Garden Witch

Willow was a garden witch who grew plants and healed the sick. She was lithe as a willow and, likewise, responded to the seasons: she spent most of winter under a cosy eiderdown, like a plant beneath snow; in spring, she blossomed; in summer, she watered; and in autumn she gathered.

Villagers grew old and died while Willow thrived and smiled. But that smile was the last smile to come. Upon her face a new expression appeared when a motorway was planned, with Willow’s garden in its path.

Men with hard hats and diggers arrived to tear up her handiwork. Willow watched them through the back window, her grimoire to hand. Engines revved and buckets were lowered.  However, as soon as the soil was broken, vines shot up and snaked into the engines, filling every space until they choked to a stop. Willow smirked.

Kim M. Russell, 15th January 2024

Image by Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash

It’s Monday, Martin Luther King Jr’s and Robert E. Lee’s birthdays, and Prosery at the dVerse Poets Pub, with our host, Lisa, and a line from the ‘Ballad of Birmingham’ by Dudley Randall to be included in a piece of prose of 144 words without adding or taking away any words in between. However, punctuation may be changed. The given line is a tricky one:

“But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.”

44 thoughts on “Garden Witch”

      1. I forget sometimes we have different movies and things here. It’s a movie from 1992. If you have Amazon Prime video, or use Pluto TV, if that’s available. It’s about fairies in a rainforest. Robin Williams does the bat’s voice.☺️

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  5. I absolutely LOVE this!!!! Reminds me of Medusa’s hair being turned to snakes….so those vile men with hard hats who lived by their machines, had their machines meet the same fate – only with vines!!!

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  7. A great story Kim. I know that feeling, from when in 2018 they came along the back side of my property and put in a gas line through the edge of the woods, clearcutting a hundred foot swath in its wake. It has grown back over now, but it is not the same.

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  13. Kim, your piece charmingly tells the story of Willow, a garden witch resisting modernity with nature’s magic. The vivid imagery and clever twist leave a delightful impression, showcasing your imaginative storytelling. Well done.

    ~David

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