In The Arms of The Witch

Once upon a time
at the bottom of the world
or the top – depending on which
way up you are standing,
There lived a little girl.

Her cheeks were rosy in the sun.
Her hair was brown and her eyes big.
Her eyes grew bigger when she was excited
or when she listened to stories.
The little girl liked listening to stories.

One day, on the way home from school,
the girl met a witch.
At first the girl was very afraid.
She had been warned not to talk to strangers.
(But her teacher at school taught her that
sometimes strangers are just friends
you haven’t yet met.)
The witch smiled so widely at the little girl:
“Molo ntombazana.”
“Molo Gogo.”
The old woman gave the little girl a big hug.
She was so soft and the little girl felt safe.
This was a good witch.

The witch had a lot of stories to tell.
The little girl visited her often
and sat at her feet.
She liked to listen to the witch’s stories.
The witch was happy
someone wanted to hear her stories
for many of them were old
and soon to be lost.

When her Ima and Tati wondered
where their little girl was,
usually it was that
she was visiting the good witch.
They were happy
their little girl had made a new friend –
as long as she was home
in time for dinner.

One evening, as the little girl stood up to go home,
everything started spinning.
She was very dizzy
and had to sit down again.
“Don’t worry,” said the witch.
“You are protected by the
star of your people.”
“The Star of David?”
The little girl couldn’t understand
how the witch knew
of their special star.
“Yes,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

One day, it was time
for the old woman to return to the land
where her stories come from.
The little girl grew very sad.
“You can come visit me there,”
said the witch.

The little girl travelled far to visit her friend.
She crossed a desert,
climbed up and down mountains, and
was wet from swimming across the Orange River.
That river didn’t look orange to me,
the girl thought to herself.

She was very happy to meet
the family of the old witch.
She went to a farm with them
where they saw cows and
birds with one hundred eyes!
The little girl’s eyes grew wider
as the old woman showed her
the places where the stories happened.
“That is where the big fire was!”
“That is where the snakes live!”
“That is where I pushed my sister in the water!”
They both laughed.

And then something terrible happened.
While the little girl wasn’t there,
two bad strangers came into her parent’s house.
They were not invited.
And they wouldn’t go away
when Ima asked.
Those two men did horrible things
to Ima and Tati.
They were hurt very badly.
And then the bad men ran away.

The little girl told the old witch
what had happened.
“I have to leave now
to go to my Ima and Tati.”
The witch was very sad for her friend.
“I will light a candle for you.”

The next time the girl saw her parents
they were in hospital.
It was already nighttime.
It was very scary for her.
The machines made bogeyman noises
and all the people looked like zombies.
Other little girls
were sitting on their mommies laps, crying.
I wish I could sit on my Ima’s lap,
thought our little girl.
She longed for the safe, soft hug of the old woman.

She had to be very brave
when she saw her Ima.
She opened the door very slowly.
The light in the room was blue.
There were flowers everywhere.
Her mother was sleeping.
She woke up when the little girl walked in.
The little girl gasped. She tried not to cry.
My Ima’s been turned into a monster!
Where’s my Ima?!

“It’s okay my child. It’s me.
It’s your Ima. Don’t worry
this is just a mask.
The doctors will take it off
when I get better.
I will get better soon
with lots of hugs.”
The little girl was very brave and
went to give her Ima a big hug.
Her Ima felt safe in the
strong arms of her daughter.
“Tell me about your visit
to the witch,” Ima asked.
The little girl was excited to share
about the hole in the mountain
and the bridge over the river
but she could see
her Ima was tired.
The moon was full through the window.
The little girl closed the curtains and said,
“Tomorrow, Ima. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

She went home
to the big house on the koppie
under the jacaranda tree
with her Tati
who was better and bandaged.
She was very brave
and stayed awake all night
to protect her hurt father.
The baddies must have been
scared of her because
they never came back.

For three nights
the girl did not sleep.
And for three days
she did not eat.
She was very busy preparing the house
for Ima’s return.
She gathered food and flowers.
She cleaned the floors.
She put away all that had fallen
from the cupboards.
All day long
people who loved her
and her Tati and her Ima called.
The old woman also called.

That was the last time
the little girl spoke to the old witch.

Many nights, as she lay awake,
she thought of things she could
ask the woman.
Will I be safe?
Will my family be safe?

She never did ask the witch.
Instead, she and her Ima and Tati
built gates around the house.
They learned new protection calls
and new prayers.
They also built gates around their hearts.
In this way they did all they could
to make themselves safe.

Until one night, the little girl remembered
what the old witch had said
about the Star of David.
“Don’t worry,” the witch said.
“You are safe.”
The tired girl smiled.
She yawned very big,
closed her eyes, and
fell straight to sleep.
She dreamed she was
in the arms of
the big soft witch.

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Tags:

fairy, home, safety, sangoma, stories, story, violence and witch