The forest is just as peaceful as usual, only cracking branches and the animals can be heard. Lifting up my brown wooden basket, the painful experience of searching in every nook and cranny just for a few pale mushrooms made my blood boil. I left home just as the sun woke and now it can see everything I can do. After getting past all the greenery I finally saw the small brown hut, covered in the shadows of the trees, I was finally home. Walking over the worn wooden path, the door creaked as I entered. 

I turned the door locks, you couldn’t see a thing even if you tried. I turned over to the shelf right of me, I carefully moved my hands across it’s top until my fingers finally felt something cold. I secured my hold on the candle and pinched the tip with my right fingers, I shut my eyes and focused on the image of fire. Recreating an image of the room I was in,  on top of that I pictured bright light blue particles filling the air. As I focused I could see them gathering between my fingers, accumulating at the wick, slowly the tips of my fingers began to warm up just a little. I applied more pressure, the heat grew and grew, my hand shot away from the wick as my fingers felt as if they lost a layer of skin. 

A faint yellow light emitted in front of me, I trekked farther toward the center of the room and raised the candle up high towards a black bowl hung upside down. When the flame made contact, the fire went out and flowed through the bowl to the string it was connected to. The light went to the ceiling where the light was transferred to long metal bars that formed an x, the bars filled the entire room with a warm orange light. 

Wobbled towards the wooden chair with bits and pieces taken out of it and plopped myself down leaving my basket down besides it. My bones were aching, I took a look at the back of my boney pale hands, flipping them over my fingertips were white from the 71 years of making fires the easy way. My brown rugged gown was covered in mud and twigs, my light brown boots were no different. I sighed letting out my day’s frustration. 

Catching the basket out of the corner of my eye, I thought back to having to head south until the muddy creek just looking for these things and getting drenched in mud. The only mushrooms I could find were the ones higher on the trees, throwing rocks was a sufficient way of getting them down. Up until wound up having to apologize to that talking tree after missing one or two shots. But they had it coming for all the annoying riddles they made me endure every time I wanted to cross the bridge. “All is forgiven” they say but I’m sure they’re already concocting an impossible riddle just for me.

Straightening my back against the chair’s and resting my hands onto my thighs. Dropping my shoulders; I tilted my head back “Despite the pain, 12 mushrooms isn’t so bad though. If I’m careful these could last me past winter” 

My gaze shifts towards the huge black cauldron in the right side of the room, then to the wooden shelf above filled with 8 glass bottles of either herbs, liquid, and some insects. I need to rest before I can get on with today's experiments, for right now it’s better to take in the peace and silence. 

Shutting my eyes, the room turned to darkness as the crackling from the lights faded into white. This bliss was quickly interrupted as knocks came from the door. I was ready to ignore it and go back to my paradise but if it's one of my “neighbors” then I can’t ignore them. I could care less about any of them but they're being nice enough to keep me hidden from the military, so I can’t just ruin my reputation with them. On the other hand, I never know when one of them might be useful for something. I hoisted myself up, almost losing my balance, and calmly walked towards the door.

The knocks continued ”I’m coming just give me a second!” a small stubby brown haired boy in a ragged dirty green tunic, black tights, and pointy boots stood in front of me as I opened the door.

I shut the door 5 times faster than I opened it, I could feel the blood and color drain from my face, my head started to light and it felt like I was losing my balance. Without hesitation I shot my gaze towards each of the ceiling's corners, the bells in each corner weren’t going off. I’m old so I’m probably just seeing things, I must be crazy, when I open the door again there'll be nothing there.

Wide eyed “So you’re the witch who lives here right!” he said with excitement.

I shut the door once more, I’m so used to calling myself that word but when he called me that; the picture of a brown hut set to blaze, surrounded by knights bearing weapons and torches, condemning the person they were hunting, each of those men carried the insignia of the empire. 

The memory of the past hacked away at my will, drops of water fell to the floor despite no leaks coming from the ceiling.

After rubbing my now itchy eyes, I shifted back my focus to the bells hung at the ceiling's corners. I should be hearing chimes but there was nothing, if someone was coming those sprites should have alerted me with those bells, so why?

My hand clenched ” Those sneaky sprites after all this time acting innocent and pure they finally show their true colors and rat me out, unfortunately for them they won’t leave this unscathed if only they knew the dirt I had on them.” I cut my curses of revenge short as the knocking persisted.

Opening the door “There’s no …witch here little boy so you can just go along and forget this happened” as I shut the door once more.

knocking once more “But I was told there was a witch here in a hut”

Leaning my back against the door “There isn’t one! so you can go away now”  

Pausing between his words “But if there’s a hut here, and you’re in it, then you must be the witch” 

“Well I’m not the witch, but may I ask who told you this false information?”

“The sprites” 

My eyes tightened and teeth clenched. “Well I don’t blame you for being tricked, didn’t your parents ever tell you not to trust a sprite?”

He responded back in silence, this continued for a while as neither of us made a sound so as to not interrupt the conversation. My eyes begin to shift towards the floor, even for me this is a type of silence that can’t be endured.

“Why exactly do you wish to meet a witch anyway?”

“I want to become her apprentice, I wanna learn magic!” his cry echoed through the house.

My eyes began to scorn at the thought of a human learning magic, as if learning magic was a blessing. No one in their bright mind would say something like, I’m not going to get tricked.

My teeth clenched ”Who told you to say that?”

Slamming his fists in the door “No one, I wanna learn magic so that I can help people!”

As I was pushed my body was taken aback at that statement “Wouldn’t you rather go back home and till the fields?” 

Quieting down “I don’t have one, my folks died to the plague, that’s why I wanna learn magic.”

He must want to make elixirs, during the plagues the king would have rather the entire fall than to accept help from witches and the sort. It’s clear as day that this kid isn’t working for anybody and not trying to lure me out. My heart sinks a little and sympathizes but I can't because his kind doesn’t deserve my kindness not after all that’s endured and lost because of them. If the situation were reversed I’d be laughed at and condemned.

Turning away from the door “Go away, there isn’t a witch here!” 

“Bu-”

“You heard me, leave me alone!” 

He knocked on the door for what felt like an hour straight until finally giving up. Thinking about it if the bells didn’t go off then probably means that the sprites didn’t see him as a threat. I continued to get on with my day and to do my experiments, even though it was quiet and peaceful but my gaze kept shifting towards the door. 

After what felt like an eternity it eventually turned to night and it was time to call it a day. I put my things away and went towards my bed. As I lifted up my sheets my attention turned towards the door once more, my heart ached, the thought of him still being there kept filling my head. Looking back at my bed my arms slumped and I sighed as I made my way towards the door. A boy hit the back of his head against the wooden floor as I eruptly flung open the door. 

Our gazes met as I looked down and lied on the floor, I took a deep sigh “I don’t take apprentices but you can stay the night.”

His eyes shimmered as he got up and moved towards the center, “So,  I can stay here then!”

Shutting the door behind I corrected “You can stay the night but maybe another day if you’re good you could stay another night.”

“Thank you so much uhh Mrs. Witch-lady”

Erking “It’s Betsy, and you?”

“Gils!” he smiled ear to ear

I really shouldn’t be doing this, I know deep down this kid will give me nothing but headaches. I set down some extra blankets across the floor as a makeshift bed for him. I flick some water on the ceiling bars and the orange light that illuminated the room begins to soften and soften till eventually the room is covered in black.

“Goodnight Mrs. Betsy”

It feels like my heart skipped a beat. I'm reminded of when my mother laid me down in bed and would kiss me on the top of my head telling me goodnight.

“Err goodnight Gils”

The room goes silent, from now my peaceful days will be replaced with uncertainty. I also need to think about what to give the sprites as an apology for my remarks.