The long, gnarled nose appeared first. Then the hands reached up to grab the next rung of the ladder, as the witch climbed from the basement of her little shack. Her long, crooked fingers wrapped around the ladder several times, like a python wringing life from its victim. The boy wondered what could be in the basement of such a small shack. It was probably filled with worms and spiders, and other slithery, crawly things.
The witch finally emerged, and held the smooth pebbles out for the boy to grab. He recoiled for a moment, then realized he was showing her his fear. He thought for a moment, then pulled his bag over, and held it out beneath her twisty, craggy hand. She gruffed and squinched up her face, then relented and dropped the pebbles in the bag.
The witch growled a bit, and left her hand out, waiting for payment. The boy pulled another, smaller bag out of his pocket. Before he had a chance to hand it to her, one of her fingers darted out like a lizard tongue and coiled around the pouch, then around the base of her own finger and hand to lock in her grip. The boy was still holding the pouch before he realized what had happened, and jumped at the sight as she yanked the pouch away.
“Those pebbles will do you fine,” she groaned. The words seemed to gurgle in her throat, and what seemed to be black slithering worms moved between her teeth as she smiled.
The boy let out a small grunt, and could taste his breakfast in his throat. He ran out the door with his pebbles, and out to the edge of the witch’s domain. His friends were waiting for him there. He dumped the pebbles on the ground.
“These’re them! I did it! I got the magic pebbles!” The boy muffled his shouting to a whisper.
The other boys, except Tommy were thoroughly impressed. Tommy was the one who dared Jimmy to get the pebbles, but he was also the oldest boy in the group. He knew there was no such thing as witches. He had made up the whole thing. Maybe Jimmy was smarter than he gave him credit for, and was playing them all. Tommy scratched his head. “Really? Was there really a witch in there? What did she look like then?”
“She was disgusting. She had these really long fingers, like snakes, and black worms in her teeth, and …”
“That’s impossible! There’s no such thing as witches! I made the whole thing up! Now I know you’re lying! Don’t listen to him, he’s just making up more stories to play us as fools…”
Tommy was interrupted by a loud creaking noise. All the boys crouched behind the bushes, their eyes fixed on the little shack. They could see a bright lamp inside. A dark image seemed to emerge, blocking the light of the lamp. The boys suddenly realized that the sky had become much darker, and a fog was beginning to roll in.
The witch turned and closed the door behind her, then made her way toward the forest behind the shack. She moved slowly, bent low to the ground, nearly crawling. Her hands kept her steady, with the fingers of her right hand slithering through the dirt, melding with the tree branches. The fingers of her left hand bent along every knuckle along the surface like hundreds of inch worms, each finger stretching out several feet.
Jimmy looked around at the other boys, and saw that they all had their mouths wide open in amazement, including Tommy. “See, I told you!”
“Sh,” Tommy whispered.
As she moved along, she seemed more and more as if she were melding with the surrounding forest. Her cape seemed to grow branches, leaves, and sticks until you could no longer see a cape. As she seemed to become one with the Earth, only a leaf-strewn bump was discernible. When the bump seemed to stop moving, the boys ran up to inspect it. It was just a bump in the ground. The witch had disappeared.