THE BIRTH

The dark clouds covered the black but magnificent sky as a blanket made of velvety fleece. The twinkling stars disappeared, or maybe hid under the thick layers of foggy clouds.

Only the full moon was strong enough to stand against the odd of night. Its light shone on the ground as a blessing for some, but a curse for others. The air swept the coldness around the small town in western Europe.

The white sheet of snow clustered around the corners of the town, isolating it from the entire place. There were few of the houses with dim lights focusing on the streets. The freezing weather outside the small houses made the residents shutting themselves from the commotion outside a particular house in the streets.

The house was old and there were cracks in the middle of the walls; it covered more than the moist present on the entire exterior of the house. The lights were out but a small lamp was lit to provide sufficient luminance inside the dark place.

On the bed in the corner of a room, there was this woman lying in pain. She was in immense labour and could give a birth anytime. Her cries moaned in the whole empty streets.

The resident peeked occasionally to look out from the window of their houses, but no one dared to step outside to help the women, even call a medical emergency for her.

They were all scared because of the rumour of the curse. No one wanted to get themselves under the spell of the curse while helping the poor woman.

That woman was labelled as a witch and they wanted to get rid of her too but everyone feared her. Now they are more than scared as another being was going to be born. Finally, the mayor of the town was informed of this situation and he immediately called a priest from the neighbouring town.

As far as the dawn was about to come, there came a cry in the silent room which was filled earlier with cries of a birth giver before the curse was born.

The woman held her baby in her arms, as she licked the blood away from her body, cleaning a bit of her. As she caresses the rosy pink cheeks of her baby, a loud knock brought her into the reality from the fantasy she had with her newborn.

She bit her lip and studied the environment around her house. The town folks have encircled her, trapping her inside the little house she was living in.

The witch was well aware of the plan of the town folks; they are accumulated here to get rid of her. This made her angry when a thought of them hurting her newborn passes through her mind.

“I won’t let them hurt her.” the witch was determined.

Her voice sounded aggressive as she felt threatened by the mere humans. The loud knocks on the door was replaced by bangs, and they were not ordinary bangs. Someone was using a heavy load to break the door.

This scared the witch, and she decided to escape from the town, which definitely seemed difficult. She was trapped by the town peoples when she tried to run. 

The crown burst into her house but found it empty. 

“She is running away!!!!” someone screamed when they spotted her escaping through the deep woods.

The entire crowd lit their torches and followed her in the forest. The witch was weak because of giving birth. Her only way to escape from this hell was her legs. Her life can be spared if she could hold on her legs, running as fast as she can.

But luck did not seem to be in her favour, as she tripped and trembled before losing her balance. The baby wrapped securely around her arms, fell out and rolled on the snow.

“Nooo!!!” she stuttered before picking her up but they placed a torch near her face, which made her jump into another direction.

“That’s my child!!!!” the witch screamed in annoyance. The frown and aggression was plastered on her face when she spotted her baby in the arms of a human.

“This child is just a human, unlike her.” the man replied boldly to the mayor and the priest.

The deadly man captured her and tied her around with a rope. The priest spilled holy water on her which sent an electric shock on her entire body. She screamed in pain.

“Give me my baby back!!!” she pleaded but the priest already hid the baby.

“That’s not your child anymore! You witch! You definitely stole it from someone for your sacrifices!” the priest spitted in anger.

“You give this town a hard time with your witchcraft. Not a single crop has grown on this land since you stepped on. We feared for our children when they went missing!” the angry crowd burst.

“I didn’t do anything! I am not a witch! I escaped from a toxic marriage! Please!!! I will leave your land and never return, just give me my child back!!” she cried but her cries went numb to each ear present there.

“Do you think we are fools to let you go and destroy another place like ours? No!! We have decided to get rid of you!” the Priest said in a bold voice and returned with a tin of kerosene and a lighter.

This made the witch’s eyes widen in fear. She was trembling knowing the horrible end.

The priest drenched her with the lighting oil and chanted some phrases from the bible before lighting a match stick and setting her on fire.

As soon as the fire touched her feet, the witch screamed at the Priest and the town folks, “this won’t end here! I will return to take back what is mine!!!” 

The baby in the human’s hand started crying endlessly. 

“What do we have to do with the baby?” the man asked from the priest.

“I know what i have to do with her!” The Priest said sternly before taking the baby in his arms and disappearing from the town forever.