The Witch of the Abandoned Streets - Part 2

 ​Part 2

Little drops of sadness appear in the girl's eyes as she asks her how the spell can be broken. Surely there's a way, there always is. But before she has the chance to answer, the door opens. The old shopkeeper peeks out, asking the witch to step aside and leave the girl alone. It is the first time he bothers to look at her; it's the first time he isn't ignoring her. But his stare is hideously ordinary, just like all the other stares. The round moon-like face, prolonged banana nose, and silent smile vanish in the haze. The familiar fear and aversion appear, instead. He invites the girl in. It's cold outside and he can help her choose a special chocolate inside. The girl looks at the witch and asks her if she can come inside as well and help her choose a candy. She had almost never eaten candies before and she doesn't know what to choose. The witch tries to smile at the girl, but instead of a smile appears some sort of hybrid creature, half spasm half smile. The spell doesn't enable her to smile. The girl takes her hand and leads her into the store, but the old man holds them back. He can't let the witch go inside. It's not a place for people of her sort. She'd probably steal from him and god knows how dangerous she really is. The girl tells him that if he won't let the witch in, she too would leave. At last, the old man complies. He walks beside the girl, showing her the exhibit of the enchanted forest and accompanies her alongside the candy-filled shelves. It is warm in the store and the sweet smells seize the witch. She hadn't smelled such great scents for a long time. She lumbers behind the old man and the girl, listening, together with the girl, to the man's explanations. "Here, in this jar, are chocolate fudge balls and here," he points at the blue jar, just beside it, "are caramelized almonds."

The old man offers her to taste some sweets, so she would know what flavor to choose, but the girl shakes her head and explains that she had promised her mother to only pick one piece of candy. The old man smiles and promises that she doesn't need to worry, he won't tell. The girl keeps on shaking her head.

The witch doesn't understand her. It is almost impossible to leave the old man's enchanted world with only one piece of candy. Were she to pick out only one piece of candy, what would it be? She realizes that she doesn't even remember what is her favorite candy. The girl turns to her again and asks her to choose a candy, whatever she wants, but without telling her what she chose. The girl quickly covers her eyes with her tiny hands. The witch tries to explain that she doesn't even remember what chocolate tastes like, that it would be better if the girl chose herself. But the girl wouldn't hear it, her small hands still covering her eyes and her back turned to the witch, just like in hide-and-seek.

Being left with no choice, the witch examines the shelves, going from one to the other. She glances in the girl's direction. She doesn't even try to peek like most children would. The witch tries to remember what her favorite candy as a child was, but the spell is too strong. Dark chocolate with nuts? No. Strawberry-filled white chocolate? Not quite. A white-chocolate-bellied hedgehog with sweet cigarette spines catches her eye. The hedgehog it is! She asks the girl to open her eyes and points at the hedgehog. The girl jumps up and down for joy. The chosen hedgehog is gently placed on the counter and the old man puts it inside a sealed brown bag. The girl asks the old man the price of the hedgehog and smiles when she understands the coins in her pocket are enough. The girl opens the bag, looks inside and takes out the hedgehog. She gently divides it into two halves and hands one of them to the witch.

The door of the shop swings wide open and brings in the cold winter wind. The hasty mother approaches the counter, holding small bags with gold-plated names of famous jewelry designers. She looks disbelievingly at the witch of the abandoned streets and then at the indifferent old man behind the counter. She takes the brown bag out of the girl's hands, puts it on the counter, and grabs the girl with force, leading her out of the store. The witch, who is left inside the candy shop, looks beyond the display window. Out there, she sees the girl as she tries to release herself from her mother's grip, whose shouts are well heard even beyond the closed door. Tears are coming down from the girl's brown eyes and she stomps with her pink boot again, screaming at her mother that she still doesn't know how to break the spell. The witch hadn't told her yet. Her mother drags her along the street and they both disappear.

The old man asks her to leave. He didn't want to be blunt around the girl, but now that the girl is gone, it's time for her to leave as well. She doesn't want to cause any trouble and quietly steps out of the store. Outside, there isn't a sign of the girl and her mother. Even the scent of the wildflowers has evaporated by now.

The witch of the abandoned streets walks by herself, not taking her eyes off the injured chocolate hedgehog. She wanted to catch up with the girl and her hasty mother and return the hedgehog, but they were too fast, and now there is no telling where they are. The sky above is completely gray and the streets are emptier and more silent than ever. The cafés have brought all the chairs inside; the restaurants have already turned on the lights inside, the faces of the diners looking joyfully at their plates, not caring what's out there, in the dark streets; the food stands from the festival are gone and so is the music; the street artists who had presented their crafts to all of the onlookers, are not there any longer, and so are the visitors and the beggars, hoping to exploit the turmoil of the fair for a few extra bucks.

The night is falling as she heads back to the roofed bus stop. She looks around and searches for something to wrap herself with during the cold night. Tonight she isn't as lucky as the night before when she, at least, had some newspapers to cover herself with. She stares at the brown bag with the chocolate hedgehog in her hands. Although she's extremely hungry, she can't bring herself to eat it. She will look for the girl again, tomorrow. She will bring her the hedgehog, with both of its split parts.

The witch lies down on the bench, trying to fall asleep despite the cold wind blowing outside, but it's of no use. The memories awaken in her head and threaten to defeat her. Why isn't she able to forget it like she had forgotten so many other things? It has been six months now. No. It is far too early to come back home and there is no point either. They probably think she isn't alive anyway. She shakes her head and tries to think of something else. She remembers how the girl had looked at her. It was just like he used to look at her. Gentle raindrops start coming down from the sky. She imagines how the invisible dead make their way to her as the rain becomes stronger. Maybe they will take her with them this time, to him. She only barely swallows the lump in her throat and gives into the blessed darkness.

* Photo: pixabay.com