Second Adult Honorable Mention - by Josette Davison


   DO YOU BELIEVE IN WITCHES?
     Do you believe in witches? I must say -- nor did I, until I saw the Mill Witch standing from on high, framed in her mill window, surrounded by her cloak of flames, her witches garb unsinged, her pointed hat a wee bit bent -- impervious to the falling timbers, the crackle and the snap.
   
     Oh witch, said I -- how came you there, caught in unwary shutter? Was it you who with your matches came, setting Glendale Mill aflame?"
 
     "Ach no, me foolish frightened being," she cackled, "Witches are, you see, quite benevolent of mind. Though Halloween's our favorite night to roam, we never carry matches. Our mum's would na'er approve. They'd take away our brooms. Then where'd we be?
 
     "But have you not yet noticed, in my right arm rests a cross? It was to tell the Glendale folks, who thought, there mill was all but lost -- Oh harken now, says I, do not dismay. Your Mill will rise again, to take another form as such, to set your hearts aglow.
 
     "Have you not heard, me doubtful ones, all that's come to pass from this undoing? Why, suddenly, from far and near, flocks of folks are coming, to build a learning center for the young in the old abandoned church, to fashion parks about the shoals with picnic benches for enjoying? Why --
did you not attend the Picnic on the Bridge one day which your postmistress Tonya and her good minister arranged? Just who do you think's been whispering in their ears?
 
     "Tiz I, the Old Mill Witch, with plans afoot for more; there's soon to be a light show, don't you know, showing off these antique ruins, much the same as that illuminating the great pyramids of Egypt.
 
     "Fret no more, me children. Halloween's may come and go, but Glendale lives forever, rising from the ruins of her mill. So now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to trim me broom. The time for full moons and screeching cats has come. And things that go bump in the night are SO MUCH FUN!
 
 
 
Josette lives  in Spartanburg, just a mile or so from Glendale  She is an artist with a yen for writing. She is a graduate of Pittsburgh Art Institute and attended the school of journalism at the University of Cincinnati at night, while painting greeting cards by day at Gibson Art Co. in Cincinnati.
 
Josette is married to Dexter Davison, who teaches at Wofford College. They are the parents of three grown children, and grandparents to a treasured grandson, Scout.

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This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Glendale.  See more information about Mary and her Glendale connection at Mary McKinney Teaster.