Winchester: Everything Dies Here...

Everything dies here……. The dark and raspy quote of the witch next door. She would linger at the gate just as that statement would linger in my mind. I became intrigued by this awkwardly mysterious woman whispering incantations and dragging her old rake across the cement and rocks. I decided to contact my landlord, David, who was always there to help me whenever I had any issues. I compiled an email describing the meeting I got myself into with the neighbor. I explained the way I discovered her watching through the fence, the way she behaved and the things she said. Apparently this was not entirely a surprise to him.

David and his family had in fact met the lovely woman next door. She would peek through the hole into the yard and watch them as well. He exclaimed that she was quite an odd woman who always made them feel a bit uncomfortable. Fortunately, I was not alone in this. He said she was not just a woman of an eccentric nature though and she could be dangerous and to stay away from her. Do not talk to her and keep the family away from her. He ended the email with “Please, just trust me”. I covered the hole in the fence after that. She was a very short old woman as she was bent slightly in the back from old age so it would not be possible for her to look over the fence on her own. When we would go outside, I would have some anxiety about it as I had hoped not to come in contact with this woman.

There was a day when the children were napping. I went out back with the dog. It was a cold day, a bit windy. The sky was filled with dark gray clouds and little sprinkles of rain falling. It was silent all except the wind. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like a child humming right next to me on the porch. My dog watched and starred in the same direction I heard the humming. I stood there and watched a few moments. I heard a creaking next to me in the women’s yard and a slam. It was her screen door and she had come out into her yard. She was making this low, deep growling noise in her throat. She then started saying some sort of incantation in what sounded like Latin or something. It was quiet but loud enough for me to hear. Once she started reciting this, I heard what sounded like little footsteps running into the house, and one of the french doors flew open. As if someone ran to it and quickly opened it to run inside. Yes, it was windy, but it was not the wind that opened the door. It was completely latched shut. My dog started watching towards her yard and all the hair on his back stood up in a fawn mohawk from the top of his head all the way down his back to his tail. He was growling which was rare for him.

The witch began laughing mischievously and started running her rake across the wooden fence separating her yard from ours, the fence she would look through. The noise was horrid and loud. I watched her walking back and forth through the cracks between the wood panels of the fence. The white of her gown drifted past slowly. The rake dropped down and was run on the ground up to here cement porch until the same creaking of the screen door started then a slam. She had just gone inside. I stood there in utter disbelief that this event had just taken place but still creepily amazed because I knew that it did in fact just happen. What the hell did I just live through, and what could it possibly mean.

To be continued ...