Ella's Tight Green Pants

Today was a special day. It was the day of the ceremony.

The villagers saved up all year to buy their children's first wooden toy. Only the richest families could afford to give their kids wood so early, but it was worth it. The kids would usually carry the toy around for a few years and then put it in a special place, where it would be kept for them until they were old enough to be married. Some parents had been saving their whole lives and still couldn't afford any toys because of how expensive it was. Others couldn't afford anything else and just hoped that their kids would find joy in simple things like rocks and sticks when they got older.

But for some families, like mine, we had enough money to buy more than one toy. This year I get two! My dad made sure that I have a nice one from the store in town, but he also made me my own wooden toy too! He carved it himself out of a branch he found in the forest and painted it blue with black dots on the side. It was perfect!

I reached into my pocket to make sure that my father's gift was still there. It felt smooth and cool under my fingertips as I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at it in my hand, admiring him for his craftsmanship. But as I held it up to look at its detail, something happened…

"Ey now, what are you doing there, girl? Put that down! It's not fitting for the likes of you!"

I spun around to see a tall woman dressed in ragged clothes with her face hidden behind a dark shawl glaring at me from behind a tree. She had nearly snuck up on me!

"I-I…" I stammered, putting my dad's toy back into my pocket quickly and taking a step backward toward home. "Nothing. I'm going home now."

"Not so fast, little girl," she said with an evil sneer twisting her face into something ghastly that sent chills down my spine despite the warm summer sun shining down on us. "You've caused quite the stir in this village, haven't you? You know what happens to those who cause trouble, don't you?"

"No." I replied simply while shaking even harder than before, trying to keep myself from crying out loud in front of this strange woman who didn't belong anywhere near our town. She was clearly here for evil reasons; I could tell by her tattered dress and twisted expression but she didn't look dangerous either… She looked like she could barely walk on her own two feet! Was she sick? Why was she hiding behind a tree? What did she mean by "caused trouble"? Was that why no one ever talked about me? Had people been talking about me behind my back?

"Well, if you've caused trouble, then you're going to pay for it." The woman said as she hobbled toward me, much too fast for someone who looked so ill. She grabbed me roughly by the arm with hands so cold they burned against my skin, while her body radiated waves of heat immediately warming me up despite being draped in woolen fabrics meant to be worn in wintertime only. She pulled me so close that I thought she might bite right into my flesh before shouting right into my ear with an angry hiss: "Do you want to be cursed?!"

I shook even more violently than before, unable to speak properly let alone respond coherently due to sheer terror. All I could do was shake and stare at this ugly old lady with eyes wide open but seeing nothing at all, as an icy chill crept up from the soles of my feet, through my legs, over my stomach, and all over until every inch of skin felt frozen solid from head to toe. Any longer in her grasp and I might have succumbed to death right then and there!

Suddenly, however, her grip slackened slightly, allowing some blood flow back into my extremities, along with some feeling back into parts of my brain that had gone numb moments earlier. A faint voice whispered deep inside my mind:

'Run.'

It wasn't clear or loud enough to understand exactly what it meant or where I should run off to, but nonetheless, some instinct told me that running away now was probably a good idea. So I did just that, without thinking twice about anything else around me anymore! As soon as I broke free from her grasp, I ran off as fast as possible while hearing only one thing echoing between the trees behind me.

Just before reaching home though, another voice interrupted that first voice, telling me "No". That voice wasn't clear either; just a deep feeling that seemed to come from inside of me, telling me not to go home just yet… So instead of going straight home, I went into the forest instead! At first, all was silent except for some birds chirping somewhere far off in the distance; but then after