The Witch Next Door by Kevin Kissane // Year 2

The Witch Next Door

It was a dry summer. All that was once green, turned gold in the harsh sun. Trees bowed like slumped shoulders, and all the bird song was quiet. All that broke the stillness was the chirp of the cicada, clicking like castanets. The homes were dry. Inside the clay hovel of a newlywed couple, the air was stale like a brick oven. Dust motes leapt up in little puffs every time a step landed. Every window and door was propped open, but no wind blew. Onion braids and drying wheat hung stilly from the ceiling. A basin of water sat on the counter, grey from reuse, and meat cured on the window sill, as flies crawled on the red membrane, tonguing the little puddles of blood.

The people too were dry. The pregnant wife lay naked in an undressed bed, the husband fanning her swollen breasts with an open bible, the only book in the house. They hated to light a fire and add to the heat, but because nothing grew in the coarse soil, meat was all they had, and fire their only choice. The husband sparked a flame and prepared a small stew of pigeon and onion. The bird, having fallen from exhaustion, was found dead at the front door. The husband spooned the brown liquid into his bride’s mouth, but her jaw hung slack and the broth dribbled down her cavernous cheek.

“No more,” gasped the wife. “Can’t you find something else husband, something green? Has nothing grown in the garden?”

The husband walked to the window and peered out. “Nothing in our garden.” He looked again. “But by some miracle, Gothel, the hag next door, grows plenty!” The husband gagged on his own breath. “That sly witch.”

“Husband I need those greens. Our baby needs them,” she pleaded.

“You know what she is don’t you? She is a whore of the devil. There is nothing I could bargain for with a creature like that.”

“But you must husband. For our sake, you must.”

The husband peered again across to the garden abundant next door. He swiftly shut the bible still in his hands and laid it upside down on the table.

As night fell on their home, the husband snuck his way over, carefully jumping the wattle fence, stepping gingerly to avoid leaving a trace. In the moonlight, he could see the abundance of Gothel’s garden; Tomatoes plump like an infant’s red rump, cabbages the size of wagon wheels, pumpkins as big as bathing tubs, and rampion, crisp and green. It was the rampion he knew his wife craved most of all, and it was this that he stuffed into his waiting satchel. So eagerly he cut leaf after leaf that he did not notice the witch appear from the shadows behind him.

She grabbed the foolish man and pulled him by his ear all the way home. The door to their home collapsed under Gothel’s force. The wife jumped out of bed and ran to her husband’s aid. The pair pleaded for mercy, but the witch demanded remuneration for the theft of her precious rampion.

“I see you are with child,” spoke the witch. “It is no secret I am past the days when I could bear my own. You will birth this child and when it arrives you will bring it to me.”

“No you mustn’t,” shouted the expecting mother.

“But that is the price, or else I will take your lives as my payment,” snapped the witch.

So, the tortured couple relented. In a few weeks’ time the child was born. The babe did not cry when she was brought into the world. Her eyes were dry, and her hair was so like the golden sun which shone above. The witch came without warning and stole the babe away. The parents never saw her again.

Gothel named the girl child Rapunzel. She took her far away to a secluded forest glen. Brick by brick the witch built them a new home, and in the meantime, the infant Rapunzel suckled from a goat, for even the witch was dry. A tower soon grew up from the ground, a skyward fallacy. Rapunzel would grow up high above the rest of the world where none could ever steal her away from the covetous witch.

In the tower, there was not much to fill little Rapunzel’s time. She often looked out the window and let the wind catch her yellow hair. She cared for the hair often which she determined never to cut. Most of her days from then on were spent brushing out the long strands, or singing from the balcony. The hair grew longer with each passing year, her voice became clearer, and Rapunzel grew ever more beautiful.

By the age of thirteen Rapunzel’s hair had grown so long that when she let it run wild out the high window, the ends swept about the ground at the base of the tower. Mother Gothel took full advantage of this. The doorway which she had used to visit Rapunzel was soon covered up with brick. A large thicket of thorny shrub grew around the base, and ivy climbed to cover the wall. It became so overgrown with briars that the fault in the brick where Gothel had patched the door was no longer visible. It was so discrete that no passer-by would ever suspect.

From then on, when Gothel came to visit, Rapunzel would wrap her hair around the window hook and dangle the rest over the edge. The mother witch would then climb the golden hair as if it were rope, all the while ignoring the gasps of pain which escaped Rapunzel’s mouth. Five years more would pass before Rapunzel would ever have a thought about leaving her tower.

Rapunzel often sat in the window, singing. Bluebirds nested in the cracks in the upper eaves of the tower. Together, Rapunzel and the birds would whistle or warble happy music. It happened that one day a prince was riding nearby when Rapunzel sang from the tower ledge. So moved by the sweet melody, the prince sought out where the sound had come from. When he arrived, he saw Mother Gothel appear before the tower. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel” she cried, “Let down your hair to me.” And the golden locks did fall, and the witch did climb her way up.

The prince watched and waited, and when at last the witch left, he made his own advances on the tower. Standing below, he called out as the witch had done. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel. Let down your hair to me.” And the golden locks did fall, and the prince did climb his way up. When he reached the heights of the tower, Rapunzel gasped. She unhooked her hair and fell back inside the tower. 

“What are you?” cried the young woman.

“Why, I’m a man,” said he.

“What is a man?” asked Rapunzel. Spending her life in a tower, Rapunzel was very ignorant of the ways of the world. The prince explained to her that in some ways men are different than women. He also told her of his home, his kingdom, the childhood he spent by the sea. He told Rapunzel that she was beautiful, and he said that he would like to kiss her if she wanted the same. He taught Rapunzel how to kiss, and before long, hours had passed.

The prince had business with his kingdom and had to leave with haste. Rapunzel let down her hair and the prince climbed back to the world below. Each blew the other a kiss and the young prince rode off for home. In her tower, Rapunzel called the bluebirds to her side. She pulled from her head a lock of golden hair. She wrapped the strands into a braided chain which she tied to the leg of a bird. She released the companion, and it flew to the Prince’s side. The prince accepted this token with gratitude and kept the chain as a bracelet around his wrist.

The prince returned to the tower many times, and Rapunzel gave him many kisses, but soon the visits would not be enough to satisfy the young lovers. “Come away with me,” begged the prince. “Leave this tall tower and join me where you can be queen and I king. I shall steal you away from this witch, and you shall be my ward to keep.” Rapunzel had never felt so cared for, and she wept.

“I will go,” said Rapunzel. “Return tonight after Mother Gothel leaves. Then I will join you in your kingdom, and at last I will know the world as others know it.”

So, the prince left once again, leaving Rapunzel alone to collect her thoughts. The prince rode a short distance into the woods to wait. He sat by a stream and fondled the yellow strands which clung to his wrist. He became lost in day dream and hummed Rapunzel’s song. It was then that Gothel happened to be passing by. Hearing Rapunzel’s song she became worried and found the prince laying in waiting. She caught the golden glint of twilight reflecting off the hairs, and knew in an instant he had been to see her precious Rapunzel.

Enraged, the witch took off at once for the tower. Rapunzel let down her hair and the witch climbed. “Hello Rapunzel,” the witch feigned ignorance.

“Hello mother dear,” cooed Rapunzel.

“Wretched girl. Speaking to me as if you were innocent. I have seen him Rapunzel. That prince has had you hasn’t he? I’ve seen him skulking below our tower. How many times has he laid with you here in our own home?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Rapunzel did not know of such things.

“You wouldn’t would you? You stupid, ignorant girl. I have done all I could to protect you, but I see you are an ungrateful child. Now I will put you where no one will find you again.” Mother Gothel took a pair of iron scissors from within her blouse and cut Rapunzel’s hair below the ears. Taking Rapunzel by the arm, she pulled her down the stairs, which were long out of use, and knocked down the brick wall from within. Muffling Rapunzel’s screams, Gothel dragged the girl off into the night, abandoning her to the wilds.

Much later that evening, the prince came calling at the tower. As usual, long golden hair fell from above, and the prince made his way up without difficulty. He threw his legs up over the tower bannister and entered the darkened room.

“Rapunzel,” he called, and a pair of soft lips met his own. A tongue slid along his gums, and a sharp bite drew blood. The prince pulled back in surprise. It was mother Gothel who wore Rapunzel’s cut hair like a wig.

“Hello, my prince,” said Gothel. “Are you surprised? Is it because I am not who you thought I was or that you are surprised you enjoyed it?” The prince scoffed. “Rapunzel isn’t here as you can see, but I am. Why don’t you love me instead? I shall wear Rapunzel’s golden hair on my head and you will scarcely know the difference. Look at me prince.” Then Gothel undid the ties of her corset and her breasts slipped loose. Two orange nipples stared at the prince, and a third mark, brown and hideous, sat on her left shoulder, the mark of the witch.

“Hag,” shouted the prince. “I would never love you. You are ugly in face and heart. I would sooner die than spend a lifetime looking upon such a foul creature as you.”

“Well my prince, you will never have to look upon me again, nor anything ever again.” And the witch pushed the prince from the tower. He hurtled towards the ground, colliding with the briar below. Sharp thorns tore at the prince’s eyes, blinding him.

For a year, the prince wandered. With no clues to guide him or eyes with which to see, he sought Rapunzel. Then at last he came to a swamp filled with black vipers and snapping crocodiles. At its centre Rapunzel lay like a babe and wept.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,” called the prince, and she heard him.

“My prince,” Rapunzel called back. She stood and pushed her way through the muck, casting fear aside. She took the blind prince in her arms and cried over him. The tears on her cheeks rolled like dew on a coiled rose and slipped into the prince’s eyes. Blinking, the prince opened his eyes to the light once again. He could see Rapunzel before him, and he held her closely.

The couple set forth at once back to the prince’s kingdom. Rapunzel was married to the prince and he taught her many things about the way of the world, and the way of the body. During the day, her husband rode off on hunts, or met with his generals to discuss plans of war. At night, he sat by the fireplace and stared blankly into the trembling flame. Now that he was king, he was more aware of the ways of the world himself, and for this he suffered. Rapunzel’s duties kept her busy in the palace. Although the witch never showed her face again, and her garden stood abandoned, it was decreed that for her protection, the king’s guards were to keep to Rapunzel’s side always. She bore a daughter of her own and raised her as best as she could, and as the girl grew she asked her mother if she was happy to live here in the castle. This Rapunzel spoke, “I was so eager to leave my old life, but it seems that all I have done is replace a brick tower for an ivory one.”