Gold Dust

Chapter 6

"They're ugly!" A small boy, whose name was probably Emil, shouted immediately.

Gwen was slightly taken aback by the sudden answer, but gave him a soft smile anyways. "You're right. Some witches can be a little ugly. But most of them aren't. What else do you know?"

"They sold their souls to the devil." Spoke up the little Swedish girl.

"They curse people." Another boy said.

"Witches are evil and eat little naughty children." A girl with curly red hair said with an air of superiority. "My ma says that all the time."

Gwen laughed, and shook her head. "To tell you the truth, some of what you say is true. But not all of it. Because witches are as different from each other as you are to your neighbors. Some might be ugly. Some might be mean. Some might have sold their soul. Who knows? It's like comparing a Swedish person and their culture to Norway. They're completely different. No two witches are the same as the other."

The children were captivated by what Gwen was saying, as she furthered along her explanation. "I will explain to you the different types of witches, and their diversity. In that way, one day, you yourself might meet a witch. Because they are out there. And they are very much real."

"What do you do if you meet a witch?" Emil interrupted me.

"I will explain. You see, there are four main groups of witches. Types of witches, if you may. It are these that the witches have the most similarities to another, but still they are all different. The four types are Gem, Metal, Cursed, and Day. When you think of a witch, it's an ugly woman, who has sticks in hair and warts across her face. She wears all black, and they have pointy hats." The children nodded. "These witches are considered the Cursed Witches. Not because they curse people, or eat little children. But because they themselves are cursed. All of them hold the same spell on them, the backwards spell. When they receive their magical powers, they backfire on them and thus, the backwards spell. Everything they hear is the opposite. So if you say, 'have a good day,' to them, it means 'have a horrible day.' If you go up to a Cursed Witch and ask for help, they hear you asking them to ignore you, or worse, curse you with a spell yourself!"

"What if you ask to curse somebody else?"

"Then they hear you asking them to bless that someone with a spell. Cursed Witches aren't just restricted to curses, you know. They live full and healthy lives with others in the community. They don't like the other witches, mostly because they don't understand the backwards spell like they do. And some of them don't understand why people keep on asking them to curse them!" A few children giggled. "If you ever suspect somebody to be a Cursed Witch, say goodbye instead of hello. If they say goodbye back without hesitation, then they are what they are. Be careful asking them for anything."

"The second group is called the Day Witches. How many of you know that there are seven days within a week? Fourteen days in a fortnight?" Several hands went up. "Good, these witches are considered the most powerful. And they have no restrictions on their powers. Mostly because of the their own unique circumstances. There are only seven Day Witches in the world. One for each day. The Monday Witch is called Monday because she has unlimited power within the twenty four hours of Monday. When the clock strikes twelve on midnight, she loses all power, and her sister, Tuesday is the most powerful."

"Wait, they are all named after the days?"

"They are the days. Would you think it be weird if the Thursday Witch was called Mary or some other ridiculous name? Anyways, the Day Witches are the council of witches. They are the ones who protect humans from the witches, and sometimes the other way around. Not much is known about the Day Witches, but if one ever decides to move a mountain on their day, they could move the entire continent with their power."