When apricots will forget - FINISHED -

Meeting at the gate

My two loves have in turn betrayed me. They invented reasons: for the common good, for my own protection... None of this is true. They are like everyone else: behind their disinterested acts, they defend their own interests. There is no difference between their intentions and mine. I only had the honesty to admit my priorities.

Aradia got me.

For the time being.

***

Taking advantage of the good weather, Ezik walked around the garden. He lingered on the details that had escaped him the day before, too busy to find a way out. He noticed another door outside the hut that opened onto a cupboard that was poorly insulated from the rain. There he found more old bottles containing greenish liquids and unrecognisable plant leaves soaking in mouldy liquid. He took out the largest jar, whose contents looked the least aged and damaged, and opened it. He gagged. The rancid smell of fermentation caught his nose and throat and he pulled his face away from the stench.

Ezik decided to empty the contents onto the floor. He could then identify the apricot leaves, partially preserved by the mixture he assumed to be vinegar. He hesitated to dip a finger in it, or to taste it. He thought about the newspaper articles he had just read and the pentagrams and other drawings of witchcraft he had found in the hut and refrained. A new reality was forming in his mind that explained the situation he was in. Everything indicated that Kirke was interested in the use of medicinal plants and fascinated by local stories of poisoning that dated back generations. The main reason she had stayed in the garden for so long was not her fear of going out, but the same magic that kept Ezik from running away. It was impossible to know how many years she had spent in such a place.

Ezik heard movement and abandoned the empty bottle and its contents on the floor to rush to the gate on the other side of the hut.

In front of the gate stood a woman in her early twenties, walking in a panic from one end of the fence to the other, trying to look inside the garden as if she wanted to check something. Her movements were quick, hurried, and her eyes were constantly moving. Her long brown hair danced with every sudden movement she made. Curry barked and reached down to sniff the bottom of the jeans she was wearing.

Ezik ignored the stranger's panicked state and rushed over to her. He had seen her several weeks ago.

"You! Please help me! I'm stuck in this garden. You're from the next village, aren't you? I saw you talking with Kirke. Help me."

The young woman stepped back in surprise. She stared at Ezik and, understanding the situation he was in, sighed heavily.

"She's gone and left her place to you, hasn't she?" she said in a voice Ezik seemed to recognise.

"Yes, can you help me? Are you... a witch?" he begged.

"I felt it, the garden has changed ownership. she said, ignoring the question, how long has she been out?"

"Since yesterday afternoon," Ezik answered more calmly.

"Thank you," she said in a sad voice, "I'm sorry for your situation". She was about to leave.

"Wait!" shouted Ezik, "you have to help me!"

Surprised, his interlocutor turned towards him

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's all your fault," Ezik said, sounding as confident as possible, "it's your fault I'm stuck here."

"I've never met you before, so I don't see how I'm responsible for your situation," replied the stranger girl.