When the are small they throw stones at me, call me witch. But when they get older they sneak up to my cottage in the dead of night wanting my help. Love potions. ‘Why?’ I ask them. ‘Find a boy who loves you for who you are. You don’t need magic.’ But the one last night, with her buck teeth, her eyes that stared in different directions, her hair…
Some girls need a little help.
‘The strongest one,’ she told me. ‘That can never be broken.’
‘So, what is so special about him then?’
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘He is a horrible person. Oh he is handsome, tall. His father is an internet billionaire. But he is mean and heartless. I want him to fall on his knees in front of me, the ugliest girl in the school. I want him to beg me for my love with everyone looking on. Then I can laugh in his face and tell him that he is not good enough for me. And he can pine for me for the rest of his life. He can cry like he has made me cry so often, with his cruel words and nasty jokes.’