Mia picked up her basket of frog skeletons, put on her burgundy dress and stepped out of her house. The witch gathering was scheduled at half past moon rise. Mia hoped she wasn’t late for the ceremony. Her path was laden with rotting leaves; a chilly wind caressed her back as she took mincing steps on the narrow path. The robe clung to her slim form, accentuating the exquisite lines.  Two silver stars shone on her delicate earlobes. A lone wolf wearing a red scarf watched her progress with interest.

Mia shivered as a memory of forceful a kiss haunted her. She ran her fingers through the frog skeletons, seeking comfort.

The wolf moved silently, its sense of smell leading it along Mia’s path. From time to time, the wolf licked its teeth.

Mia walked on, apprehensive yet coveting the night’s revelry that awaited her and her sisters in the moonlight. The said moonlight shed its indifferent gleam on the wolf’s red scarf and Mia’s burgundy dress, illuminating the folds of each garment.

The soft padding on wolf’s paws hid its progress from Mia’s ears but her mind was full of images of wolves and rarely strayed from its constant vigilance.

The wolf leapt forward silently, towards a patch of brown shrubs where the path diverged. There it waited, comfortable in its red scarf and conviction about Mia’s frailty. Its red eyes shone like rubies in the faint light of the indifferent moon.

As Mia approached the brown shrubs, the wolf sprang, aiming for the appetizing curve of her slender neck. Mia’s mind sprang into action, urging her to duck and roll over. The wolf landed on its paws and growled, ready to pounce once more. But, Mia was quicker. She drew her wand and unleashed a stream of rage-filled curses on the wolf’s pulsating body which froze on the spot and began to shake. A cloud of black smoke emanated from Mia’s wand covering the wolf’s body.

The indifferent moon saw the wolf’s limp body fall on its side. For an unnaturally long minute, even the wind ceased to blow and the trees became silent. Slowly the black smoke dispersed, revealing a struggling frog under the red scarf.

Mia tightened her finger tips around her wand, her eyes shone with pleasure, goose bumps rose on her bare arms and her toes curled in ecstatic expectation. A cry of pleasure escaped Mia’s lips as she pinned the frog on to the brown soil with her wand. It struggled for a short while before succumbing.

Mia wrapped the dead frog in the red scarf before placing it on top of the frog skeletons in her basket. Then she walked towards the flickering light in the distance where her sisters were gathered around a fire to begin their feast.