The Witch

When 12-year-old Naomi first helped create a fictional story about a witch in a housing estate, she could never have imagined the way it would connect to her real life years later. Now 23, Naomi and co host Phil reflect on how books and stories, like lives, are always connecting with each other. “The Witch” is a trip into childhood myths, cul-de-sac adventures, and how books and stories help us survive what hurts the most.

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Detailed Music Credits "Fooling Around" by Tristan Noon, "Hurt theme" by Damian Mason and Phil Okerstrom, "Lockdown Rockdown", "Innocent Flute", "Cheeky", "Cheekee", "Sneaky", "Sustain Strings", and "Blue" by Philip Okerstrom, "Nostalgic Cinematic Piano" by Erick McNerney, "Kovd" by Blue Dot Sessions, "Harmonic Mist Strings Artistic" by Eric Sutherland, "Atmospheric Film Music cello" by Gestonwreen, "Ghost Dance", "Hall of the Mountain King Grieg", "Le Grand Chase", "The Path of the Goblin King", "Movement Proposition", "Plain Loafer", "Hamster March", "Sneaky", "Batty McFadden", "Welcome to Horrorland", "Too Cool", "Pensiv", "Ghost Story", and "Ghost Processional" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Episode Detailed Description Chapter 1. Introduction The episode opens with Naomi (now 23) and Phil discussing how stories connect—books to books, lives to lives. They reference Wicked and The Wizard of Oz to illustrate how a one-dimensional character (the Wicked Witch) can be reimagined with depth and backstory. This sets up the theme of how books and stories, even playful childhood ones, can evolve and carry hidden truths. Chapter 2. The Witch (Real Made Up Story) ((What starts as a spooky adventure in a cul-de-sac becomes a moving reflection on loss, empathy, and the ways children make sense of the world)) Naomi and Phil (with a little help) then tell the Real Made Up Story of The Witch. Victoria and her older sister Naomi live in a tight-knit, chaotic-but-safe public housing estate known as “Legoland.” The story introduces the “Witch”—a figure of fun, fear, myth, and intrigue. Victoria loses the ball over the Witch’s fence. This innocent mistake raises the stakes. Victoria refuses to go in after the ball, playfully terrified. Naomi, older and grounded in logic (but possibly "brainwashed"), does go in. The girls watch with horror and awe… until Naomi emerges with the ball. Doubt is introduced: maybe the Witch isn’t a witch. But the mystery only deepens... Victoria and friends dare each other to knock on the Witch’s door. Victoria knocks and runs—the classic suburban rite of passage. The girls try to lure the Witch out with a mouldy sandwich that happens to be in Victoria’s school bag, and which they throw over the Witch’s fence. But then they hear her voice for the first time: “Who’s there?” they scream in delighted terror all the way home to find Naomi. When they get home, Victoria finds her school bag on the front step. It has been returned—with a teddy bear inside, with her name embroidered on its foot. The teddy bear is beautiful, clearly loved, and maybe some sort of voodoo thing. Naomi reveals that the Witch had a daughter… but that her daughter had died. Victoria starts to realise why the Witch stays inside. It’s not because she’s a monster—she’s someone who is sad. Victoria doesn’t know much about death, other than that she doesn’t want to think about it. But now she wants to meet the Witch more than ever. On the way home from school, gets chased by some other kids. Fearing she will be caught, Victoria runs into the Witch’s yard.