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The Witching Hour

The Night of the Blood Moon

By T. K. WilsonPublished 2 years ago 12 min read
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The Witching Hour
Photo by Altınay Dinç on Unsplash

The night is dark except for the red tint that the blood moon is casting over the fields as the storm clouds roll in. In the cottage next to the field lives a little old woman who has been there forever. Her skin is thin and her voice very raspy and cold. Most would call her a witch, but she is really a creature of the night who can only conjure during the witching hour. When the clock strikes Midnight, she begins to chant and bring forth her dearest friends. Poor thing, that's the only way she has any friends. They have all passed before her, so once a week during her special hour, she calls to them and they tell her what death is like and catch up with her world.

On this particular night, her husband brings her baby boy with him. They don't usually come because it creates so much emotion in the old woman. And this night is no different. She begins to cry and hug and kiss all over them. Her husband tells her that this is the last time she will see them... any of them. "My dear", he starts, "We have things we must do before we are ready for our next lives and you can't continue to live in the past! You must use all of your witching hours to heal this Earth before you leave it." She begs them not to do her like this, but they all say their goodbyes and disappear one at a time. The last to go was her husband. He said, "they have allowed me to leave our son with you, but because of your old age, he will be 18 years old when you awake in the morning and he will have memories of him growing up with you and without me being here for the last 10 years. You must teach him our ways, so that he may continue our work when it is time for you to leave this Earth." "But it is such hard and lonely work", she argues, "I don't want that for our precious son!" Her husband replies, "You must agree or he must leave with me!" She agrees and her husband hugs and kisses her one last time and disappears.

She rocks her son, singing to him until just before dawn, then lies him in her bed and goes back to her rocking chair to sleep until he awakens. She is startled when she awakens to see the very handsome man he has become overnight. Looking so much like his father that is breaks her heart. "Good morning, Mother! Why do you look at me like you are seeing a ghost?" She replies, "You have just awoken me from a dream about your father and you look so much like he did when he left us and went to heaven. It startled me!" She got up and crossed the room and hugged him tight. "We will need another bed now, George. We will place it here for you, so that you can protect me, if anything should happen. The room that you just woke in is mine and you have been sleeping there for far too long." So George went into the woods to get just the right wood to make a bed that he would love to sleep in. His mother got cloth and stuffing material together to make the most comfortable mattress and pillow that her son could dream of. By midnight, George had the most perfect place for him to lay his head and rest.

"George, it is now time for you to begin learning what we must do during the Witching Hour. That is the reason you have slept in my bed all these years. It is only for an adult to know and since you are an adult now, your lessons start now. It will take many years and you have to pay close attention, so that when I leave this Earth, you can continue my work. My mother taught me when I turned 18 and your father's father taught him when he was adult. We are a very special breed and we help Mother Earth to heal and survive from the torture and trauma that the humans do to her every day. There are less and less of us, while the human population grows daily and does greater damage every day. So, our job is most important and very hard. I will start slow." She began to take various herbs and other ingredients from her shelf. "You must first learn to shape shift so that the humans don't see you as you work." She handed George a cookbook and told him to turn to page 666 and read it to her. As he read it, she measured each ingredient into a small caldron. When done, she hung it over the fire and told him, "This will brew for 10 minutes, then I will strain it into 2 glasses and we will drink. I am excited to see what your animal will be!"

"What is your animal, Mother?" George asked. "You will see" she replied. After 10 minutes, she strained half of the mixure into a bowl and the other half was strained into 2 small glasses. "The mixture in the bowl is for us to turn back into ourselves. Slowly drink the mixture and we wait." They both drank sitting across the room from each other. "Does the change hurt?" George asked. His mother replied, "Only a little tingly." And with that they both changed almost instantly! George was a huge barn owl and his mother was a small snowy owl. His mother flew out the door and George followed. She showed him some of the places that she would normally do her work and then they flew back home and drank the rest of the potion. "Mother, That was AMAZZZZING!!!" George said. He was so excited that he just went on and on about the adventure. "We will begin our real work tomorrow. We will start by learning a spell or two before we go to bed, then we will get plenty of rest. When we wake in the morning we will gather all we need for our Witching Hour of work, so that we are ready when the clock strikes Midnight." George was all ears and taking notes, asking questions and catching on very quickly! Of course, he was the child of 2 very powerful beings.

The first time George yawned, his mother told him that it was time for them to sleep. And that they would pick up lessons tomorrow afternoon, after a nice big brunch.

When George woke, he could smell bacon and waffles and coffee, that his mother had ready for brunch. She also had a fairly long list of items for him to begin collecting as soon as he was well-fed. "Read the list as you eat, so that if you have any questions, you can ask now. I have many things that I have to take care of too. We should be able to get much done tonight with both of us."

They worked hard all day! And when everything was gathered, they took a nap to get the energy up for their hour of work. When they woke from their nap, they ate a light dinner and waited for Midnight. George's mother put the final points on the lessons that he needed to know. He asked, "Can we start the potion before Midnight, to get a good start?" "No, George, that is the thing. Our magic ONLY works during the Witching Hour. It actually keeps us safe from the horrible humans that live on this Earth right now." his mother explained. As the clock striked Midnight, George began reading the recipe again. Having him read it to her made it so much faster to make. And as it brewed, she began showing him more of the spells that they would use that night and they put the items together to do each spell. She showed him the spells she wanted him to do and reminded him which area he would do each spell in and told him a little of what she would be doing as he did his. When the potion was ready, she strained it into the vessels and reminded George, that he had to work efficiently and quickly so that he could be done and back to the cabin by 10 minutes before 1am, so that they could change back before the magic was gone for the night. He understood and set about to drinking his potion. As soon as he became the barn owl, he grabbed his items and off he flew. And she did the same.

At 10 minutes until one, they both flew through the door and drank the potion again. "I am SO proud of you, George! You were able to do all of the spells in record time! Did everything go smoothly?" George said, "Yes, Mother. I even took a nice flight over the countryside." His mother was shocked! "George, you must be very careful! The humans will shoot a barn owl, because the really ones have been known to eat their chickens and they are always on the lookout for them." she warned. He promised to never go exploring again.

The had a snack as she taught George what he would need for the next night and as soon as he yawned, they went to bed. They continued this schedule for many, many months and George's magic became just as strong, possibly stronger than his mother's. Which was very good, because his mother began to feel very weak and sickly.

One night as they flew in together and drank their potion, George's mother fell to the floor. George picked her up and carried her to her bed. As he sat on the edge of her bed holding her hand, he could feel that she was getting cold. He got another quilt and covered her and asked her what she needed. "The only thing I need is your promise to keep up our work! Stay safe and hopefully another creature of the night will come to you and you can teach them our ways, so they may help you. But, PLEASE, be very careful and don't fall for any tricks." She handed him a beautiful red stone and finished, "This has been in my family since the beginning of time. It will glow hot if anyone ever tells you a lie! Keep it with you at all times. It is the only magic we have that works even when the Witching Hour isn't upon us. I must go now and be with your father and the others to fulfill our next mission. You will be with us again if and when your healing is no longer needed here. I hope with all my heart that that will be soon! But my mind believes it won't. I will watch over you when I can, but I believe you are more than capable of this task. Be happy, my son, and know that your father and I have always and will always love you!" with that, she took her last breath and vanished.

George didn't shed a tear, because he knew what he had to do and he knew that his mother was now where she needed to be. He went about making the list of things for the next day as his mother had always done and when he yawned, he went to bed. He woke the next morning and started the bacon, waffles and coffee. When he was well-fed, he went about his chores of gathering the things he would need for that night and when he had gathered them all, he went to the cabin and took his nap. When ha awoke, there was a knock on the door. He put his red stone in his pocket and answered the door. There was a very beautiful, raven haired maiden, who seemed extremely scared. George let her in, but had a gut feeling that this was too early for the universe to think he needed help already. As he made his sandwiches for dinner, he made her a couple too. He kept the talk light hearted and tried to get to know her, but she was very evasive, which made him even more suspicious. As the hour came upon 11pm he decided it was either time to rid himself of her company or make her his helper. He asked her, "Do you like Barn Owls?" She gasped and said, "I detest them, one ate my daddy's chickens and we have hunted them every since!" The red stone showed that was what she believed, therefore she was one of the humans that her mother had always warned her about. Just then, the clock began to strike midnight. George gave the girl a few apples and told her she must be on her way. He pointed her back towards the middle of the forrest, because he k new there was one thing he had to do before he started his other tasks for the night. As soon as he closed the door behind her, he began making his potion. As soon as he strained it into it's containers, drank his and changed, he flew after the girl and landed on her head. She screamed but they were too far into the forrest for anyone but the nearby animals to hear her. George had already plucked out her eyes, by the time the wolf pack, bears and foxes got there. She never saw what was coming and as they finished her off, George flew home and went about his tasks, knowing that he would be more than happy to do them alone as long as he lived, if that was what the universe wanted. He knew he was more than capable and that it would be the safest way to go. And so it was!

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About the Creator

T. K. Wilson

I've always told my true event stories to friends, but decided to try my hand at writing fiction. Wish me luck and give me any support that you think I might deserve! Even if it is a read and subscribe to read more... THANK YOU :-)

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