Cat's Eye and Agate

Confession: When I get a headache, I am far too ready to take Advil for it.

Today was the Fall 2008 24 Hour Short Story Contest. Here's the topic:

The cast iron pot was blackened and warped, but had provided years of delicious concoctions. Movement caught her eye through the cracked window. She turned her head, but saw only red, orange, yellow and brown leaves racing by in the fierce wind. She shivered as cold air leaked through the window's cracks, and leaned down to stoke the fire.

Squinting at her recipe book, she scratched the mole on her nose. The fourth ingredient was always the hardest to find...

Well, I've already written a story on Hansel and Gretel for this contest, and it didn't win, so that idea is out. And you know that half the stories are going to be Wicked Witch related. "Oh my God! The fourth ingredient is children. CHILDREN!!!!!"

So I wanted to avoid that. But at the same time, there's no denying that the main character is a witch-type figure. C'mon, iron pot, mysterious ingredients, rickety old cottage. She even has a mole! So at the same time, it would sort of go against the spirit of the contest not to pay homage to that stereotype in some way.

I knew that I needed to have a second person in my story, and I thought a young boy would fit the bill. Something would have to bring him to her door. No kid wants to go to the witch's cottage, even if she's not a witch, so it would have to be something close to his heart.

I chose marbles, since they could be used as a weapon (to break windows, perhaps), and because they would be something dear to their owner. Wait... why would they be used as a weapon if he likes them so much? Better throw in an older brother, would could use the occasion to torment the old woman and his sibling at the same time. So the younger boy goes after his marbles and meets the old lady.

Now back to her. What is she doing? She's making something, but what? Well, it was either mundane or magical. Given the choice, I'd rather have magical. Okay, fine. What's the most counterintuitive choice in this situation? Nothing evil... how about medicine?

For whom? Well, she has a sick husband. Now I'm setting the stereotype on its ear. Sure, she's a witch, but she's a good witch. She doesn't live alone, she's caring for someone.

At this point, I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally plagiarize Terry Pratchett, whose many Discworld books on witches are among my favorites. I had to go a different direction.

So the boy comes in, and he's terrified. Gradually, he understands that this woman isn't a witch, that she's just a normal old woman, like his own grandmother, and he treats her with respect. Respect... or pity? Probably the latter would be easier to achieve, because in her old age, she probably would look kind of pitiful.

Well, there's my story. But it still lacks an ending. The witch needs to get her last ingredient. What could it be? What about something intangible, like the pity of a child? This is magic, after all. Why couldn't that be part of the recipe?

Hmmmm... but why would she be making it if she didn't know the boy was coming? I could either give her foresight to see that he was coming, or have the medicine be less effective, but still somewhat useful, without that ingredient. Better to go with the latter, there are fewer complications.

So when the boy comes around, she somehow uses that emotion in her medicine and gives it to her husband. But we save the reveal until the very end, so the reader is convinced, right along with the boy, that she's nothing special.

That was my thought process for the story. The first draft came in at 916 words, and with a word limit of 850, I had to do some trimming. Luckily I was able to do to the cuts in the language and not lose anything of substance. And start to finish, it took me only two hours. Not bad. I know I say it a lot, but I should do this more often.

I really work best to a deadline. That's why the NaNoWriMo, even my own fake version, will spur me on better than anything else.


Publication Status:

• Submitted: 5
  
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 2
• Pending: 2