Witches' Island

On a faraway island, there was a colony of cannibal witches. These witches were not the old, ugly, and foul-tempered kind--in fact they were very beautiful...most of the time. Despite their beauty, the witches were also evil. They hated humans, especially men. Men were, in fact, their favorite kind of food. While men were not around too often, pirate or merchant ships would occasionally stop at the island for rest or refuge from tropical storms. When men did venture into their home, it was only too easy for the witches to acquire their prey. For men are not the smartest, especially when dealing with seemingly beautiful women. These witches were clever as well; they would play to the men's weaknesses in order to get them to stay. For these men would go months without seeing a single woman, so only some attention from these beautiful girls with an undeniable force of attraction would have men committing to stay on the island for good. It wouldn't be very long at all before the witches convinced their men to stay on the island and get married. Within a few days' time, all of the witches would feast upon their husbands. After years and years of practice, it became too easy for a witch to trick a man into becoming her dinner. No man had ever before escaped the island alive after making contact with a witch.

One day, a lost and tired crew stopped by the island. This island was unlike most that the crew had been to--it appeared uninhabited initially. The beautiful lagoons and beaches were not tainted by tens of ships, and the palm trees stood resolute around the outside of the island in all of their natural splendor. There was no town on the outskirts of the island, and the sounds of birds and the breeze in the trees were not drowned out by the sound of humans talking and working. The captain, Morgan, realized that his men needed more supplies and knew that stepping on land would do his men good. Seeing smoke further inland, they pulled right up to the first white sandy beach they saw. The men from the boat were tired from the long months on the sea. As the exhausted soldiers made their way through the dense tropical forest, they found the witches' village. The witches were dazzlingly beautiful, with tanned skin and hair bleached by the sun. The inhabitants, with just a little effort, wooed the sailors instantly. The queen witch was even able to seduce Captain Morgan, a man with no small degree of honor, intelligence and awareness. The witches had a magical aura about them. Unbeknownst to the men, every witch on the island had a magic locket which gave them powers of illusion. The men only saw the witches in their beautiful form. If they were ever to see the witches in their real form, they would have run back for their ship out of fear...The lockets also gave the witches a magical aura of attraction. Men couldn't help but be drawn into the witches' snares and by then their lives were a foregone conclusion. Before long, just as always, the men had found their new wives and were ready to start seemingly heavenly lives on this new tropical paradise. One night, just before the wedding ceremonies, Captain Morgan heard his wife-to-be speaking to one of her subordinates. But it was not her usual voice. It was a raspy, hungry voice that chilled Morgan's bones to the core.

"Tomorrow night, we will feast on this batch of men," the Queen Witch exclaimed to her fellow witch.

"These men are just as dumb as the rest. And I imagine, just as tasty!" The Witch then cried out, laughing maniacally.

Morgan, pretending to sleep, peered over and saw a monstrous hag wearing the clothes that his fiancee had been wearing all day. The hag had a hunchback, wrinkly green skin and daggers for teeth. He noticed she was also holding the locket that she never seemed to take off. Captain Morgan knew that he and his men were in grave danger.

The next morning he told all of his shipmates about what he had heard, and the hideous beast that he had seen. All of his subordinates waved Morgan off--he was infamous for being a careful man. In most scenarios the crew would have listened to Captain Morgan without a shred of a doubt (the trust that the crew had developed in Morgan over years on the open sea ran deep), but these men were still caught up in the magical aura that came from their wives as a result of their locket! If only they had heard and seen what Morgan had, their spell would have been broken...

Morgan's first mate, Jack, got tired of Morgan's crazy pleading and exclaimed, "Morgan! You are the only sailor who could roll up to an island with ample resources that's inhabited by beautiful women who want to marry you and have a problem with it!"

The crew burst out laughing.

Morgan angrily responded, "I've learned over the years that if it seems like it's too good to be true, it normally is! I'm telling you, if we stay it will be a fatal decision."

Morgan ordered his men back to their ship, though the crew blew him off as crazy, making their way to the heart of the village in anticipation of their marriages. Morgan solemnly made his way back to the ship to sail away. He became the only man to ever escape Witches' Island with his life.

Author's Note: I was inspired by the story Goblin City when writing this piece. The story I wrote is very similar to the original, though there are some differences here and there. In the original tale, a crew is shipwrecked onto an island with she-goblins. The goblins, however, have powerful magic that allows them to shape shift. These she-goblins were infamous for acquiring husbands from the sailors that ended up on the island, and then eating them when they were tired of them. This is exactly what the she-goblins aimed to do with the five hundred sailors that became isolated on their island. They were well on their way, tricking them into staying and getting married. If it hadn't been for the captain of the crew overhearing that the she-goblins love to eat men, the whole crew would have been eaten alive. After hearing their intentions, the captain convinces some of the crew to abandon the island and escape with their lives. They were aided in their escape by a kind fairy's magical flying horse. Other shipmates, blinded by the prospect of their upcoming marriages to seemingly gorgeous women, were not so lucky and were devoured.

I thought the story would be better if there were witches on the island rather than goblins, so that's what inspired me to write this story. I also really enjoyed the fantasy aspect of the original story that came along with the goblins' ability to use magic for manipulative purposes.

Bibliography: "Goblin City" from Indian folk-lore by W.H.D. Rouse