Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 07:53:11 MDT From: Robyn Meta Herrington Subject: SUB:CONTEST: Witches good, bad, indifferent Any critiques to ME rmherrin@acs.ucalgary.ca I'll pass them along to the authors. Robyn-------------------------------------------------- Witches good, bad, indifferent "Hey Lady, are you a good witch or a bad witch?" The creature was green, with four arms, and with blood painted blood around his mouth. It was chewing something brown and squishy. Its nose also had green slime running down it. Not painted on, I realized. "Twick or Tweet," a furry bumblebee lisped. Her antennae wobbled and she gave me a big smile. She was round and had sturdy legs in black tights. Her nose wasn't running, and she smiled. Space creature shook his bag and stared at me, waiting for an answer. I reached into the big caldron by the door and took out a full sized candy bar, I shoved my left hand down to the bottom and grabbed a smooth stone. I brought both hands out of the cauldron and smiled at the bumble bee, I let them see me drop the candy bar into her bag. I shoved my left hand into Space Creature's bag and let the stone drop with a satisfying thunk, it smiled. "Why don't you decide?" I backed away from them, closed the door and watched them walk down the sidewalk towards their mother. Bumble bee was nodding her head and saying something I couldn't hear. Space Creature was rooting through his bag. He stopped and turned to look back at my door. I smiled and waved at him through the window. I took off my tall pointed witches hat and hung it on the willow wand broom leaning next to the candy caldron. I get a kick out of the outdated witch symbols and images. As a matter of fact I do have a caldron I use, but its nothing like the plastic one full of candy. I walked into my living area, which I had decorated for the holiday with a pumpkin, some corn, and brightly colored leaves. I had them sitting on my alter in the center of the room. The cats were nervously pacing the room, too much ringing of doorbells for them. They were a skittish bunch. I sat down in front of the alter and lit the first of many candles sitting there. Bright orange for happiness and fulfillment. I stared into the flame for a few minutes and saw James. He was poking his head out from behind the couch, he meowed pitifully. "Hey, sweet baby, how'r you doing? Are the rest of the group treating you okay? Hey, girls, how are you treating the new guy?" Dark furry shapes slowly emerged from hiding. They gathered around the alter, watching me, waiting. The door bell rang again and all the heads turned toward the sound. James pulled back under the couch. I got up and looked at my watch, it was after 8:30, I could turn out the porch light pretty soon. It was getting late for the little kids to still be out. Once the porch light was out, and the line of plighted pumpkins put out, it was a scary walk to my front door. I have an old black iron fence around the property, rickety, but still standing, ans with the dried ivy and grape vines clinging to it, downright spooky after dark. I have heard that some people still think the place is haunted. But those are just stories. Probably started from the time my old aunts lived here. But they were good witches. They made gentle magic and when they died the place came to me. Along with their "cookbooks" and it is from them I got my caldron. I moved most of their stuff up to the tiny storage room built out over the eves upstairs. I don't go upstair except to clean and check for damage. The cats do though. Funny James didn't hide up there. But then, I don't think he ever was upstairs. I opened the front door and was faced with three late middle school aged kids. Definitely time to douse the lights. They were all in a slash and maim theme, blood decorating their rags, a fake head under one arm, a second head growing out a shoulder, fangs, fingernails, giving the holiday a bad name in general. I reached over and plopped my hat on my head and folded my arms in front of me. I was wearing a long white wool robe with a hood, and I had a Celtic cross around my neck, dropping to below my breast. My hair was wild and frizzy, flat black almost the same color as my hat. The kids stared at me. I waited. "err, Trick or Treat," they chorused. "What's the trick?" I asked Silence. "Come on lady, I gotta be home by 9:30, and my bags not full yet. Trick or treat!" The one with the second head was speaking. "I opt for a trick," i said. I reached into my caldron and pulled out three candy bars. I slid my left hand over them and changed them into spiders. I held them out wiggling, right above their bags. "Jeez lady, you really are a witch, a bad one!" Ole two heads commented. I laughed and waved at the spiders which became candy bars again, "Don't you want your treats?" They were running down the walk and I followed them out and all the way to the fence. I stopped and opened up one candy bar, and took a big bite. Then I shut the gate, and walked back up the porch, blowing out the jack-o-lanterns as I went. I turned at the porch and surveyed the night one last time. Good, a fog was rolling in. I went in, shut the door and turned off the porch light. Now was time to really celebrate Halloween. I took off my hat and shoes. Then I went back to my alter and sat down. I lit another candle, black this time. I relaxed, took a deep breath and began to call the four directions and cast my circle. The cats came slowly, one at a time. They freely crossed the circle and stared at me and the burning candles with wide open eyes. I took a deep breath and looked towards the couch James was still hiding under. I burned a thin braid of mine and James' hair. He had never been careful. He had never taken me seriously either. "Okay, so you're a witch. Do you fly on a broomstick?" "No, James, but I do fly." "Do you wear a pointy hat" "No, James, just as a joke." "So, are you a good witch or a bad witch?" "You tell me honey. The vet was amazed that I had taken in another stray. With the cost of nutering so high. Am I a good witch or a bad witch, honey? Or am I just indifferent?" ============================================================ -- -------+++++++-------+++++++ +++++++-------+++++++------- Robyn Herrington Operations Manager, Microforms Services University of Calgary, MacKimmie Library Ph: (403)220-6903 http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rmherrin rmherrin@acs.ucalgary.ca -------+++++++-------+++++++--------------+++++++-------+++++++-------