One act.

There once was a witch who wandered through the woods. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, just a normal day to find what ingredients she needed for food and ritual alike.

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She found her wild carrots and mushrooms, and all sorts of herbs to suit her purpose. And with her basket full, she prepared to make her way to her home.

But as she prepared to stand and get ready to make her way home, a fox emerged from the bushes around her. “Wait” said the fox, much to the surprise of the witch.

The witch stood, thinking she had heard nothing but voices in her own head, but again she heard the fox speak, “Please, wait” said the fox.

“Did you you just speak?” asked the witch, expecting no response but a confused fox, but “Yes” came the answer from the fox in the bushes around her.

The witch was confused, “Why do you want me to wait?” she asked.

“Please” said the fox, “Believe what I have to say. I am not a real fox, but a prince. I have been cursed to take this form but someone before me who took my heart and promised me more than I should have taken”.

The witch was intrigued. “What can I do to help you?” she asked.

“I need only a kiss from someone as beautiful as you” said the fox, “and not only will I return to my form as a prince, but I can grant you wealth, power and title and a place in my court. You will never have to seek our your own herbs or ingredients for your rituals or answer to any other. I will grant you all that you seek”.

The witch thought for a moment. “That sounds wonderful” said the witch, “And if this be a lie, there are no others around to see me kiss a fox”.

And so the witch leaned to kiss the fox, and when she did, the fox began to glow and transform in a bright light into a handsome and powerful prince.

But the witch, she began to change and before she knew it, she had turned into a fox.

The prince looked down as the change took place and the witch found herself in the form of a fox, he smiled and said to her “At least I’m not the only one who would be convinced to take a station beyond my own”.

The witch was silent, shocked and unable to respond. But the Prince dusted himself off.

“Find someone to believe promises beyond where they belong and have them kiss you, then you’ll be free too” the prince said before leaving with a smile.

And now the witch, alone in the woods. Left to seek another to whom she could promise much and deliver little.

For there are always those who will be found who seek that which is too good to be true. It is the nature of things, and it something for which all should be prepared.

The lonely pillar.

The walls that would stand forever now lay as piles upon the ground. A lonely pillar of stone, an ancient arch and window, they are all which rises above the grass and trees now.

Offering in the night.

The dead receive so little these days. A moment gracing the memories of those they may have encountered or raised, a gift, a wealth of a coin or a thousand. How soon the dead die that second death of fading to memory.

Listening to elements.

Hiding beyond the cliffs and narrow paths, far from city or trading route, removed from curious eyes or gossiping folk with dreary lives, so is a place to start.

My child.

Look not to the stars to find yourself, for therein lies myths and legends, Gods of long lost times and names whose faces are forgotten to ages and memories even the ancestors know not.