Witchy Woman

Witchy Woman

     “We are lost! Aren’t we?” Christena kept staring out the window at the gloomy scenery that surrounded them and the road they’re on.

     “I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am going.” Petrah kept his eyes on the bumpy rocky road in front of him. “It’s just the road we are on, and our surroundings, that make it look like I am.”

     “You are a typical human male.” Christena looked at Petrah. Her eyes practically popped out of her eyes. It looked even worse on that side of the road. “You will never admit when you are lost.”

     “That’s because I’m not. I can’t be. This is the only road that leads to our destination.” Petrah almost hits his head on the roof of their car after a big bump in the road.

     “What destination?” Christena looked mad. Her face got red. “What have you gotten us into this time.”

     “You are the one that wanted an out of the way vacation.” Petrah could see the end of that road in the near distance. “That’s the best one I could find with the Credits we have to spare.”

     “Hotel California! I have never heard of any place like it before.” Christena had started calming down already. It could be seen in her face.

     “Neither have I. But from their Promotional Package they sent us they look like a great place to vacation for a month.” Petrah smiled. “We are about to find out what a place like that looks like. It’s just beyond this road.”

     The family car neared the end of that road. No more gloom - only sunshine could be seen ahead. A fallen tree blocked their road exit. But not completely. The car skidded around it without any trouble.

     Petrah and Christene both looked shocked at what they saw in front of them. They had just cleared the gloom into the sunshine when Petrah slammed on the brakes. When he did the car stopped – and the back end sprang skyward a little. “Imagine a place like this. I can’t. It doesn’t look anything like the Promotional Package they sent out.”

     “Now I know why we got this month so cheaply.” Both Christene and Petrah hit the back of the seat where they sat when the car returned to land.

     “What do you want to do? We could just leave if you want to. It’s up to you.” Petrah first looked at Christene. Then back at their final destination.

     “You already made arraignments for this vacation. Didn’t you?” Christene never took her eyes off what they had been staring at.

     Suddenly a Witch appeared in front of them floating just above the hood of their car in the near distance. At least she looked like one. “You don’t want to continue on. Leave while you still can. If it’s not too late for you already.”

     “That must be Haiga.” Petrah smiled. “I was wondering if she was going to pop up.”

     “You knew about her?” Christene started looking mad again. “Why didn’t you tell me about her. You knew all about this place too. Didn’t you.”

     “I did tell you about her. She was mentioned in the Promotional Package – in very tiny writing at the bottom.” Petrah lost his smile when the witch disappeared. “I also did know about this place. But I never expected it to be this bad.”

     “What do you want to do?” Before Petrah could answer Christene continued. “I think we should stay. It looks like our vacation will be a lot more fun this way.”

<<<<<>>>>>

     Petrah and Christene clung so close to each other it’s hard to tell there’s two people as they walked into that resort. They held hands so tight their hands began to turn a ghostly white. The place looked even worse on the inside than the outside.

     About an hour after they got to their room for the next month Management came by to see them. “I’m sorry. But we are going to have to move you to another room. You were given this one by mistake.”

     Christene continued unpacking while Petrah dealt with Doriam. As he approached Doriam Petrah read his name on both shoulders of his shirt. “Doraim is it! We Shall Not Be Moved.”

     After arguing with Petrah for another hour Doriam finally gave up. “If you don’t want another room here – then you can leave. But if you do that you do it without a return of your arraignment.”

     Petrah looked at Christene. Who had joined him after finishing unpacking. She’s the one who spoke to Doriam. “We will get all of our Credits returned to us. If not we know a lot of Defenders, Problem Solvers and Property Inspectors who would love to visit this misrepresented ‘resort’ you have here.” Doriam started to speak. But then changed his mind.

<<<<<>>>>>

     A couple of hours later Petrah and Christene headed down that spooky bumpy road in their old broken down looking car. They stopped just before entering that road to collect some Sun. The roof of the car suddenly became clear. A few seconds later the top lite up. “We need some more fuel before we continue on.

     “Gotta Travel On as fast as we can. The sooner we are out of there the better. I definitely don’t want to run out of fuel while still in the gloom ahead.” Christene watched the Fuel Gauge as slowly rose up to the full dash.

     Petrah and Christene held hands as they drove fast down that road. According to the Speed Readings they spend down there at eight miles an hour. “Love is All we have. As long as we have that nothing is going to stop us.” Petrah kept one eye on the road and the other one on Christene. He should have kept both eyes on the road. A few minutes later they hit a tree – head on. Just before their car blew up they saw Haiga smiling at them.