Evolving

Grade Six

"My sister and I were walking through the woods one day and I kid you not... we totally saw Jacob from twilight in wolf form. It was crazy."

"How could you tell it was Jacob?"

"The wolf had a six pack."

"Now I know you're lying."

Shayle, Mara Lyn, and Rose were wrapped in thick blankets and armed with cups of pipping hot chocolate. They sat close together on Shayle's living room floor in the late hours of nine o'clock at night.

Mara yawned. "I think we should maybe go to sleep."

"Sleep?" questioned Rose incredulously. "When it's almost ten? No, no, no. It's the witching hour."

This got the two other girls' attention.

"Witching hour?" Mara was intrigued at the mysterious words.

Rose nodded. "Oh yes."

"Wait..." Shayle interrupted. "I thought the witching hour was from three to four in the morning."

"Oh no, Shay! Everyone knows it's from ten to eleven."

"Since when?"

"Uh... don't question the supernatural power of the universe."

Shayle and Mara glanced at each other apprehensively.

"The witching hour. The deadly witches come out to find little children and even adult souls. No one is at mercy. These witches are vile and stop at nothing, nothing, to get what they want. And you wanna know the worst part?"

She didn't wait for them to answer. "The witches work in light or dark. So your little night light cannot save you this time!"

Despite feeling completely unnerved, Shayle shook her head. "Witches aren't real, Rose, stop playing around."

"Shay, I wish that were true. But I read on... Wikipedia that a witch named Mirette had set our city in a hundred year curse that is still going on to this day...."

"Wikipedia?" Shayle questioned. "Everyone knows that site isn't credible."

"I don't know..." Mara clutched the covers closer to herself in an attempt to gain protection. "Mirette? Sounds pretty credible to me."

Shayle got chills all over her body. "M-Maybe we should just go to sleep."

Rose was already shaking her head. "There's only one way to survive the witching hour."

"And how's that?"

"By... uh... surviving the night."

"Oh jeez."

*****

"First things first–"

"I'm the realist?"

Rose shot Mara a hard glare. "Really? Iggy Azalea now?"

Mara put her hands up in defense. "You shouldn't have said 'first things first'. That's a recipe for a lyric chain disaster."

"...Anyway... rule number one. Do not, under any circumstances, fall asleep during the hour. That is when you are at your most vulnerable. Any witch can snatch your soul that way."

"How come?" Shayle asked.

"Because... well, uh... what did I say? Stop questioning the supernatural power of the universe. It brings the witches closer if they know you aren't a believer."

"This is ridiculous." Shayle put her hands up in exasperation.

"Fine. Don't come crying to me to help look for your soul after they take it."