Mara couldn’t recall living in another place. Her house has always been the last house, which was actually a cosy cottage on the dimly lit Peak Street in the small town of Peaches. Yes, her town was called Peaches, although there wasn’t anything peachy here as most people were farmers and teachers. You could find a diner or two, a few grocery stores, and bars. They only had one community school and one hospital. It was a town where everyone knew everyone.
She was 12 years old and a timid girl with bright auburn hair and freckles scattered on her face. Her eyes were the colour of the sky just after it rained—clear and bright blue—and her body was smaller than other girls her age. She spoke to no one, and no one spoke to her. It bothered her that she was always alone and had no one to talk to but her grandmother, whom she calls Nana at home. Everywhere she went, whispers trailed her steps.
‘That’s her’.
‘The child of the one at the end of Peak Street’.
‘I heard she is a witch’.
‘No, my mother told me it was her mother and that old woman that lives with her who are witches’.
‘We should stay clear of her’.
‘Yes, we should. We don’t know what the daughter of a witch can do’. Mara was tired of hearing it all. Sometimes she screamed back at those who said these things. ‘Talk to me! Just talk to me! Why do you say things behind my back?’, she said to them. ‘I wish they would just talk to me’, she always thought to herself. She never spends time with other people. Even when she gets sent on an errand, she simply buys what she needs and leaves immediately. No one wanted her around for a longer time than necessary.
That cottage at the end of the dimly lit peak street was right at the edge of the forest. It was a two-bedroom cottage painted blue, and it was surrounded by a white picket fence. They had a vegetable farm behind their cottage where they farmed cabbages, tomatoes, and spinach, which they sold to neighbours. She was tired of the veggies, though, as she sometimes craved a warm, hot chicken burger. But the farm was all Nana had to feed them both and send her to school.
Their dinner on this particular night was carrot stew and potatoes. They ate in silence, as usual. She wanted to try those fries she saw her classmate, Frank, eating during their lunch break at school earlier that day. She sliced her potatoes, dipped them in stew, and ate. ‘At least I don’t starve’, she thought to herself in gratitude.
‘Mara, my dear’, her grandmother said to her in her usual way of getting her attention.
‘Yes, Nana’, she answered.
‘You deserve an explanation about what happened to your mother and your father’, Nana said.
Mara observed the seriousness on her Nana’s face and let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she had been holding. ‘Okay’, she replied, nodding weakly.
‘Your mother, Emerald, was a beautiful girl. You have her bright auburn hair, but where your eyes are the colour of the sky after it rains, hers are a vivid green. You have your father’s eyes and his freckles’.
Mara listened attentively in silence. ‘It is the first time she mentioned anything about my father’, she thought to herself.
‘Have you been called a witch before, Mara?’, Nana asked, gazing at her sternly.
Shocked, Mara stuttered yes in affirmation.
She heard a gush of breath come from Nana’s lips and watched Nana’s stern gaze turn to one of worry. ‘What’s wrong, Nana?’, she asked.
‘I am sorry, Mara. I should’ve told you earlier, but I had to wait until you were old enough’. Mara looked at her grandmother in silence.
‘We come from a long line of witches. I am a witch; your mother was, and definitely you must be too’, Nana continued.
Mara could only listen in awe.
‘We are known as green witches. We have the ability to heal and nurture all things in nature. Emerald was a soft one, and she was foolish enough to fall in love with a human who may never understand why we are what we are. She had you when she was 17. And before that, James, your father, ghosted her when she was five months into pregnancy. He left without notice. He’s the son of the man who owns the diner, which you pass by on your way back from school. James’s father didn’t want anything to do with us either. After birthing you, Emerald died three months later from heartbreak. She tried to find James before she died, but she couldn’t because he had left Peaches, and she hasn’t been out of Peaches before’, Nana told her.
‘Woah! So, I am a witch? I can do things that others can’t?’, Mara asked excitedly.
‘Yes, and starting tomorrow, I will teach you all about it’, Nana assured. ‘The life of a witch can be solitary most of the time, and so you must learn to be content to be alone. We do not use our powers to harm others, but you can protect yourself and someone you love if they try to harm you or them’.
‘Oh’, Mara said, wondering if she'll ever try to hurt someone.
‘Do you hate your father?’, Nana asked.
‘No, Nana. I don’t think so. How can I hate someone I do not even know?’, she said.
‘That's good, Mara. Do you hate the life that was given to you, then?’
‘Sometimes. I always feel alone, and I have nothing but you, school, and vegetables’.
Nana smiled at her and said, ‘You will have more than that soon enough. You can leave Peaches, you know?’.
‘I can?’, Mara queried hopefully.
‘Sure, you can. It is why I am trying to put you through a decent education, so you can have limitless chances to create a different life for yourself. Just promise me that you will always choose yourself first if you happen to find yourself alone without me'.
‘Yes, Nana. I promise. But what about love?’
‘You would find love in due time. We, witches, only love once in our lifetime, and most of us have our partners remain with us until their deaths. Emerald was unlucky. You will find yours. My luck is with you, Mara’.
Mara started to cry in happiness and relief.
‘What is it, Mara?’, Nana asked.
‘Nothing. I am happy there’s more to me than just what I used to know’, she replied as she wiped her tears from her face with the back of her left hand. ‘Nana?’, she called out.
‘Yes, dear?’
‘Please, promise to buy me chicken and fries once every month?’
Nana could only laugh. ‘Ah! Mara, my dear, you’ve got yourself a deal’, she said.
They both talked about her heritage all night, and Mara was all for it, wide awake, soaking up all the information that Nana was telling her.