Warning: mentions of D*ath, C*rpses, D*cay. If anything like that disturbs, frightens or triggers you in any way, I advise against reading this short. (E, O, E)
In the woods, far far deep into the thickest and darkest part of the woods where the threes grew wide, tall and plentiful. In the woods where it was peacefully quiet and void of the noise of pesky chirping and squabbling of critters.
In the woods, somewhere in there, lay a woman. This woman was waiting. She had just laid there only recently and was waiting for something to happen.
You see, this woman wasn't out there on her own. She was laid there to become part of the earth. This woman was dead. But she wasn't dead by any natural cause it seemed. Her body appeared to bet perfect, untouched and unharmed, but how she died is a complete mystery. No one knows how, when or why she had died, but she was.
The woman's body laid still and unmoving on the Forrest floor, staring up at the canopy of lush green leaves and the light peeking through them. Sometimes she'd be staring at the stars that glimpsed through the leaves. Sometimes the leaves changed colour and sometimes the sky cried. Her dull, lifeless eyes observed all the changes of the world they could view.
The body of the woman with no name waited for the forest to take her, but her body remained unchanged, much unlike the world around her. The world around her grew, died and grew again as seasons came and went, the forest shifting ever so slightly every time the seasons had made a full rotation.
Ever so slowly, moss and roots began growing over her pale and cold body. The plant life beginning to cover her body as the Forest tried making her apart of the world, but as roots, moss, vines and other things of the like grew and covered her...that corpse just refused to rot and decay. She wouldn't let herself, she didn't want to.
Mother Earth wanted to take her back but she wouldn't let her body become apart of the world that so rudely stripped her of the life it initially granted her. One day, this world would understand. But she'd never give in as long as she still could fight. That corpse just simply refused to decay.
There were rumors of a woman who had made her body immoral. she had gone and moved into a cottage deep in the woods. everyone who knew of the woman called her the witch of the wood. there are many variations to the story of how she got her immortality. some say she angered the fates so they cursed her, some say Athena blessed her.
No one knew for sure but we were sure she was a witch. Her magic had been witnessed many a time. She healed the woods, the animals and the travelers. She fought every threat that had faced the woods, being deemed it's guardian. Where the woman came from was just as much a mystery as her past and everything else about her.
Her mystery was just as enticing as the sweet smell of a baker's fresh pastries. Many wished to steal her magic and immortality for their own greedy selves. Some disliked her entirely and wished her gone, though it may just have been jealousy as not everyone had the gifts she did.
Witch's from many other places saw her as both a sister and a rival. They may have competed for magic, items and whatever else a witch could compete for. They sent each other things whether it be harmful or helpful.
The reason I bring all this up is because any one of these could be reasons for her passing, but none of them were right...because I am the real reason for her passing. I am always visiting the witch of the wood, long after her spirit has passed on but her immortal body remains with the forest, surrounded by her favourite flora and fauna.
I regret it of course. I loved her, but I envied her too. Looking at the witch has no longer been as painful as it first was. Her damned corpse just refuses to decay.
