to leave us. He wanted to go back to his part of the forest and live his normal life. I knew this was the last time I would see him, so I gave him a big hug and kissed him. He licked me back. I wasn’t sure if he knew that we wouldn’t meet again. I didn’t want to let him go, but I had to let him stay in his land, the place where he felt free and happy. So with a heavy heart, I let him go his way.
After he left, Maria and I continued on our journey. We walked for a few hours. We stopped at another of the trees with the yellow flowers and continued to enjoy the sweet nectar. We were there for a while. I leant against the tree while she sat on a branch right beside me.
Just as we were enjoying our drink, and savouring our escape, all of a sudden Maria burst into tears.
“I can’t do this,” she cried.
“Do what?” I asked.
“I can’t take you to the witch,” she answered.
“What?” I gasped.
“It’s me. I’m Donna,” Maria answered.
“What? What do you mean?” I stuttered.
“I’m Donna. The witch turned me into a vulture,” she replied.
I was shocked. I got up and looked at her closely. I couldn’t believe Donna was the vulture! She was a clean, beautiful girl before and now she was a crooked, shaggy, lanky scavenger and didn’t look attractive at all. I wondered how the witch could have had the heart to make something so beautiful and innocent into something like this.
”Tell me what happened, Donna.”
She began her story. “After I escaped from Karen, I ran into this part of the forest where it was all different. It was all glittery. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.” She was talking about the witch’s part of the forest.
She went on. “It was amazing here. There was food everywhere and the weather was always pleasant. I liked it. I felt safe and the only thing that bothered me was the voice of an old woman laughing. This scared me a little bit, and then, a couple of days later, I met the old woman who made these noises. She was a witch. She looked evil and scary but she seemed to be a nice woman. She took care of me, she fed me, and she gave me new clothes. Using magic she gave me anything I wanted. All I had to do was collect herbs for her in the forest.”
“Go on,” I said.
“Well. She told me to ask her for anything I wanted and said she would get it for me. She told me that she wasn’t like the Ogres. So I asked her if she could heal my ear and she said she could. So she told me to sit still. She waved her wand and made a spell and a streak of lightning hit my ear. It didn’t make my ear better but I became a vulture. This made her cackle and she said, ‘Did you really think I was going to help you’?”
Donna sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“I asked the witch why she had done this to me. ‘Now you can get me herbs and anything I want from places far away,’ was her answer. Since then, that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Donna sighed. “I didn’t like being a vulture. I didn’t like the way I looked or felt. The only thing I liked was that I could fly. I wanted to be myself, a human, again, so I asked her if she could turn me back. She told me that if I brought you to her, she would make me human once more.”
“So all this was a lie. You don’t know where my parents are?” I whispered in horror.
“No, I don’t,” she answered.
“No, no! You cannot do this to me. How could you even think of this?” I yelled.
“At first I didn’t want to do it either, but I don’t want be a vulture anymore. I’m willing to do anything to be my old self again,” confessed Donna.
“Do you really believe her? You really think she’s going to make you human again?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. This is the only option I have,” she cried.
“Please, Donna, you have to save me. I can’t be a slave again,” I told her.
“What about me?” she answered.
“Donna, you know I care about you. Believe me, this witch is completely evil. She will never make you human again. If you get me out of here, I promise I will find a cure and turn you back. You know how much I like you,” I said.
She was silent for a while.
“Come on, please, give me an answer,” I begged.
“Fine, fine. I’m going to get you out of this, but you have to promise me that you will help me become human again,” insisted Donna.
“I promise. Now let’s get out of here,” I said.
Donna told me that at the moment we were in a place where the witch rarely came. Since we had a long journey ahead of us, it was best to get some rest now. So I climbed up to the branch above the one that she was perching on and I sat there. I slowly dozed off. I woke up every few minutes so that I could keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t do anything stupid. But she didn’t fly away and leave me. She woke me up the next morning and, after treating ourselves to another drink of the nectar, some food, and some sweets, we set off on our journey.
Escape From the Land of the Cursed
Up to now, we had been moving as quickly as we could to escape from Karen. Now, in this part of the forest, we moved slowly and carefully to avoid the witch. She had the power of magic. She had insects, animals, birds, trees and other messengers who could easily spot us and tell her where we were. Donna knew about this, so she took every precaution while we travelled. After we had gone a little way, she would fly up high into the sky and look around to see that no-one was looking out for us. We avoided the places the witch frequented, so that the chances of her spotting us were slim and we could reach our destination safely.
When Donna flew on ahead to scout around, I crouched there alone, keeping a careful watch. These precautions made the journey take forever, but it seemed to work. The witch hadn’t yet spotted us.
I wished we could go faster, but we stuck to Donna’s plans of scouring the surroundings to stay safe.
I felt alone and scared every time she left me and flew upwards. Before flying to the sky, she pointed upwards. This signalled to me that I had to crouch and stay still. Then she came back down and we went a little further.
We travelled like this for a long time. And then it happened. Donna had just flown up when I saw a person in the distance smelling some flowers. The person turned around - and stared straight at me. It was a lady with wrinkles and boils all over her face. She had a long, crooked nose and large yellow eyes. She wore a black hat that matched her black robe. She was the witch! She had found me! She was smiling at me.
Donna flew down. She said to me, “Let’s move.” But I just stood there, looking at the witch.
“Thank you, my dear,” said the witch to Donna.
My mouth dropped open. Donna had planned this!
“You’re welcome,” answered Donna.
“How did you know I was here?” asked the witch.
“I’m a vulture now. I can see and hear a lot more than before,” replied Donna.
“I can’t believe you betrayed me again,” I cried.
“Bring him to me,” ordered the witch.
“Come on, now, let’s go to her,” said Donna.
I took a few steps sideways, away from Donna, and the witch said, “Don’t even think about running away. I will destroy you with my wand.”
So I walked towards her and Donna followed me. When I was right in front of her, she placed her hand on my cheek and began to look at me closely. Hers was the ugliest hand I ever saw. It was just like her face. It was covered with boils and wrinkles.
“You’re going to make a great servant.” She started cackling.
“Are you going to make me a human now?” demanded Donna.
“What’s the hurry, dear? Let’s all go home and have a meal. We can sit there and talk about everything.”
We walked for a few minutes and reached her house. It wasn’t much of a house; it was more like a tiny hut with a big garden which had various herbs growing in it. There were also a couple of trees and a cauldron. We went past all this and into the hut.
>
She gave us both some food, which she created with magic. Donna swallowed hers down quickly. I wasn’t ready to have mine at first. I told her I wasn’t hungry. She insisted that I eat it, so I did. I was kind of glad that I ate it, because it was really delicious.
Donna pestered her again. “When are you going to make me a human again?”
The witch replied. “Be patient for a moment. I need you to guard him, while I prepare something in the garden.”
When the witch had gone, I started to speak to Donna, but she told me to shut up, as she didn’t want to get caught. She was desperate to be a human again.
After about half an hour, the witch called us outside. The cauldron was filled with a liquid which was boiling, since there was a fire beneath it. The witch was putting herbs into this cauldron and chanting.
She told me to stand opposite her on the far side of the cauldron. Donna was right behind me, sitting on one of the trees and watching the proceedings.
“Before you do anything to him, could you please make me a girl again? I really want to be human now,” she whined.
“Why should I do that?” asked the witch.
“You promised! That was the deal. I get you Matt, and you make me a human again,” answered Donna.
“I can’t believe that you trusted me! I’m never going to make you human again. You will always be a vulture. I need you to serve me,” cackled the witch.
Donna screeched in anger.
“I’m going to make him a hyena. Both of you will make a nice pair of scavengers and can serve me for the rest of your lives.” She cackled again, so loudly