Never anger a witch

The Hollow Tree

Hollows in tree trunks are very useful places for hiding something. Animals know that all too well. They hide nests and food in the sheltered secrecy of the hollow, happy in the knowledge that their secret is safe.

There's a tree in Branleigh woods that is completely hollow. It's a huge tree, at least two metres across. The only way to get inside is by crawling behind a little bush and then squeezing through a crack in the trunk.

Micah loved to hide in the hollow tree. When he was four he had stumbled across it in a successful attempt to hide from one of his father's drunken rages.

It wasn't long before Micah had set up a little den in there. He had found an old lamp in the attic and brought it out to the tree. When night fell Micah would be safe from the darkness of the world outside, tucked up in a soft blanket in the shelter of the hollow tree.

The night before his tenth birthday marked an unusual occurrence. Micah had stayed up late reading when he heard a footstep outside. He turned out the light and looked out through the brush overlong the entrance crack.

The moon was almost full and cast a bright light over the earth. The trees blocked most of the light but Micah could just make out two dark figures standing close to his tree. They were facing away from him. Micah prayed that they had not seen his light.

The taller of the two figures began to talk in a gruff voice. Micah flinched when he realised it was his father.

A female voice replied.

Or at least, Micah thought it might be female. The voice was dry and old. It was so quiet that Micah had to strain to hear it.

He grew more and more confused the longer he listened. The two spoke of demons and ghouls. Micah knew there were no such creatures. His father seemed to grow more and more angry the longer the female talked. Finally Micah's father started to shout at her. Micah shivered. He had been on the wrong end of his father's wrath all too often.

He would have felt sorry for the old lady but for some reason he felt even more terrified of her.

His father screamed.

The night was set ablaze by an endless roar and green fire poured from the old woman's hands.

Micah fell over backwards in his desperate attempt to scuttle backwards. He could hear his father screaming in pain. Green light poured in from outside.

An eternity of terror passed before the night was once again dark. Micah was huddled as far away from the entrance as possible. He shook with fear. The crack in the side of the trunk grew wider and Micah moved to hide in a nook.

The old woman stepped into the tree and took out a piece of red chalk. She drew a symbol on the opposite side and stood back. The mark blazed with a red fire and a door opened. Fire licked at the edges of the door and Micah could hear thousands of tortured screams pouring out from the strange world on the other side.

A hooded figure appeared. It's clothes were made of black fire. The figure looked straight at Micah and he realised with a shiver that the figure had seen him. The hooded figure turned to the old woman and they talked briefly. She bowed and left.

Micah stepped out of the nook and attempted to run out of the tree. A force took hold of his legs and pushed him towards the figure. For the first time that night, Micah finally made a sound.

Fear turned to tears and Micah began to sob. The figure watched him for a bit. It's head tilted to one side, almost as if it didn't know what to think. After a while the tears just stopped and Micah looked at the hooded creature.