Read Into the Wood | Tapas Web Community

Day One, First Moon, Hunting Year Five Hundred and Four

There are witches in the wood. That's what Mama said. She made us promise not to go there. Vowed that she will give us a good, hard smack if we break our promise. But I'm not afraid of Mama's smacks. Jacob Wilder hits way meaner than she does, and half the time, she chickens out on her threat and makes us clean up after the pigs instead. It's not much of a punishment because we have to scoop the pig pen every few days anyway. I don't really enjoy cleaning it because it's so smelly, but my brother, Michael, doesn't mind. He says the scent is interesting, kind of like sniffing old socks. I don't really get why he would want to do that, but that's his business - well, maybe it's a little bit my business because it's my job to wash those socks, but they are so rancid that I really wish it wasn't.

Sometimes, I sit on the stone wall at the edge of the field and watch the wood. I imagine the wood watching back, but I've never seen anything worth my attention. I've seen a fox and a few coyotes, but definitely no witches. Michael says, maybe they're witches in disguise, but I doubt it. Witches wouldn't be scared of me the way the wild animals are.