This year for the first time we are sharing several of our short story submissions publicly! Please enjoy the following story by high school student Hannah Follmar:
It was dark, empty yet not cold; dark until there was a light, a golden flash, just a small speck at first, flickering like the flame of a candle. She extended her hand into the void, grabbing at the warm energy but it darted away, leaving a trail of shimmering gold in its wake. Without hesitating, her feet moved of their own volition, chasing the light as it grazed lightly past her
head until it became a dance, calculated yet free, orchestrated by both. As the dance grew faster, closer, a practiced whirl of steps and turns, she reached for the flashing light, it’s warmth radiating onto her hand, the feather soft edges brushing the tips of her fingers -
“Willow! That’s enough for today.” Willow’s eyes snapped open. She blinked, the blurry world around her coming into focus, the sun beaming lazily through the window to her left, the small familiar figure hunched above her, and the walls, every inch lined with plants of any shape and size imaginable.
“Grandma! Why-”
“No progress today I see. It’s an Esbat today. I thought that it’s power might help but apparently not.”
“But-”
“Seeing as it didn’t, I’ll expect you to stay up tonight past festivities and work, perhaps the Goddess will decide to aid you, lord knows you need it.”
“Grandma listen-”
“I’ve honestly begun to wonder if you’re magically inclined at all-”
“GRANDMA! I almost touched it this time! I was so close! You pulled me away!” Willow finally yelled, standing up, hands clenched at her sides. Her grandmother stopped for a moment before her old face broke into a warm smile which Willow’s face soon mimicked, both women beaming.
“Willow dear. That’s wonderful. Maybe we can make a witch out of you yet.”
Esbats were always special. There were only 13 a year, each marking the night of a full moon, and so in Willow’s house they were something to look forward to, a day where a witch's power was at her fullest. With Willow’s cheery disposition, deep brown skin with deep hazel eyes, and her face splattered with freckles, Willow was much more suited to the favor of the sun, it’s light seemingly making her glow as she ran across the meadow behind their old house, overtaken completely by vines. For as long as Willow had been alive they’d lived in the country, isolated in a clearing in front of a vast wood. Their family was made of women and girls, mother’s, daughters, sisters, friends. It was their coven, where you were born and raised a witch. As Willow jogged through the field towards their garden, her endless sea of chestnut curls bouncing, she grinned. Tonight was going to be fun.
Contrary to her grandma’s belief, Willow might as well be a magical genius, as her prediction for the night was spot on. There were of course the boring parts, but once they were through honoring the moon, there was dancing and laughter and honey cake. As the celebration drew to a close, fires put out and tables cleared, Willow made for the door yawning, ready to sleep.
“Oh no you don’t witchlet. You’re staying outside tonight, remember?” Willow let out a deep sigh, weighing the odds of just running back into the house to her warm, soft, and very much not outside, bed.
“Really Grandma? Do I have to?” Her grandmother smiled at her and nodded in that way that nobody in the coven dared to disagree with. Willow groaned and turned around, slumping down onto a porch chair, pouting up at the moon. Her Grandma made her way inside, leaving Willow the only one still outside. A thin breeze brushed by, waving a lock of hair into her face, tickling her mouth and chin. Willow looked up at the sky, narrowing her eyes at the moon.
“I could be sleeping right now. If only you’d given me some magical ability.” She sighed. The more she stared, the more blurry the sky became. The stars started to swim together, becoming beams of dotted light against dark blue, moving slowly as her eyelids grew heavier. The moon stayed their master, large and unmovable, strong and full in the sky, the white of it’s stone surface gazing into the dark round of her pupils-
“What are you looking at?” Willow jumped, her gaze instantly snapping away from the sky. She stood up quickly, glancing around to find the source of the question, yet there was nobody there. She whipped her head around, sweeping left and right before she heard the voice again, soft with a touch or boredom. “Down here genius.” Willow, filled with conflicting emotions, let her eyes slowly travel down to the porch floor as she swallowed. On the wooden planks of the old porch was a black cat. She was small, with coarse ebony fur and a tiny pink nose. Her eyes were the only thing that set her apart from an ordinary cat really, as they were a bright, vibrant purple, well that and the fact that the voice was seemingly coming from her.
“I really don’t understand why it’s got you so fascinated. I mean, it looks the same as every other night,” the cat said in that same smooth voice, tail flicking. Willow gaped at her, then felt a wide grin spreading over her face. The cat tilted her head, confused at this reaction until Willow grabbed her with both hands, scooping her up to a surprised mew from the cat.
“ARE YOU MY FAMILIAR?!”
Ever since she was a child Willow had dreamed of a familiar. An animal that she had a bond with, and maybe someone who could help her understand and grow a connection with magic. Now here she was, a small black cat in her hands. Only, the cat wasn’t giving her a warm smile as she’d imagined, nor were familiars supposed to speak to you.
“Set me down wild child.” Quickly, Willow set the small cat down, crouching down next to her, eyes narrowed. “Why’re you looking at me like that?” Willow grinned at her.
“Well ‘cause you’re my familiar.”
“What?” Willow felt the grin start to fade from her face.
“You know. My familiar.” The cat tilted her head skeptically.
“Well I don’t know what that is, but I need your help. My body’s been stolen.” For a moment, Willow could do nothing but blink. It was weird enough that this cat was talking. Then again, Grandma had always said your familiar communicated with you, she’d just never specified how. The cat sighed. “I should start with introductions. My name’s Billi-”
“That’s a weird name for a cat.” Willow interjected.
“Well I’m not a cat.” Willow smirked and poked her nose, causing Billi to sneeze.
“You look like a cat to me.” Billi glared at her.
“Well I’m obviously a cat now, genius. I used to be a human though, just this morning.” Willow stopped giggling, confused.
“What?”
“I’ve been watching your family tonight. You guys are some kind of witches, right? So
you can help me! My body was taken by another witch in those woods and I-”
“Woah. I’m gonna cut you off there. That isn’t possible.” Billi looked unconvinced, despite Willow’s serious tone.
“You’re a witch. You should know this is possible, and that magic exists and all that crap.” Willow shook her head.
“Magic exists, but not, you know, that kind of magic. We channel energies and nature but it’s not like Harry Potter or something. Everybody knows that that kind of magic isn’t real.”
“Well I’m a talking cat. Explain that Miss Magic,” growled Billi. Willow thought for a second, but couldn’t come up with an explanation. Billi rolled her eyes then gracefully leapt off the porch in one swift bound. Paws lightly hitting the ground, she landed silently, making her way quickly into the night. Jumping up, Willow hurried to follow, catching up to her in just a few strides.
“So, you’ve decided to help me after all.” Billi growled, not pausing to look at her. Willow shrugged, mind reeling. She believed in nature and all things natural but this? This was plain weird. They strolled through the growing garden and a pale green meadow behind her house, full of short prickly grass and wildflowers. After a minute they reached the edge of the untamed woods, pine trees stretching as far as the eye could see up the peak in the distance, a tip of the mountains that they lived on. The woods were dark and as far as the coven was concerned, dangerous. Now that’s exactly where this strange talking cat was leading her.
“Hey! Billi, wait.” Billi paused, finally looking at her. “We can’t go in there.” “Why not.” Billi’s ear flicked.
“Well um… Grandma says you shouldn’t go too far into the woods and not to go at night. She said especially don’t go into the woods alone. It’s dangerous.”
Billi sighed. “I guess that means you better come then. I’m already breaking two of those rules, you shouldn’t let me break the third.”
Willow opened her mouth to protest but found she could say nothing to rebuke the small feline. Scowling, she followed Billi, her human footprints large compared to the tiny ones of her companion. “I’m Willow by the way.” She mumbled as they walked.
For a while there was nothing between them but a symphony of crickets and the stillness of night air with its signature muffling quality. Willow rubbed her thumbs together, biting her bottom lip at the silence. It wasn’t exactly awkward so much as it was just...tense.
“So uh, Billi right? How’d you end up here? I mean, it’s pretty secluded.” Her voice broke into the cool air between them. Billi’s black ears twitched.
“I was on a hike with my school. It was boring so I decided to ditch. Went off the trail and wound up at the witch's house.”
“Right, and by witch you mean-”
“A real witch, not like what you guys do apparently. You all just seem to be in some kind of weird religion. I mean I’d heard of pagans and stuff before but I haven’t believed in magic since I was like five. I had gotten lost in the woods and I was getting worried the bus would
leave without me. That’s when I came upon her house. Pretty normal looking except for the amount of candles and junk outside her house but I just thought she was a hippy or something. When I knocked to ask for help it was an old lady, and I mean like ancient. After that all I remember is blacking out and waking up on the front porch like this, staring at my body inside of her house, waltzing around like she owned it.” Billi’s hair bristled a little at that, a growl creeping into her voice. Willow nodded somewhat dubiously.
“I still don’t understand-”
“Quiet!” Billi suddenly hissed, “we’re here.” Willow instantly froze and ducked behind a tree. Billi rolled her eyes. Slowly, Willow peeked out, eyes widening. In a small clearing
between the trees was a log cabin of sorts. In front was a standard enough herb garden, filled to the brim with plants she often used in day to day spells. Yet some that she couldn’t identify.
The porch was indeed scattered with lit candles and sigils carved into the wood, but not ones she was familiar with. The beautifully drawn shapes radiated something dark, darker than she’d ever worked with. Yet what caught her eye the most was a figure, sitting on a porch chair and humming an eerie tune. She looked about Willow’s age, about 14 and was slender as well as small, significantly shorter than her. Her skin was pale enough that it nearly glowed in the moonlight, contrasting with the sleek ebony of her hair, straight and almost half way down her back. She was absolutely beautiful. Turning to Billi she whispered, “is that you?”
“Yeah. I mean, it's my body at least.”
“So then, what’s the plan?”asked Willow, squatting down. Billi turned to her, girl and cat now eye level. Billi flicked her tail, a thin smile crossing her face.
“That’s where it’s up to you, witch girl. I’m just a cat but you know magic, right? You have to force her to give me my body back.” Willow blinked.
“Billi, I’ve already told you, I can’t do all that stuff.”
“You can. She can and she’s a witch. That means that you can do this too. Now we have
to-”
“No.” Willow looked away from Billi, feeling an all to familiar guilt creeping up in her
stomach. “No, I can’t. Billi, I can’t even do the most basic magic. As far as my family is concerned, I’m basically a magical failure.” Of course she was a failure, and now Billi would be stuck like this and it was all her fault.
“Hey.” Willow looked up in surprise. On her knee lay a small paw as dark purple eyes bore into hers. “You can do this. You have to try.” At those words, courage blossomed in her chest and a new sense of confidence broke over her.
“Alright. Let’s go,” she said, standing up with a grin, and for once, Billi returned it. Then, to Willow’s horror, Billi rounded the edge of the tree, jumping straight into the witches eyesight and hissed. After a stunned second, Willow, stumbling out from behind the tree, followed.
“Remember me?” growled Billi. The witch looked confused for a second then sneered, standing up.
“Ah yes. You’re the former owner of this body I’m inhabiting. How’s life as a cat?” Billi’s fur bristled as Willow stepped forward, puffing her chest out trying her best to look intimidating.
“Hey uh... give her body back...uh... now.”
“Oh? Who’s your young friend?” The witch slowly walked forward and Willow felt her palms start to sweat in fear. She pulled her hands up in a protective position.
“Don’t come any closer or...or else!”
“Or else what, little girl?” The witch leered at her. “I have been alive for centuries longer than you could ever dream of. Do you really think I’m scared of you? Please. I’ll give you one chance to leave now, otherwise I’ll use you both.” Willow shivered and stepped back as the witch reached out one pale hand towards them, her lifeless smile out of place on such a young girl's face. The witch withdrew her hand with a frown as her eyes moved down to the little black cat.
“I thought I was being kind to give you another body to inhabit girl. You know, I was going to use that cat. She wasn’t cheap to come by, a pure bred like that. I suppose I shouldn’t have bothered though.” Quick as a bolt of lightning, her hands shot out and gripped Billi’s fur, pulling her up off the ground. Willow lunged towards her but it was too late. Suspended by the scruff of her neck Billi struggled in the witches grasp. “Well,well, well.” The witch cackled as she ran her finger down the soft fur on the small cat's stomach as Billi let out a somewhat muffled sound, close to a scream. “Why did I ever give up such a specimen? Your blood will be
perfect in my next ritual, and who knows? I might just turn your fur into a satchel or something-” “HEY!” The witch’s eyes narrowed as her focus shifted slowly. Willow stood, fists
clenched, a slight tremble in her jaw. “Put her down!” The witch sneered.
“Or what, little girl. I can sense it, you know. You live with that coven down the hill right? You though,” she brought one hand away from Billi and to Willow’s utter horrified amazement purple flames began to bloom in the palm of her hand. “You have no magical talent, do you?” Willow froze and the witch laughed softly. Fury surged through Willow as she pulled her right hand back with a yell, her heart racing and her palm warming. The witch flinched, taken off guard as Willow closed her eyes, pushing her hands out with all of her energy. One, two, three, four, the seconds slowly ticked by in silence.Willow opened her eyes. Nothing. Nothing at all. Her stomach plunged as the witch started to cackle. Willow sunk down to her knees, shame rushing through her. She’d worked and prayed and studied and yet, after everything, nobody had answered her call. She was still a failure.
“Absolutely powerless,” the witch crooned, “but don’t worry. We’ll find a use for you. But first...” The witch drew something small and silver from her pocket and Willow’s breath stopped. In her hand was some kind of ceremonial blade, it’s hilt decorated heavily with black onyx gems. It glowed softly in the moonlight as she lowered it to Billi’s throat before the little cat could even draw her last breath-
Inexplicably, Willow felt a warmth in the core of her stomach. It felt as though hot molten lava had always been there inside her, sleeping until it’s time to come alive, which it did now. Opening her mouth, Willow let it explode from the pit of her stomach.
“Fàs gu luath, Fàs gu fallain, Fàs gu cridheil!” The witch froze in disbelief and Billi’s eyes widened as the ground started to shift, making a low rumble as the trembles slowed to stillness. For a second, nobody moved.The witch grinned, “what-”
A vine shot from the ground, grabbing onto the witch's face and smashing her forcefully into the ground. Freed, Billi jumped towards Willow as the witch screamed.
“WILLOW! Willow you’re doing it!” Billi cried. As if in a trance, Willow closed her fist and the vine snaked towards the witches head, pulling her up by the hair before roughly
smashing her once again towards the ground with a painful sounding thud. Billi winced. “That’s my body! For the love of god please don’t destroy it.” Willow winced.
“Sorry.” Taking her best guess, she moved her index finger and pinkie, gesturing towards the witch’s neck. The vines hoisted the witch into the air, stretching each of her limbs outwards like a starfish, a tendral curling around the discarded knife, holding it up to the witch. Willow grinned.
“Now who’s feeling powerless.” The witch snarled at her, struggling against the vines but they remained strong. Willow stepped close, Billi following close behind with a smile. “I’ve caught you. Now give her that body back.” The witch stopped fighting and emitted a cold humourless laugh. “Make me. You can’t slit my throat; the girl will be killed. So make me, little girl.” Willow turned to Billi, panicked, yet realized the cat’s eyes were fixed on the porch. With
a few quick strides she was there and had caught something in her mouth, dragging it back to
Willow.
“Willow!” She spat a small book onto Willow’s worn leather boots and she frowned at it. “Her spellbook! You can use this to turn me back!” The witches' smile vanished, replaced with a touch of fear.
“Pathetic children you wouldn’t dare-” A vine wrapped around her mouth as Willow stared down at Billi.
“I...I mean uh I don’t know. I’ve never done a successful spell before. What if I mess up! What if I hurt you?” Willow stuttered, the familiar feeling of doubt rushing in. Billi wrapped her tail around Willow’s leg.
“You won’t. I trust you Willow. You can do this.” Swallowing hard, Willow nodded, flipping open the book to the marked page. Taking a deep breath she stuck out her hand.
“Alright, here goes nothing. S.... sean gu òg, òg leig mi saor, agus thoir do bhliadhnaichean, de bheatha dhomh.” As she spoke, a sweeping cold wind started to swirl around them, wrapping both the little black cat besides her and the girl in the vines, whose eyes were widening with fear. Willow continued, more confident this time, “Sean gu òg, òg leig mi saor, agus thoir do bhliadhnaichean, de bheatha dhomh.” The wind blew faster and faster until she could no longer see. There was just swirling air and the book against her narrowed eyes, watering from the pressure. Taking a deep breath, she closed her hand into a fist and let out a
yell. “DE BHEATHA DHOMH!” There was a scream and a flash of purple light before Willow’s gaze went dark, her hands clutching the spell book.
There was a feeling of fur on her nose, prickly and irritable, making her want to-
“HaCHOO!” Willow sat up from a sneeze, rubbing her eyes as the world came into focus. Sitting on her chest was a small black cat, staring up at her with incredibly ordinary dark eyes. Willow’s heart dropped. “Billi?”
“Over here, and in a lot of pain I might add. Did you really have to beat me up so bad?” Sitting next to Willow was the girl she’d just been fighting, except something was different. Her face was warmer and spread over it was a mischievous grin, going all the way up to her now
deep violet eyes. Willow reached her hand out, touching her face without thinking. “Your eyes!” Billi shrugged, a slight blush warming her cheeks.
“I dunno. Must be a side effect.” “And the witch?”
“No idea. From what I can tell, this is just a normal black cat now.” Willow shivered. “Well let's get out of here then,”she said. Billi stood, reaching out her hand. “Agreed.” Smiling, Willow took it and pulled herself up. As they walked away, the little black cat chirped a friendly goodbye.
They reached Willow’s house as the sun was starting to just peak out over the edge of the mountains. For a moment, the two girls stood there, awkwardly silent until Billi broke it. “What you did back there, you were incredible Willow.” Willow rubbed her neck, grinning
“I wouldn’t say incredible-”
“Much better than that nasty old witch!” The two girls laughed.
“So...what are you gonna do now?” Willow asked as they sat down on the porch, girl and girl instead of girl and cat. Billi shrugged.
“I dunno. I probably ought to go home. Do you think your parents would give me a ride? Preferably not on a broomstick” Willow nodded with a laugh.
“Don’t worry, we have a car. You’ll...you’ll visit again though, right?”
“Of course dummy.” The two girls shared a smile as a door opened behind them. “Willow! Surprised you stayed out all-wait! My goddess! Who is that with you! Why are
you both covered in dirt? What happened!” Willow stood up and grinned at her grandmother who was standing aghast, gaping at Billi.
“You might wanna sit down, I have a lot to tell you.”
