already leapt off the edge, “Starushka Klevat! O' dark witch of the woods, eater of children and host of terrible things, few are those who dare to even mention you, yet I come seeking you!” The monstrous merrymakers had her firmly gripped but gave pause as the carnivorous crone leaned over the table with a curious smile. “I beseech thee” the girl continued “grant me a spell. I have been wronged this day and every day before it and I will cast my very humanity into the fires to have my justice. Grant me Revenge!” The quiet hang heavily in the humid air as the black, empty stare of the witch held the icy cold stare of the girl. “Do this...” the girl weakly added “and I'll... have you over for dinner some time?” Starushka Klevat grinned with the satisfaction of a wolf locked in with the sheep and with a wave of her talon-like hand her gruesome guests released the girl. “You got yourself a deal, dearie”