Will You Accept My Quest

For a girl smacked upside the head, she was surprisingly calm seeing a stranger. Perhaps too calm by my measure. I turned and began to pull on the door handle with force.

“Sorry to disturb you, I’ll be on my way.” Despite my efforts, the door wouldn’t budge.

“It’s a push door, honey.”

With what I’m sure was a scarlet face, the door squeaked as it freed me. The witch giggled before making a painful gasp that sounded like it should have come with a wince. Turning back, I saw her pressing her head. “Before you go, could you grab two of those bottles from the kitchen?”

I followed her finger to a nook on the side with a sufficiently quaint kitchen. Above a wood-burning stove sat the windowsill pie that drew me close, and to the left of that window was a shelf lined with what looked like a carbonated cherry drink.

As if to prevent me from running, the door slowly shut.

“Why can’t you get it?” I reached for the handle, but two eyes opened above it and glared at me.

“I would, but I’m afraid the whole room is spinning. I’m not sure what happened, but I seem to be a little unwell.”

There was not a hint of sarcasm in her innocent voice. The guilt hit like a truck. I looked back to the door handle, which now stuck a tongue out from the keyway in an expression I could only see as mockery, and gritted my teeth.

“Okay, but I’m leaving after that!”

I couldn’t tell what she was thinking from that; the fact she was in pain likely covered up some body language—hopefully, my own pain was aiding me as well. Slowly, I dragged my feet across the floor and procured two mysterious bottles. I kept far enough away that we each had to stretch our arms more than our pain made comfortable in order to hand one over. When she was settled back on her couch. She twisted the top off and held it up like making a toast.

“Well, drink up!” I looked at the bottle the witch didn’t take.

“Hell no!”

She frowned, shrugged, and drank down the drink. A radiant array of sparkles washed over her body, and she eagerly jumped up and stretched. Seeing that the lump on her head vanished, and the burst of energy. I made a face like I was about to eat Brussels sprouts and chugged it. Turns out it was strawberry flavored.

Doctors would hate her for this one simple trick. The pain across my body immediately vanished, and I think I felt better than before entering this strange world. I might have even smiled briefly, but I quickly checked myself back into reality.

The witch strode close, hands behind her back, and leaned forward. She was strangely the same height as me, which I know hadn’t been the case before. Hopefully, this potion didn’t make you shrink.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better!” She spun and moved to the window with such grace I might have assumed I was seeing things. The window was gently shut and latched without a sound, and she grinned at me. “Now we can talk a little more freely.”

“Huh?”

“Some of the trees have ears, you see.”

“Yeah, and eyes, and a mouth, and so on. I saw those…. I really ought to get going.”

“Go where honey?” She pulled a chair out and sat like she was mounting a horse, resting her arms on the top rail and head further on top.

“Uh, anywhere but… I’m trying to figure out how to get out of these woods.”

“So home?” She tilted her head to the side slightly but didn’t break contact with the rest of her arms.

“Yeah, home.” I sighed. I suppose I didn’t have anything to lose, “do you know where to go?”

“Why I can send you home! Howev–”

I practically charged up to her and shouted, “Then send me right now!”

“However, dear, my magic has been stolen, and I will need a hero like you to recover it.”

“Alright, I’m out. I see the door over there. Have a good rest of your day!”

Her tone came through playful, “Oh, you would just run out on the helpless girl you hit with a rock?”

I stopped my power walk to the door and groaned.

“So, you were just pretending not to know? You’re not selling yourself as trustworthy?”

She grinned. “I didn’t know until the house just informed me. It has ears and eyes, too.”

On cue, the rest of the house seemed to come alive; drawers opened and closed, objects flew past my head, and the floor shifted to push me closer to the witch. Everything settled when I stopped in front of her. “Would it help convince you if I told you that the fate of many worlds were at stake?”

“Not at all.”

She frowned. “You’re a bit grumpy for a hero.”

“I’m not a hero, just an ordinary person who knows his place.”

The witch made a fluttering sigh and shook her head.

“Regardless, honey, I can still send you home if you help me. Think of it… like a fantasy quest; I believe you come from a place with video games.”

“Yes, but I never waste my time with drivel like that. Why play games when you could read a book?”

The witch’s smile faded, and she rubbed her temples like a large lump still resided on her head. I wasn’t stupid enough to keep trying her patience, nor was I impractical enough to leave her offer standing. It was a simple enough request, go and find her magic, and perhaps if I found another way out on the way, I could simply slide away to safety. I cleared my throat and addressed the girl. “Nevertheless, I see where you are coming from, and I am not stupid enough to throw an opportunity down the drain. What sort of… quest… do you want me to partake in?”

Her mood must have lightened since she smiled once again. Pushing up from the chair, the witch crossed the room like her steps were part of a serene dance. She pulled a book from the center of a stack, and the top ones fell down neatly as the pages flipped open. I moved close as she beckoned me and eyed where her finger landed.

“That’s a pretty ugly drawing. What is this supposed to be, a tower?”

The witch’s cheeks blew up like balloons as she snapped the book shut. She turned her head away from me.

“Anyway, that is your destination, a tower at the end of the forest where you will find my stolen magic.” She sat the book on top of the stack. Turning back my way with a normal face, she drew close. With her face close to mine, I couldn’t help but stare into the odd crystalline eyes. “For now, put out your hands.”

I did as told without a second thought and felt weight instantly. A sheathed sword lay across my palms.

“I don’t like the fact you think I need this.”

The witch giggled and showed me how to tie it to my waist. I tried pulling it out for fun, but the blade seemed locked.

“The first place you will encounter is the tar pits. I trust you will make the right decision then.”

I wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but I felt the house begin to move me across the floor. In a flash, I was outside, and the door slammed shut.

“Oh, sorry about that,” the witch’s head popped out of the window, “the house sometimes ends conversations on its own. Anyway, you have what you need. Good luck, brave hero!”

Her pointed hat was the last thing to vanish inside the house, and as the window shut, I was suddenly standing in an empty clearing. If not for the sword still at my waist, I would have figured I imagined the whole thing. I looked ahead into the trees, unsure which way would to go, and trudged in the direction that felt right.