Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 4: Fly

            It was about a week later. I was busy scrubbing the cauldron while Winifred and Mary were away. Sarah stayed behind and decided that it would be fun to clean things with me, I guess.
     For the past week, Winifred and Mary had been worried about turning into dust whenever the sun came up. They'd hide in the closet until I said that the sun was up and that it was safe to come out. Sarah, however, hadn't worried about it once, and took to helping me as much as she could. Don't get me wrong, she's nice and all, but she's still a witch and she's still evil. But, we were also becoming kind of close.
When she had finished wiping off potion bottles with a rag , she started helping me scrub the cauldron.
After a while, we finished everything Winifred instructed us to do so we sat around.
Sarah began to hum. She seemed really joyful whenever Winifred and Mary left her behind. I had to say that even though she acted dumb when her sisters were around, when she was alone, she was quite pleasant company.
Cleaning for Winifred was hard work, but I truthfully didn't mind. It got me mostly on good terms with her, anyway.  I had somewhere to live other than with my mom and that's all I cared about.
The cottage was nice, although my bed was a bunch of old sheets thrown in the corner. It was better than being smacked for every small mistake I made. I mean, I was lucky if Winifred even looked at me when my work was finished. Most of the time, when she wasn't flying, either she and her sisters were busy potion brewing, or she was spending quality time with that book of hers.
I had of course stopped going to school. I mean, I was a slave. It's not as if Winnifred would allow me to just leave for sevenish hours a day, five days a week. Plus I figured that the more I avoided going in public, the less of a chance I had of cops finding me and taking me back to my parents.

Sarah sighed and sat in a chair.

"Sarah," I said. "What's it like to fly?" I asked.

Sarah smiled.
"I love it" she replied. "Even though I'm not very fast at it."
She began to play with the wrinkles in her skirt.
"Winnie's the fastest flyer of us all. Mary's the slowest," she teased.

"Is it hard? Learning to fly, I mean."

Sarah shook her head. "Once thou learn, it's not hard at all."

I nodded and sighed before looking toward the window.
"I would love to fly someday."
Sarah began to play with her hair for a few moments. I kept my gaze at the window. It was a nice November day out, though a little chilly. Ever since Winifred fixed the hole in the roof, the cottage had remained quite comfortable for both witches and common humans alike. Truth be told, I kind of admired the Sanderson Sisters. Being able to fly, and make things happen with a swish of your fingers must make life a whole lot simpler.

Sarah suddenly jumped up on her feet. "Perhaps thou can fly!" she cried.

I couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't be serious.

"Wait here!" she instructed excitedly.

She returned holding two brooms. Her wicker broom was in her left hand, and the sweeping broom was in her right. She took them both in one hand, and grabbed my wrist with the other. She pulled me outside.
Over on the left side of the cottage, near the trees was a stump. Sarah had me stand on top of it, and she handed me the sweeping broom. She then began to sweep my hair over my ears and over my back in a strange way. She then dropped her broom on the ground, and ran into the cottage. She returned with her cloak, which she button around my neck.

"Alright! Now. FLY!" she instructed.

I just stood there. Was Sarah really trying to get me to fly? This is ridiculous. I'm not a witch!

"Ugh, Sarah..."

Sarah bent over and retrieved her broom. "No, no, no. No talking. Just, fly."

I raised a brow. Did she really think that I could fly? There really was no phasing her, was there? I decided to just play along.
"Alright, Sarah, you got me. Now, how do I work this damn thing?" I asked.

She giggled, and held her broom up above her head. "Like this."

Amazingly, Sarah's feet began to float upward. I stared in awe as her feet raised high above my head. Then, she thrust the broom under her, and sat, floating. This made me jealous, but I couldn't bring myself to attempt. I wasn't a witch.

Sarah giggled. "Now, you try."

I shrugged. It was worth a try, I guess. I braced myself for utter disappointment. I raised the broom slowly, and envisioned myself floating. For a moment there, my stomach began to flutter. But, when I looked down, I was still atop the stump. I lowered the broom.
"It's no use, Sarah."

Sarah looked down at me, downcast, and she began to float towards the ground. She landed gracefully.

"I'm not a witch," I said finally. I unbuttoned her cloak and handed it to her. I took the broom and fled into the cottage. I couldn't be dissapointed. I knew that this was going to happen. Whenever something good happened to me, I always expected it to flourish and become the greatest thing in my life. My life was full of rejection. I couldn't fly even if I wanted to. I was a regular 17 year old girl, not a witch. A week ago, I didn't even believe in witches, now that I know they're real, I wanted to be one more than anything.
I put the broom away in the closet, and sat in the chair. Winifred's book sat on it's stand, about ten feet from me. It was just a book. It was the witches who contained the magic. I became bored, and I didn't have anything to do. I had no idea where Sarah went.
Soon after, she returned to the cottage with Winifred and Mary. They were all laughing about something. I took it that it was my failure to fly, unless Sarah hadn't told them. I turned my head away as they came in.

"Well, Kaytrina, the place looks much better," said Winifred.
"Marvelous job." I looked in her direction. She swirled her hand, and made a Clark bar appear.
"Your reward."

She handed it to me. "Thanks," I said quietly, taking it.

Winifred nodded, and made her way to her book. She slowly began flipping through pages.

"So, how was thy day, Sarah?" she asked.

Sarah laughed. "It was wonderful, Winnie! This morning, after you left, I went flying. I saw boys! Boys everywhere! And then I came back and helped Kaytrina clean. We cleaned the cauldron and the potion bottles, and a few other things," she said excitedly. "Oh! And then, I tried to teach Kaytrina how to fly!"

I tensed up. There it was. Surely it was going to be the end of me now. Thanks, Sarah.

Winifred stiffened and dark look overtook her face.
"And why would thou do that?"

Sarah cowered.
"Because," she whimpered. "She said she would love to learn how."

Winifred tensed even more, and made her hands into fists at her sides. She let out a low growl and zoomed over to me. She threw her hands violently onto the arms of the chair, and leaned into my face.
"Thou think she is a witch, dost she?" she interrogated.

I shook my head slowly. I was scared but I refused to show it.
"No, Winifred, I do not," I said plainly.
That was my usual coping skill when I was scared or upset. Just lose all emotion.

She growled again in my face.
"I do not believe thee!"
She leaned in closer.
"Well, well, well, if thou thinks she's a witch, why don't we see about that!"
She grabbed my sweater in two fists full of anger.