p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga lay on her uncomfortable straw bed, staring at the moonlight escaping in through the wooden shutter on her window. The sound of her parents' raised voices echoed through the small cottage, and although she clasped her small hands over her ears, it was impossible to miss the resentment in her mothers voice as she argued with her father./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""John, we can't keep pretending that nothing is happening! You've seen it too. The flowers changing colours, the cat's broken leg which miraculously healed overnight? Helga has… unnatural abilities. It isn't normal!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"John, her father, sighed heavily, his voice weary and tinged with worry. "I know, Mary. I've seen it too, and I can't pretend to understand it any more than you do. But we can't jump to conclusions. She's just a child."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""But what of the incident with Rosalind?" Her mother replied sharply./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga felt her cheeks colour with shame as she recalled the memory of when she had somehow transported a girl from the village named Rosalind to the top of an oak tree after she found her throwing stones at her cat Marmalade. She wasn't even sure what she had done, she only knew that she had taken one look at the cat's mangled back leg and Rosalind's cruel sneering face, and felt a surge of anger, and suddenly Rosalind was hanging from the top of the tree by the very same leg./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga had run at once to the village for help, and of course they had blamed her, which she deserved. Ever since, Rosalind had refused to speak to her, and her once friendly neighbours had become cold and suspicious, shunning her and her family./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rosalind is a cruel child" Her father's voice returned her to the present. " She has been tormenting Helga for years now, and it's a miracle nothing has happened before. My heart does not bleed for the girl, she deserved what all she got. Besides, no harm came to her other than a nasty shock."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well it frightens me!" Her mother replied. "Look at what she is capable of at 10 years old! What will happen if it gets worse? God forbid, what if she loses her temper with the baby once they arrive?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"At this, Helga felt her eyes sting with indignant tears. She could imagine her mother cradling her growing bump protectively, the way she always did when Helga was near. It made Helga feel like a monster. She had been so excited when she learned she was to have a sibling, and had vowed to be the best big sister she could be. She already loved the child, and she hadn't even met them yet. But her mother had been even more wary around her since she had found out, eyeing her distrustfully and jumping at every loud bang and noise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga had not long ago stitched a gift for her soon to be sibling, a wonky bear with a smiling face. As she stitched clumsily, she had noticed the bear grinning and winking at her, and laughed back, and thought only of how much her baby sibling would always have a friend in the bear the same way she did with her cat Marmalade. She had presented it to her mother, who had taken one look at the teddy bear's grinning and winking face, and let out a blood curdling scream. She had screamed non stop about the bear being wicked and cursed, and thrown him in the fire. Helga didn't know what she had done that was so wicked, but she supposed she had done something as her mother hadn't spoken to her for a week after and refused to come out of her room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She listened now to her fathers hushed tones as he replied to her mother. "I understand your fear, Mary, but Helga is a good girl, she wouldn't dream of hurting her brother or sister. We can't turn on her like the rest of them, she's our own flesh and blood."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A child with powers we cannot comprehend! It's not right, John. It's not godly. And you know how the villagers talk. They call her unholy. You've heard the stories. We can't ignore this any longer!" Helga heard her mother slam her fists on the table./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a pause, and then she heard her mother whisper in a much lower tone, filled with fear and concern "They call her witch, John!", the weight of accusation was heavy in her words./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga felt her heart had stopped. She creeped out of bed and craned her neck to the door to listen to her father's next words;/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't give a damn about what they think. Helga is my little girl, and all we can do is protect her and try to find a way to hide these abilities. I won't abandon her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga heard her mother sigh, and mutter in reluctant agreement. After a while, she heard their footsteps approaching as they made their way to bed, and she jumped back under her covers in time for her father's large silhouette to appear at her bedroom doorway. She peeked from one eye as he watched her feign sleep for a minute, before sighing and making his way to bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga lay still for a while longer, her thoughts racing at the revolution of her parents words. A witch?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"All she knew of witches were the dark fairytales that the older children in her village would sometimes share - of old, ugly, wicked women who flew on brooms and stirred their cauldrons. Did her mother really think she was like them?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga turned in her bed and lifted the small hand mirror that lay on the wooden table to look at her face. Illuminated in the pale moonlight, Helga didn't exactly look like a witch. She had golden hair and a plump face, and blue eyes which her father had once said would cause him trouble with the boys in the village when she was older./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She put the mirror back down and crept out of her bed, towards the small living room where the crib her father had been building now stood. She looked down into the crib, at the mattress where her siblings' tiny body would soon lay. She imagined their soft skin and little curls, their small hands reaching out to grasp one of her fingers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But then, she imagined herself an old hag, her fingers gnarled and warty, staring down at the beautiful baby with a curse on her lips. She leapt back from the cot as if it had burned her, and felt tears burn in her eyes as she remembered her mother's trembling voice as she worried about Helga harming the child./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Could she? She had harmed Rosalind, but she would never do that to her sibling. But what if she couldn't control it? What if her mother was right, what if her abilities got stronger as she grew? She remembered all the times she had moved an object through sheer will, turned the temperature of the pot up to boiling point when she was impatient for her supper. She imagined her sibling laying in his crib, being engulfed by flames because she had accidentally started a fire, the same way she had set leafs aflame outside. She pictured the baby laying beside her, giggling, only to disappear and be transported a mile west, the same as she herself had done a year back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"How could she trust herself? Maybe she was a monster. Maybe the only way to truly be a good big sister was never to be near the baby. Maybe her mother was right./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She should leave. The thought crossed Helga's mind, and she imagined where she would go. She had no other family, her neighbours wouldn't take her in, her family had little money and she would feel too guilty to steal anyway, never mind that even if she did have money she would have nowhere to go./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Where did witches live? Helga recalled the story her dad had told her back when she was very young, of a wicked witch who lured two children into her home made of sweets in the forest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga thought of the Oak tree where she spent most of her time. She liked being in nature, and maybe that's where someone as wicked as her should be. Far away from her sibling, away from her family, away from the normal people in the village./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With that, Helga took one last look at the little crib, and whispered "I love you little brother or sister. I want to keep you safe. Maybe one day you will come to the forest and see me, and I promise not to eat you. Please don't be afraid of me, I love you very much."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She then pulled on her knitted jumper and worn out boots, and made her way quietly out of the door, and headed towards the woodland in the dead of night, her heart full of sorrow and determination to keep her sibling safe./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""John, we can't keep pretending that nothing is happening! You've seen it too. The flowers changing colours, the cat's broken leg which miraculously healed overnight? Helga has… unnatural abilities. It isn't normal!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"John, her father, sighed heavily, his voice weary and tinged with worry. "I know, Mary. I've seen it too, and I can't pretend to understand it any more than you do. But we can't jump to conclusions. She's just a child."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""But what of the incident with Rosalind?" Her mother replied sharply./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga felt her cheeks colour with shame as she recalled the memory of when she had somehow transported a girl from the village named Rosalind to the top of an oak tree after she found her throwing stones at her cat Marmalade. She wasn't even sure what she had done, she only knew that she had taken one look at the cat's mangled back leg and Rosalind's cruel sneering face, and felt a surge of anger, and suddenly Rosalind was hanging from the top of the tree by the very same leg./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga had run at once to the village for help, and of course they had blamed her, which she deserved. Ever since, Rosalind had refused to speak to her, and her once friendly neighbours had become cold and suspicious, shunning her and her family./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Rosalind is a cruel child" Her father's voice returned her to the present. " She has been tormenting Helga for years now, and it's a miracle nothing has happened before. My heart does not bleed for the girl, she deserved what all she got. Besides, no harm came to her other than a nasty shock."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well it frightens me!" Her mother replied. "Look at what she is capable of at 10 years old! What will happen if it gets worse? God forbid, what if she loses her temper with the baby once they arrive?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"At this, Helga felt her eyes sting with indignant tears. She could imagine her mother cradling her growing bump protectively, the way she always did when Helga was near. It made Helga feel like a monster. She had been so excited when she learned she was to have a sibling, and had vowed to be the best big sister she could be. She already loved the child, and she hadn't even met them yet. But her mother had been even more wary around her since she had found out, eyeing her distrustfully and jumping at every loud bang and noise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga had not long ago stitched a gift for her soon to be sibling, a wonky bear with a smiling face. As she stitched clumsily, she had noticed the bear grinning and winking at her, and laughed back, and thought only of how much her baby sibling would always have a friend in the bear the same way she did with her cat Marmalade. She had presented it to her mother, who had taken one look at the teddy bear's grinning and winking face, and let out a blood curdling scream. She had screamed non stop about the bear being wicked and cursed, and thrown him in the fire. Helga didn't know what she had done that was so wicked, but she supposed she had done something as her mother hadn't spoken to her for a week after and refused to come out of her room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She listened now to her fathers hushed tones as he replied to her mother. "I understand your fear, Mary, but Helga is a good girl, she wouldn't dream of hurting her brother or sister. We can't turn on her like the rest of them, she's our own flesh and blood."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A child with powers we cannot comprehend! It's not right, John. It's not godly. And you know how the villagers talk. They call her unholy. You've heard the stories. We can't ignore this any longer!" Helga heard her mother slam her fists on the table./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a pause, and then she heard her mother whisper in a much lower tone, filled with fear and concern "They call her witch, John!", the weight of accusation was heavy in her words./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga felt her heart had stopped. She creeped out of bed and craned her neck to the door to listen to her father's next words;/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I don't give a damn about what they think. Helga is my little girl, and all we can do is protect her and try to find a way to hide these abilities. I won't abandon her."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga heard her mother sigh, and mutter in reluctant agreement. After a while, she heard their footsteps approaching as they made their way to bed, and she jumped back under her covers in time for her father's large silhouette to appear at her bedroom doorway. She peeked from one eye as he watched her feign sleep for a minute, before sighing and making his way to bed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga lay still for a while longer, her thoughts racing at the revolution of her parents words. A witch?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"All she knew of witches were the dark fairytales that the older children in her village would sometimes share - of old, ugly, wicked women who flew on brooms and stirred their cauldrons. Did her mother really think she was like them?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga turned in her bed and lifted the small hand mirror that lay on the wooden table to look at her face. Illuminated in the pale moonlight, Helga didn't exactly look like a witch. She had golden hair and a plump face, and blue eyes which her father had once said would cause him trouble with the boys in the village when she was older./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She put the mirror back down and crept out of her bed, towards the small living room where the crib her father had been building now stood. She looked down into the crib, at the mattress where her siblings' tiny body would soon lay. She imagined their soft skin and little curls, their small hands reaching out to grasp one of her fingers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But then, she imagined herself an old hag, her fingers gnarled and warty, staring down at the beautiful baby with a curse on her lips. She leapt back from the cot as if it had burned her, and felt tears burn in her eyes as she remembered her mother's trembling voice as she worried about Helga harming the child./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Could she? She had harmed Rosalind, but she would never do that to her sibling. But what if she couldn't control it? What if her mother was right, what if her abilities got stronger as she grew? She remembered all the times she had moved an object through sheer will, turned the temperature of the pot up to boiling point when she was impatient for her supper. She imagined her sibling laying in his crib, being engulfed by flames because she had accidentally started a fire, the same way she had set leafs aflame outside. She pictured the baby laying beside her, giggling, only to disappear and be transported a mile west, the same as she herself had done a year back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"How could she trust herself? Maybe she was a monster. Maybe the only way to truly be a good big sister was never to be near the baby. Maybe her mother was right./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She should leave. The thought crossed Helga's mind, and she imagined where she would go. She had no other family, her neighbours wouldn't take her in, her family had little money and she would feel too guilty to steal anyway, never mind that even if she did have money she would have nowhere to go./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Where did witches live? Helga recalled the story her dad had told her back when she was very young, of a wicked witch who lured two children into her home made of sweets in the forest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Helga thought of the Oak tree where she spent most of her time. She liked being in nature, and maybe that's where someone as wicked as her should be. Far away from her sibling, away from her family, away from the normal people in the village./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"With that, Helga took one last look at the little crib, and whispered "I love you little brother or sister. I want to keep you safe. Maybe one day you will come to the forest and see me, and I promise not to eat you. Please don't be afraid of me, I love you very much."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She then pulled on her knitted jumper and worn out boots, and made her way quietly out of the door, and headed towards the woodland in the dead of night, her heart full of sorrow and determination to keep her sibling safe./p