Little Witch
***
The sound of rustling grass has me turning away from the river, and I find that I’m not alone after all.
There’s a little girl, her dress blue and her eyes a striking shade of gold, and when she smiles her eyeteeth are unnervingly sharp.
There’s something so familiar about her, though I swear I’ve never seen her before.
Then again, I can’t recall who I am, so there’s clearly something wrong with my memory at the moment.
“Hello,” I greet her. Her grin grows wider as she runs the final few steps, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. “Oh!” I laugh, surprised. “Hello darling, it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry if we know each other; I’m having trouble remembering things at the moment.”
“That’s okay, I know it’s not your fault.” Her eyes are completely trusting as she looks up at me, and for a moment I have a flash of a memory of another child, all blonde hair and blue eyes, looking at me the same way. I blink, and it’s gone again.
“I take it I know you, then?” I say quietly. She nods, smiling softly.
“You’re my best friend.”
“Really?” I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from apologising, as that would sound wrong, but she seems so sincere and I feel terrible that I don’t know her at all. Where are her parents?
“It’s okay,” she says, stepping back and taking a seat in the grass. I follow suit, tucking my skirt around me so that I can sit comfortably. “This is the last time you see me here, anyway,” the little girl adds after a bout of silence.
“That sounds awfully ominous.”
She shakes her head. “It’s a good thing. You’re going to meet my mommy and daddy, and my brothers and sister.”
“But —”
“I couldn’t see it before, but I can now,” she says.
“See what?”
“My turn. It’s not happening today, but it’ll be my turn soon, and then I get to touch the sky. You’re going to see my family, and then one day, they’re going to find me.”
None of this makes sense. Of course it doesn’t, she’s just a little girl and she’s lost.
“What is your name?” I ask her. She’s silent for a long time, her serious expression cute, though my gut tells me that this is truly important.
“Little Witch,” she finally says. “That’s the only one I remember right now.”
“That sounds like a nickname. I can’t remember my name either.”
She nods. “They took my real name, but they couldn’t take my wolves. They think they have me trapped, but I’m only trapped until it’s my turn.”
“Until you touch the sky?” I ask. I’m curious as to who they are, but as she grins, her big gold eyes staring with a level of intensity I’ve never encountered in a little one before, I lose my train of thought.
“One day I’m going to fly.”