The Witch's Curse - Part 3

15 years later

Little Rachel was a stunning teenager. And not in a bad way. Her hair was dark brown and glossy, and curled gently around her ears. Her eyes were bright and brown. Her face was sort of triangle-shaped, with a not-too-pointy chin which stuck out when she felt stubborn. She was beautiful inside and out.

Cindy was perplexed. She knew that witch had had power. She knew that Rachel had been cursed. So... what had happened? Had something intervened? Carefully, she watched her little girl. She made her wear a hat. She made sure she didn't eat too much junk. Ballet and aerobics provided her exercise – she didn't want a car accident or something nasty to fulfil the curse all of a sudden. Wrap her in cotton wool? Well, maybe, but at least her daughter was safe!

But the old witch was just more wily than she seemed. Instead of making the little girl look ugly to everyone else, she made her look ugly only to herself.

Rachel, on the other hand, felt lost. No – what she mostly felt was fat. And ugly. Every time she looked in the mirror, she saw a short, fat, spotty, green, ugly toad-like creature. Little did she know that it was a trollette spending some time in the mirror world as a favour to the old crone – not her true reflection at all.

So Rachel dieted. She slathered on facial treatments. She 'borrowed' her mother's makeup. Nothing seemed to make a bit of difference. Every morning, her grotesque reflection stared back at her. Cover-up makeup just accentuated the zits and craters and miscellaneous marks. Push-up bras looked lumpy. Everything bulged in all the wrong places, no matter how well it was tailored. And no-one else would ever admit to a thing being wrong – because of course, they saw the REAL Rachel. Rachel, however, didn't see it that way. Everyone around her was lying to make her feel better. If only someone would have the guts to tell her the TRUTH!

Still, it was a surprise to her parents when they finally realised that their beautiful girl was starving herself to get thinner. She was already slim, even the scales agreed... but the mirror told her she was fat, fat, fat! So she dieted. She alloted a piece of fruit and a carrot to each day, eating slowly and carefully. If her willpower failed, she purged. Her parents watched the kilograms slip off and worried. Finally, they sat down with her for a 'talk'.

Rachel sighed. She didn't see the issue. She was fat and ugly – she was dieting so that she could at least be thin and not-quite-so-ugly. She explained this, calmly and logically. Suddenly, a light switched on in Cindy's head.

“The curse!” she exclaimed.

“No, I haven't had my period for a while” said Rachel, baffled.

“No no no!” Cindy shook her head, “a witch cursed you when I was pregnant with you! I TOLD you!” (this last directed at George) “I thought... when you grew up so beautiful and nice... that your dad was right, and she was just an old woman with a few screws loose who thought she was a witch! But I understand now... she's let you grow up as you should have, except she's changed how you see yourself. And I've made things worse by cossetting you... oh I've been so STUPID! Why didn't I see?”

Rachel looked at her, speechless.

“Ummmm...” she managed. Then she shook herself, and got back in control. “You mean... you honestly don't think I'm ugly? Or fat? Or stupid?”

“Oh, darling!” Cindy sobbed, “I'm not that dumb! But I just don't know how to convince you!”