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Nobody knew how long the town had been there. No one knew who build the great, looming black stone wall that fenced in the unnamed town. Not a soul had a clue what lay outside of the dangerous seeming boundary. But they did know one thing. Why it was built. It was made to keep the people there safe from the fire that raged the Earth. And why would anyone need to know anything more than that?
It was a cozy town. They all had quaint wood houses and lived in a woodsy, peaceful area in the exact center of the square wall; a very close-knit community. However, there was a girl who lived isolated from the townspeople. She had no family but had taken over her mother’s position as a healer, though she wasn’t much good. She was already very different—isolated from everyone, no good at her job—but to top it off, she would also have fits where she would have no control over her body, seizing on the ground. That was the reason she lived in the woods, in fact. So that no one would see that she was even more different than anyone had ever thought.
But difference was alluring too. People reached for the unobtainable. And maybe that was the reason that the wealthy son of the Enforcer had taken interest in her. They were opposites, her living in a small one-room cottage at the eastern edge of the woods, only a short distance from the dreaded wall, and he near the very center of the wall, in a large, multistory oak house. She had been wary at first, but to the boy’s delight, she was won over with time.
Their relationship was secret at first. They met in their special place, a nook between the roots of a willow perched at the western wall, near the Boy’s summer house. It was a gorgeous location, really: a giant deep green weeping willow that's trunk creeped up the dark stone wall, with a veil of streaming leaves that billowed when wind swept in from over the wall. You could never tell that past the curtain of greenery there was a furnished nook where the two would meet and talk while the town was left unaware.
The boy hadn’t really planned to ever tell anyone at all about them but had to eventually. The girl had insisted. She had not wanted to feel like a secret to be ashamed of and had hoped that maybe if the town knew that the Enforcer’s son, their pride and joy, loved her, then maybe they would find it in their hearts to be able to as well. But that was unrealistic. No one in town quite approved of the relationship, but they tolerated it, convinced that it would just be a fleeting fancy.
The Miller’s Daughter, though, did not even consider tolerance as an option. She had grown up with The Boy. She had been his friend. And she, not the strange freak from the forest, deserved his heart. She too knew that The Boy’s infatuation with The Girl would not last, but she would make sure of it. She would find something in The Girl that would make her unlovable, and it wouldn’t be hard. The Girl was a loner. She lived in the woods away from all civilization, and there must be a reason for that. And thus, the Miller’s Daughter decided to find and expose it. She had seen The Boy had been strutting around with The Girl on his arm all day, showing her off to the town, so the Miller’s Daughter made up her mind to follow them back to The Girl’s home.
The couple walked to the woods and then parted at the edge of the forest. The Girl began the walk back to her house in the woods, and the boy turned back to go home to the town. Soon the Girl reached her cottage. The Miller’s Daughter was not impressed. It didn’t appear well-built at all and seemed to be almost leaning sideways. The house’s wood was mossy, and the boards that composed the walls had holes in them and the color varied drastically, giving it an altogether rather peculiar appearance. This was the girl The Boy had decided to court?
The Miller’s Daughter watched as The Girl entered the house and began to set to work cooking. She wasn’t doing anything wrong at the moment, so the Daughter decided to wait. It was all rather bland, unentertaining, and—most importantly—not at all a cause of suspicion. But then, about an hour later, that changed. The girl dropped the tray she was carrying and started to seize on the ground, convulsing like a madwoman.
The Miller’s daughter was startled and shocked. This, this was unexpected. Abnormal! And most certainly the key to tearing The Boy’s eyes away from The Girl. This was the secret. This... this was the sign of a witch. The Miller’s Daughter ran out of the woods joyfully even in her fear. She would tell the town of what she knew.
She burst into town shouting, “A witch! A witch is amongst us! The Girl in the forest is a witch! I’ve seen it with my own eyes! She was possessed, seizing on the ground of her dirty lair,”—inspiration hit her— “and even before that I saw her brewing potions! She’s up to no good! She’s a witch!”
The townspeople were all gathered in the center of the square. They had been discussing the preferred food of sheep, and were honestly quite bored, so the announcement was quickly welcomed.
“A witch?” asked Northmost Farmer in an almost excited voice. “Truly? Are you quite sure?”
“Of course she’s sure!” bellowed Priest. “She saw her—she was possessed! She must have been dealing with dark magic. I told you all, I always told you she was no good! No good for Enforcer’s boy, at the very least!”
“That must be why he courted her!” shouted out Cowherd. “He only courted her because she must’ve had him under some spell! A love potion! A curse! It all makes sense now!”
The Miller’s Daughter grinned in wonder as they all the people of the town began calling out their accusations, their reasoning. It had been just as easy as she’d thought. But the Enforcer was the first to truly offer up a solution.
“We’ve got to kill her.”
And it was the only way that they could proceed. They needed to set The Enforcer’s Son free of The Girl’s wicked spell. They needed to keep the town safe. They needed to kill the witch.
The town surged to the forest to search for The Girl, but try as they might, the girl was nowhere to be found. Miller’s Daughter’s anger grew at being foiled. The girl must have heard those clamorous townspeople when they approached the house! she thought irefully. Where could she be, if not in her foolish shack?!
The Town scoured the land for her, but The Girl was nowhere to be seen. The townspeople muttered that her ability to hide so uncannily was just further proof of witchcraft. It made no difference, because try as they might, there was no sign of the girl anywhere. But then, The Boy spoke up.
“Do you swear you fully know the fact The Girl is a witch to be true?” he asked the Daughter.
She answered him back quickly: “Without a single doubt.”
He made his way through the dried grass to the willow where the couple always met. He entered alone. He saw her there, at the base of the tree. She looked up. He saw it now. All of the signs. Her eyes—so brown they were almost black, even as they were red with tears. The freckle shaped like a moon on her cheek. Only two things, still, but there must be more. She had always been different. Now, he finally saw she was too different. The Girl looked up with hope in her eyes. He gave her a final smile.
“She’s here!” he called, and suddenly, the angry townsfolk streamed through the greenery, grabbing The Girl. They dragged her outside, and to her horror, she saw that they had brought fire.
She was brought to a hastily made stake, struggling all the way. The town was excited—it was chaos. Everyone wanted a piece of the action. This was the most excitement they had ever seen, and they wanted to be the hand that dealt the final blow. They pressed against each other, trying to get closer, the fire in their hands waving frantically, trying to get to The Girl. No one saw someone drop one of the torches, but before anyone knew it, the stake was on fire, but The Girl was not on it. A shriek rang out, and the town suddenly turned from pushing toward The Girl to away from her; the dry grass had caught fire, and it was spreading! The willow began to burn, but the girl saw her chance of escape and took it, freeing herself from the townspeople and climbing up the willow tree—higher and higher until she reached the top, where she climbed onto the wall! She could see everything now, both sides of the barrier.
Below, most people fled from the quickly spreading fire. The parched forest was catching aflame quickly, but the Enforcer and his son still stayed, for they knew the town was doomed, but they had made up their minds that if the town was going to burn, so was the girl. That was what this was all about, wasn’t it? They could barely make her out at the top of the wall through the smoke that coated the air and tasted almost sweet to his tongue, but The Boy began to climb the willow tree, even as the fire scorched his body, shooting pain up his spine, and a faint smell of burning flesh emerged. The Witch caused this, he thought desperately. If we are to die, she must too!
The Girl saw everything from her perch at the top of the wall. She saw the wooden buildings of the town catch flame. She saw her neighbors realize that this was the end. And she saw her former lover clamber up the willow with murder in his eyes. She took a last look at the place she had long called home. And then, she turned her back on it, facing the abyss that only she had seen on the other side. She paused. Then, she jumped into the unknown, and it was the townspeople, not The Girl, that burned.