The Diary
Copyright 2010 Timothy Craig Everhart
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In my travels, I sometimes didn’t have a lot of money, many times I actually had none. One of those times was the few weeks I spent exploring Salem Massachusetts. I kept a small tent in my backpack and I was hiking up in the woods outside of town to find a quiet spot to bed down for the night. I generally looked for a clearing so that I had a unobstructed view of the sky, once you get far enough away from the city lights the stars are really beautiful and I loved going to sleep under a thick blanket of them.
I found a clearing, but I also found something else that I didn’t expect, what was left of a very old cabin. It wasn’t much, the outer walls were pretty much intact as well as the stone fireplace and chimmney but most of the roof and the inner walls had given up with the passage of time. There was only one room that remained in decent shape probably owing to the fact that it was under the section of roof that had held up the best.
Judging from the small bed and desk I figured that it must have belonged to a child. The bed looked like it would’ve collapsed under my weight but the floor under it looked to be the most solid floor in the ancient cabin so I slid the bed out of the way and unrolled my sleeping bag in its place. The light was dwindling fast so I decided to climb in and call it a night.
I woke up shortly after sunrise the next morning and was rolling my sleeping bag back up when I noticed a loose board next to the wall. Curious, I pushed down on one end which caused the other to pop up revealing an old, string bound book. After getting it out from under the floor board and taking a closer look, I found that it was a diary containing 2 ½ years worth of notations written by a young girl in the sixteen hundreds. It started when she was nine and ended abruptly shortly before she turned twelve.
Time had taken its toll on the ink leaving much of the diary just barely legible. Most of the passages were what you’d expect from a nine or ten year old girl, but the last few months told an incredible tale. I’ve tried to copy it down in here so that others may follow along as she spills her heart out into the pages of this very personal account. I’ll admit that I had to make some guesses here and there because of the faded ink, and I also got rid of all the antiquated English like thee and thou to make it easier to read for the young people of today, but I believe that most of it stayed true to what she wrote. I want to state up front that any mistakes I might have made were not intentional and ask the girl’s forgiveness for them.
This is the property of Ann Good
April 12
I know it’s been over three weeks since I last wrote to you. I’m sorry but it has been a full three weeks. Mother explained why all the strange stuff has been happening to me. I thought I was in trouble for sure when she had me sit down at the table for a talk; kitchen table talks are usually bad. Then she floored me, just blurted it right out, told me that she is a witch and that now she is sure that I am going to be one too.
What do you say to something like that, what can you possibly say to that. Mother said that she felt she had to go ahead and tell me cause I need to be real careful and not let anybody find out about us. She said that bad things might happen if somebody was to find out what we are.
For the last two weeks Mother has been trying to teach me how to keep from having any more accidents. We have been working real hard, I don’t know if I will ever learn this stuff or not.
April 15
I did it. I made the feather float right up off of the table, held it there too. It was so easy; I don’t know how it took me this long to do it. I’m so happy. Mother said that she’s going to show me something new tomorrow but would not tell me what.
April 17
The something new was making food, I always thought my mother would teach me how to cook but this is much better. This was so much easier to learn than the levitation too, all I have to do is picture the food I want real clear and when I open my eyes, there it is.
April 20
We went to see auntie Zelda today. She seemed really upset about something, her and Mother spent most of the time in the kitchen whispering. On the way home I tried to ask mother what it was all about but all she would say was that it wasn’t anything to worry about. Somehow that seemed to make me worry about it even more.
April 21
I about got caught today. My friend Abby said she’d really like a piece of chocolate candy so I opened my hand and gave her a piece then I made me a piece in my other hand but I forgot to put my hand in my pocket first so I could pretend that I got it from there. Luckily Abby didn’t notice, I’ve got to be more careful from now on.
April 25
I finally told Mother about my mistake with Abby, the candy and forgetting to put my hand in my pocket. She was not mad but warned me to be extra careful from now on, said it would be real bad if someone found out what we are.
April 28
Sorry my writing is a little squiggly today but writing like this is new, I just learned how to do it yesterday. Magic can be great. I'm now writing this without touching the quill. I am just using my mind and my finger to direct the quill to dip itself in the ink and then write by itself. Wow! But it’s going to take a lot of practice to get good at this.
May 1
Mother took me flying on her broom tonight. It's wonderful. She said that she is going to start teaching me how to do it for myself, I can't wait. I can't imagine anything more fun than flying through the night sky. It was so great! I asked her about flying in the daytime so we could see more. When she answered me I felt so dumb, we can’t ever go flying in the daylight because we would be seen, that was a dumb question.
May 5
Well I did it. I went up a little shaky and come down really hard, but I made the broom fly on my own. I’m tired, and sore, going to bed early.
May 7
Father came by tonight, I thought he was coming to see me but all he did was take Mother out back and talk to her. He seemed nervous and really worried, like aunt Zelda was. I know something is going on but nobody will tell me what it is.
May 10
Today I started learning how to do something mother calls transmutation. It’s kinda like when we make the food except I first got to make something disappear, then reappear as something else.
May 14
We went flying again tonight. I did much better this time. I still got real tired but at least I’m not so much sore as I was last time.
May 17
Mrs. Osborne and her slave friend Tituba come by for a visit. It seems that everybody that comes here of late spends a lot of time whispering to Mother but when ask them about it they just shrug their shoulders and tell me not to worry.
May 19
Today Mother started showing me how to brew potions in a cauldron. I get the feeling that she is trying to teach me all this stuff a lot faster than she had planned to, as if she’s rushing it, trying to make sure I learn it before something happens, but what?
May 23
The last two nights have been dark, moonless and cloudy. We’ve been working on my flying skills; mother says that I’m a natural. Out of all the magical things I have been learning, flying is definitely the one that I love the most. I’m jealous of the birds; they get to fly everywhere they go, day and night.
May 26
Father came by again tonight, him and Mother went out back and had a yelling match. This time, when he left he took Sis with him, said that it was too dangerous to let Dorothy stay with us. He said that she would be safer with him, he must be ta
lking about the magic, but I don’t understand how it’d be dangerous to Sis.
May 31
I wish brewing potions was as easy as flying, At least it comes with a recipe book, but it really needs instructions too. Mother showed me where she keeps the book hidden at. The book also has all of her important spells in it too.
June 3
Mother’s pregnant again. I noticed her getting sick a lot, mostly in the mornings. I asked her about it this morning after she seemed to get better and she admitted that she was pregnant again. She said that Father doesn’t know yet and made me promise not to spill the beans when I see him. I guess she wants it to be a surprise.
June 5
It seems that lately, when my mother and I walk through the village that people are paying way too much attention to us. Maybe it’s just my imagination but I’m seeing people peaking around corners or out of windows and doorways and if they are with someone they suddenly begin to whisper. I thought about asking Mother about it but she’d probably just laugh and tell me that it’s not really happening, that it’s all in my head. I don’t know, maybe it is.
June 8
I learned a neat trick today. I can light candles and start kindling burning just by thinking a simple spell and blowing on it