The sun rises, the rooster crows, and two bare feet, instead of four, hit the dirt floor. A puff of dust swirls across the ground with each step the farmer takes towards the door. It creaks open revealing the insipid morning.

                The farmer starts his day feeding the chickens and collecting eggs. Next he milks the cows and feeds them along with the burro. Then he tends to the garden, collecting fresh herbs and vegetables, while the burro watches with a droopy head. Last he begins making his breakfast.

                Yesterday the work went twice as fast. Yesterday there was twice the help. Yesterday he wasn’t alone. As he ate breakfast today, he wondered if he would ever truly see his wife again. How did it come to this?

~ ~ ~

                Past a field and through a gate, the farmer’s wife followed a seemingly endless road next to a long stone wall. The road leads to a thick, ancient, moss-covered forest. The thousand-year-old oak trees keep centuries of secrets. One oak tree however, revealed the most paramount of secrets.

                Light seeped through the forest canopy and shined down on the place where an oak tree once stood. Behind the ancient roots of a fallen tree was a small path through overgrown bushes. The farmer’s wife stepped onto that path.

                The breeze in the leaves became still. Birds silenced their chirps. The streams of golden sunlight dimmed to silver. The farmer’s wife ignored the warning. She continued to walk deeper into the forest toward something more than her mundane life.

                The afternoon came and went. Eventually, she arrived at a clearing bordered with purple bioluminescent mushrooms. In the center of the clearing was a dead hollow tree. This tree stood three times taller than the next tallest tree around. Perched on the broken branches was a murder of crows watching her every move. Toward the top of the tree was a dim, green glow from a knot hole. Orange and red flowers grew in little rings at the base of the tree trunk.

                The farmer’s wife could hear running water. She followed the sound to the other end of the clearing. Behind the tree was a flowing creek.  Past the creek was a shimmering berry bush. Each berry on the bush glimmered with a different color. “I’ll take just one berry, as proof of my adventure,’’ she thought to herself.

                The moment she plucked a berry off the bush the ground trembled. A stream of blinding light shot out of the knot hole like a star falling from the sky. The crows swarmed around the tree. The farmer’s wife dropped to the ground and covered her head.

When the ground stopped shaking and the crows stopped flying, she picked herself up off the ground. A witch, with fire in her golden eyes, stood before the farmer’s wife. Without a word, the witch seized the farmer’s wife and they sped off on a magic broom.

                The farmer’s wife was returned to her home at dusk. The witch looked into the farmer’s eyes and cackled, “Your thief of a wife dared to steal magic from me!” She turned to the farmer’s wife with a booming caution in her voice, “You do not understand the dangers of magic. You will remain cursed until you learn your lesson.’’

                Without a goodbye, the farmer’s wife was changed before his eyes. The sun set. The witch vanished and they never saw her again.

~ ~ ~

                Several weeks go by. The burro stands in the field watching two little bunnies hop across the road. She thinks to herself, “The search for something more wasn’t worth it. My dissatisfaction left us sad and alone.”

                Suddenly the sun brightens and the wind begins to blow. Dust rises high into the sky. Just as quickly as it rose the dust settles again. The farmer’s wife has changed back into herself. From that day on the farmer and his wife never felt alone or unhappy again.

This was written by our contributing writer, Karina Coghlan.