Who or what are you?
(Speaks in thick, Eastern European accent) Merely an elderly
beldame and lover of the horticultural practices. A stranger to your Western shores.
You will pardon my manner of speech, yes? Your tongue, it is difficult for me.
I ‘talk like Dracula’s grandma,’ my writer has said. Why, in his heart he has
compared me to the recluse of the confectionary and gingerbread house who gave
Hansel and Gretel such poor hospitality.
Yes, yes, my author, he has described me quite uncharitably,
but I admit to the germ of truth. I am, you see, a practitioner of the occult
arts and knowledgeable of the Aklo letters spoken of so dreadfully by the likes
of your Machen and Lovecraft. My author makes much of this, but he is the
suspicious sort. He has also said of me: ‘she was the type to chuckle while
reading Poe’s Tell Tale Heart…she would chat pleasantly over tea and scones
while the gory trophy thumped below.’
Which reminds me, would you care for tea? It is a recipe of
my own design.
What is your cause about?
First, would you but indulge an old woman and have a sip of
this most excellent tea? Thank you. Now, my ‘cause,’ you ask? I am what is
known as a ‘mercenary witch.’ A ‘sellspell’ you might say, in contrast with the
‘sellswords’ of catarans or brigands who do combat for pay. For the moment, I
have been contracted to grow certain spell components in my garden. It has been
a most involving process, finding forgotten, unhallowed ground where once
wrongdoers were interred and that would best embrace the seeds I planted. And
procuring the proper sustenance for this flora! It has all been most involving.
How did you become antagonistic?
You flatter me. I am but a very minor antagonist in my
writer’s book, though I play a crucial role in the particular wherein I feature.
My writer chose me as subject for this interview because to present any other
antagonist would mean spoilers of his book. My story, however, it is freely
available on Smashwords.
What do you hope nobody ever finds out about you?
Every gardener must have her secrets, Herr. The particular nutrients of my garden, they are precious. Most
precious, and most difficult to acquire. Have you finished your cup of tea? Good.
Good. Let me pour you another. And let us both venture out to my garden so you
might have the closer inspection. Yes, see you how fine it grows? The plants,
they have become all the more vibrant in recent days, about the time those young
backpackers vanished. They were hiking in this area I do believe. Now sit, sit
and take the sun.
What do you like/dislike about the other characters from
your book?
It is what my garden likes that I concern myself. Me? I
enjoy the vitality that runs through the veins of my fellow characters. Their
tenacity, it is also appealing. How they persist in – how do you say? – ‘stupid
horror movie decisions’ like napping beside the vampire’s coffin till the sun,
it sinks.
In your opinion, what is your best feature?
I am too modest to say, but my author, he has spoken of the
particular ambiance I invoke among those I invite into my parlor. The subtle
suspense one feels. Oh look! You have pricked your finger on a bramble! See how
your blood drips onto the garden. Yes, yes, the garden is rustling, as though
excited, but I am sure it is but the wind.
What is the worst thing you ever did to someone?
I merely allowed them their foolishness. Should one wish to trespass
in another’s domicile, or attempt to pass through another’s moonlit garden
uninvited, they well deserve what they find. And what finds them.
Do you have pets?
Your question strikes a tender spot. Yes, like many of the
Wise I once kept a familiar. A fine, glossy stoat. A ‘weasel’ of a kind. My
writer, he has said this familiar fit my personality. But alas, my dear pet
strayed into the garden one night and…met an accident. I buried his stripped
bones when I found them next day.
Do you have a mentor?
I once did, yes. A ‘good’ witch who features in an
earlier story in my writer’s book. She sought to use her gifts benevolently for
the good of all. A thankless and futile task, I found, and we parted ways after
disagreement of the philosophical nature. My own beliefs, they are more pragmatic.
Your eyes drop millstones when fool’s
eyes drop tears.Shakespeare, Richard III. Simple and to the point. Ebenezer
Scrooge offered another valuable observation: The world’s becoming a hard and cruel place. One must steel oneself to
survive it and not be crushed under with the weak and infirm.
What do you think of the other denizens of the world of
darkness? Why for each?
They are a most distrustful group, these cults and eldritch
abominations, and most dangerous. But their activities, they provide many
employment opportunities for a practitioner of the arcane arts who is willing
to sell her skills.
If you could change anything in your book, what would it be
and why?
I would have needed my own premonition at the end.
But enough of that! Your teacup, it is slipping from your
fingers! No, do not get up. You are tired. Your eyes, you can barely keep them
open. Sit awhile yet and doze. I will go and leave you in peaceful meditation,
while you may become one with the garden. See how the flora, it seems to reach
for you as if in embrace? Sleep now, and dream.
Gretchen Ramona, a witch who keeps a haunted garden that
turns carnivorous with the rising of the moon. She features in one story of "Star Winds at Dusk," a mosaic novel of interconnected dark fantasy
adventures.
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Winds-Dusk-Robert-DeFrank-ebook/dp/B00HS5943O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420592936&sr=1-1&keywords=star+winds+at+dusk
The story where is appears, The Moonlit Garden, is also
available free of Smashwords.
