The Witchy One | Community Engagement | Friendship

Are You Ready for Witchy’s Next Big Project?

She dared say what she needed…and wasn’t prepared for the answer

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” — A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Last night, Witchy and her cauldron, Enchantra, joined me for dinner on the patio. It was a warm spring evening, although once the sun was well and truly gone for the night, the air grew chilly in a hurry. I pulled my shawl tightly around my body and shivered.

“Time for this big sissy to go inside and light a fire! Care to join me?” I asked my guests.

Enchantra smiled warmly. “Thank you for your kind invitation, Liberty. I think I’ll head back and do the same as you. I know how Witchy loves returning to a warm, cosy cottage.”

“Enchantra, you are so good to me!” Witchy gushed, smiling fondly at her lifelong companion. “But really, if you want to stay and visit a little longer, I don’t mind. It would be fun to walk back together. We can light the fire later.”

“Thank you, Witchy, it’s fine, you two carry on chatting and I’ll head back now. I’ll take my time and gather some berries and other bits for your breakfast on the way back.”

I was amazed. “I don’t know how you can see anything at this time of night! It’s pitch black in the woods!”

Enchantra smiled back. “Witchy’s magic might be broken but mine isn’t!”

And with that, there was a round of “goodnights” before Witchy and I headed for my parlour.

Soon, there was a roaring fire to warm us as we settled in with cups of licorice tea.

Ever since my friends arrived for dinner, I had sensed that Witchy wanted to say something. I suspected Enchantra felt it, too. Although she and I had left deliberate gaps in the conversation, Witchy hadn’t brought up any concerns. With the fire crackling nicely, I sat back in my chair and let silence fill the air. Perhaps she would finally be ready to speak up.

It didn’t take long. “Uh…Liberty…could I — would you — I mean…”

“What’s up, Witchy?”

“Well, today I read that interview you did. The one with your friend, Vidya Sury, and…”

Her voice trailed off. “And what? Did you like it?”

“Oh, yes! You and Vidya made me laugh! It was so much fun! And…well…there were so many great comments, too, from lots of people…your friends, her friends…”

I remained silent, giving her a chance to gather her thoughts.

“You make friends so easily,” she continued. “And I think Vidya does, too. But I — I — well, it’s hard for me.”

“You’ve made a lot of friends since you came to England!”

“Well, yes, but…but not the kind you and Vidya have.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t see or talk to my friends very often. It doesn’t help that I live in the middle of the woods. And — well — when I do see them, we don’t talk about things the way you do with your friends on Medium.”

“I suppose that’s partly because we’re writers and we like to communicate. Plus we’re glad to meet a lot of like-minded people who get what it’s like to be a writer. It can be kind of lonely sometimes.”

“You never seem lonely!”

“Mostly, I’m not. Plus I like being alone.”

“Oh, no! Should I go home?” She rose from her chair.

“No, of course not! Please, sit down. I mean, I like being alone in general. Probably too much, actually. I don’t have a great need to be with other people a lot of the time like some people do. Are you lonely, Witchy?”

Almost immediately, a couple of blue tears perched on her lower eyelids. “If I said ‘yes,’ would that be a bad thing?”

“Not at all! Why would you think it’s a bad thing?”

“Because I have you and Enchantra, and I spend lots of time with both of you. I wouldn’t want either of you to think I don’t appreciate it.”

“Of course I don’t feel that way, and I’m 100% percent certain Enchantra doesn’t either.”

“That’s a relief! But…even though I spend a lot of time with you and her, when I’m by myself I still feel lonely sometimes.”

“That’s understandable. I mean, you spent several centuries in the Transylvania Forest with many other witches in your coven. And you had lots of other friends, too, the vampires and — ”

“Not the pinhead!”

“Indeed. Ex-boyfriend-pinhead-vampires excluded, of course.”

“Of course.”

“You were used to being around a lot of others much of the time. And I know you’ve done your best to make friends here.”

“It’s so hard for me.”

“I know. People are often afraid of you at first because you don’t look like they do. And I know you’re actually quite shy.”

“I am! And I don’t like that about myself! I wish I could be more like you!”

“Why would you want to be more like I am? What do you mean?”

“You can talk to everyone! You make it look so easy!”

“I’ve had a little more practice, I guess. Especially out here in a world that doesn’t always understand or appreciate you and your differences.”

“I wish they did,” she almost whispered as she hung her head.

“I do, too, Witchy. They don’t know what they’re missing. You’re so precious.”

“I am?”

“Yes! Everyone is unique and different from everyone else. But you’re even more unique and different. That should be celebrated!”

“It should?”

“Absolutely!”

“Well, then…maybe…uh…the thing I wanted to ask…”

“Go on, what is it?”

“Well, I was wondering if…I mean, that interview you did…it seems like a good way to make friends. I mean, you have a lot of them on Medium.”

“Yes! And you have a lot of friends there, too, Witchy!”

“I know! It’s been so exciting! And my publication is starting to grow, too!”

“Yes, I saw that a couple of days ago! I’m so happy for you! Now…what is it you want to ask?”

“Well, you can say ‘no’ if you want…”

“I’m aware of that, but thank you for saying so.”

“I was wondering…hoping…um, maybe you would let me do one of those interviews, please? Just one, and maybe I could make more friends? And maybe I could make your friends laugh, like you and Vidya made me laugh? I love making people laugh.”

“Witchy! That’s an excellent idea!”

“It is?”

“Yes! In fact…would you like to do all of them?”

My little blue friend’s jaw dropped open and she stared at me, blinking for several seconds. “All of them?”

“Sure! Why not? It would be good for you! What’s the matter? You look a little…freaked out.”

“Um…uh…all of them. Oh, boy…um…what if I don’t do a good job?”

“What if you do a great job?” I countered. “And you’ll only be interviewing our Pub Family members who agree to it, so it’s not like you’re forcing anyone to do something they wouldn’t like. Besides, they’re all so lovely and kind.”

“But what if — ”

I held up my hand to silence her. “Stop thinking about negatives, Witchy. I know — you have a lot of fears. I know you’re anxious much of the time and we’re working on that, right?”

“Right.”

“Your fear is trying to protect you but in this case, it’s not helping. Tell it ‘thank you’ and let it go. The more you focus on it, the more you’re likely to create the very situation you fear.”

“I know, but — ”

“But nothing. Don’t say it. Don’t give it any energy. Just think about all those great comments you’ve seen from people who love you. They want you to do well. They support you on your journey.”

“What if I let them down?”

“You won’t. Remember, we’ve had the conversation about how no one is responsible for other people’s feelings?”

“Yes.” She drew in a breath and held it. I could see a “but” perched just behind her lips and was pleased when she managed to leave it there.

“Okay, then. From now on, you can do the interviews. You can borrow my questions from Vidya’s, if you want, or you can make up lots of your own.”

“Oh, boy! This is exciting! And terrifying! I’m afraid I’ll mess it up!”

“You can’t mess it up, Witchy. Trust me. You’ll do great and you’ll make more friends. The best bit is that this’ll give you more confidence.”

“I used to have a lot of that. It ran away from home after the embarrassing things that happened in the Forest and it hasn’t come back yet.”

“Then this will do the trick!”

“I have to do tricks? I can’t do any tricks! My magic is broken! I nearly blew up the Forest! I don’t dare try to do tricks!”

“No, no, I mean, the interviews should help you to find more confidence after a while.”

“Whew! You scared me for a minute.”

“Sorry. Okay, so we’re going to do this. And you know what? If you try it and it’s not for you, you can always say so and I’ll do them again. I don’t want to force you if it doesn’t feel good.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! The whole point of it is to have fun! If it’s not fun, there’s no point in doing it!”

“Okay. Thank you for telling me that.”

“I’m just so glad you wanted to try. You know who your first guest is?”

“No! Is it someone I know?”

“Yes! It’s Sally Prag! She wrote that lovely article about your Tarot contest the other day!”

“Oh, goodie! I like Sally a lot!”

“So do I. She’s a special lady. Feeling better now?”

“Yes! I’m so excited! Thank you, Liberty! I think I might actually be able to do this!”

“Of course you can, Precious. You’ll be great. You’ll see.”

Moments later, she was skipping down the path, singing merrily as she disappeared into the night.

Check out Witchy’s hilarious — um, I mean, tragic back story in this short video. She almost lets me narrate without interruption…almost.

Tagging our Pub Family to keep you in the loop about these interviews!

Dr Andrea Polzer Kris Bedenian Rodney Brazier Patti Murray Voncannon Carrie Kolar Croix Sather Deb Fiore Dina Alexander DL Nemeril Donnette Anglin, Loren Lieberthal Jimmy Misner Jr. Judy Millar Julie Gaeta Pene Hodge Karen Schwartz James Knight Laura Izquierdo Dr. Preeti Singh Radhika Iyer Sam Branstner Sharon Sayler, Author Umme Salma Susie Kearley Tamil T Mann Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Lion~ Wendy S. Bradfield Yana Bostongirl Jo An Fox-Wright Maddox Suma Narayan Penny Walsh Shameem Anwar Irene Fassler Sandy Peckinpah Trista Signe Ainsworth Slow train A.H. Mehr Alex Frederickson Ashley Nicole B.R. Shenoy Carolyn Hastings Christina Christine Vann, MSc. Ellie Jacobson ✍🏻 The Soulful Scribbler Isabel Young Kaz Rochford Nia Simone McLeod Nicole Hilbig Patricia Wright Pam Winter Rachella Angel Page Jodian Marie Thomas, MS, Bsc, Asc L Burton Muhammad Abdullah Kate Aries Danielle Hestand Sahil Patel Jessica Rabel Sharing Words Malky McEwan Belinda Castle Barbara Cook Tyra Jaide Megan Llorente Eko BP Drashti Shroff Evergreen Eden Bernie Pullen Hamsalekha Rhea Anglesey CARMEN F MICSA Robin Oakman Mary Vraa Libby Shively McAvoy Kristina God Niall Leah Debbra Lupien, Voice of the Akashic Records Toya Qualls-Barnette June Kirri Vashni Stories Dawn :) Divya Goswami BichoDoMato Evon Carole Olsen Cosmin Firta Jennifer Dunne Kylie van Gelder Neha Sonney, Author Christina Sponias Ian Hanson Ira Robinson JF Danskin Patrick OConnell Mary V Elvie Lins❤️

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