Mother Winter

A Cold Winter

"My family lives on the land, and we work it as best as we can," I started.  "It never produces much, even in the best of times.  But this winter has been the hardest one in living memory.  Our crops all died before harvest, and not even our neighbors have anything in their stores."

"Didst thou not burn some trees to make fertile the land?" the witch inquired.

"It is not done because that is the ritual of heathens, those who follow the old gods," I replied.

The witch snorted.  "Then there is the source of thy problem.  I have no cure for stupidity."

I didn't know how to respond to that without offending the witch, so I decided to continue with my story.  "Well, my family is starving.  We don't have any food left except a loaf of bread, which will be gone by the time I get back.  Isn't there anything you can do?"

There was a long, dead silence.  The witch just looked at me, some expression in her eyes that I couldn't quite read.  "Who am I to thee?" she asked finally.

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"Thou saith that thy old gods are no longer well-regarded in these lands," the witch explained.  "Who am I amongst thy people?  What name do they give to me?"

"You are a witch," I answered.  "One who was demon-born, who runs wild in the Northland and terrorizes all who come near her."

The witch sighed and shook her head.  "No, none of those things am I.  A shaman was I back in my day, before the evil times, before darkness spread and I fell to grief.  But thou dost not know of shamans these days.  Twas I who called the sun and the moon once.  Twas I who set them free long ago when they had been locked beneath the earth.  But thou dost not know those tales, and my time has run out."

She seemed so forlorn standing there that I asked, "What makes you think that?  You're still here, aren't you?"

She laughed bitterly.  "A relic from the ancient past, lost in a future without hope, without song.  Whatever god thou knowest now clearly has no respect for folk like me.  It is long since time I went to the land of Death, though Death has not yet called for me.  There is no room for folk like me in this world; no room for people of magic."

"But isn't there still purpose for you?" I pressed.  "Couldn't you help my family?"

She sighed and shook her head.  "No, because thou knowest not the stories, so thou canst not call the one who could help thee.  Come with me.  I must show thee something."

She then turned around, snow flying free from her clothing and falling all around me.  For an instant it was like I had stepped into a gentle snowfall, and then the feeling was gone and I just felt cold.  So I followed her, and she led me into the forest beyond the house.