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They called her Birdie. No last name. Sometimes they called her the Peach Witch, and sometimes they called her the Lake Guardian, but mostly, they called her Birdie.
Nobody quite knew why. Maybe she had a particular fondness for birds. Maybe she fancied herself like them, somehow, free of the tethers of civilized society. Maybe she really could fly. Or maybe that really was her name, once. But nobody really put much stock into that one. After all, who names a child Birdie?
Birdie wasn’t like them. How could she be? Out in the woods with her peaches and her powers and not another human soul around. No, Birdie wasn’t like them at all.
Nobody knew how long Birdie had been there, growing peaches in the woods. What they did know was that those woods produced the most delicious peaches they had ever tasted. No, scratch that. Those woods produced the most delicious anything they had ever tasted. But you ate one, or maybe two, and you just felt satisfied. Nobody ever gorged themselves on those peaches. Brought back a basket to share with their families, sure. Saved one in their pocket for tomorrow, may as well. But to sit in those woods and eat peach after peach? Unheard of. There was definitely something special about those peaches, and it must have stemmed from the Peach Witch.
The Peach Witch was alone. The Peach Witch was afraid. How could the Peach Witch even be human, if she had never said a word to anyone? So the Peach Witch stayed away from them, because she could never be them.
Nobody ever saw the Peach Witch. To see the Peach Witch meant to have gone too far, to have traversed boundaries that were not yours to pass. To meet the Peach Witch was to have trespassed. To speak with the Peach Witch was to be found on the wrong side of the water. To have angered the Lake Guardian.
The Lake Guardian was not merciful. The Lake Guardian was not afraid. The Lake Guardian was not human. The Lake Guardian was not……….
But Murphy McGowen was not like them either. She was alone. She was not afraid. How could Birdie ever be allowed to be human, if she was never allowed to meet one? Murphy heard the stories. Murphy ate the peaches. And Murphy was about to make a new friend.
She was nervous at first. She spent a week going out to the lake without ever getting farther than sitting with her feet in the water and a peach in her hand. She was not afraid of Birdie. (“Who,” Murphy thought to herself, “would ever be afraid of somebody called Birdie? Or for that matter, who would be frightened of a Peach Witch?”) No, Murphy was more afraid of them than she was of her. She knew she shouldn’t be. She was already an outcast. She didn’t think anyone much cared about her. At least, not about her specifically. So what did she have to fear from them? But still, she hung back.
One of her classmates claimed to have met Birdie. Some say this was before she was the Peach Witch. Others say that couldn’t possibly be true, she had always been that way. Leeda herself never specified. Just said she “knew Birdie”. Claimed she wasn’t anything to be afraid of, but you didn’t exactly see Leeda hanging around in the woods too often either.
Murphy was determined though, and eventually grew brave enough to say “screw it” and plunge straight into the lake. She stripped down to her underwear, leaving her clothes on a rock in the sun, and ran towards the lake, launching herself right into the middle. And just like that, she saw her. The Lake Guardian (“No,” Murphy corrected herself, “that’s a stupid name. She’s just Birdie.”) rose up from under the water, as if she’d been there all along. Maybe she had. It wasn’t like Murphy had checked for bodies before her leap. It was a bit of a surprise, sure, but looking at her face to face, Murphy still wasn’t afraid. She was less afraid than ever. Birdie was beautiful, who would ever be scared of someone like her? She wasn’t all rough around the edges like Murphy, no. She radiated something wonderful. She was round and soft, and yet you could still see the strength in her arms. And in her eyes.
“This is my Lake,” said the apparition (and Murphy had to admit there was something in her voice that didn’t seem entirely human), “and I am her Guardian. Why are you trespassing?” Her words may have been meant to intimidate, once upon a time, but her face spoke only of sadness the likes of which Murphy couldn’t recall ever seeing.
“You are alone,” Murphy stated plainly. “Unless you know a way to speak to peaches, and I suppose for all I know you might.” She laughed, showing how unafraid she was. “I’m alone too. I didn’t know how else to get your attention. Do you live in the lake?”
“Of course I don’t live in the lake! I live in a house. On the other side of the lake. And I’m not alone either, I have dogs!” Birdie was already losing her Voice, the one that was supposed to sound like some mystical and important Being. It wasn’t really her voice after all, and she didn’t tend to see a lot of people to practice it on.
“So what, were you just waiting under the water for somebody to show up so you could pop out and scare them? Or are you about to tell me you’re really a witch and that’s how you did it?”
“You don’t… you don’t believe their stories? You don’t think I’m really a witch? Don’t I look like a witch?” Birdie was starting to get nervous. She wasn’t sure quite of what, but she knew she would be much happier if the people from town kept right on believing in her powers. Maybe it was just this one girl, clearly an outsider like she was, but maybe there were more people too.
“You’re too beautiful to be a witch. Well, unless you are one I guess. Not that it much matters either way, I was just curious. So, dogs you say? I don’t see any.”
“Oh, they’re probably back at the house, they don’t come everywhere with me,” Birdie started, then caught one of them out of the corner of her eye, swimming without a care in the world. “Except when they do come everywhere with me.” She swam over to the undersized creature. “See? Dog.”
“Alright, alright, maybe you’re not completely alone then. But you’re not hiding any other people around here, right? Looking for a friend maybe?”
“No, no people around here. Just you. I can take you up to the house I guess, in case you wanted to check.” Birdie started swimming away again, towards the side of the lake opposite where Murphy had come in, then turned around and added, “There’s peaches.” Immediately realizing how dumb that must have sounded, in a lake surrounded by peach trees on both sides, she ducked her head underwater as she swam, suddenly wishing she knew how to talk to people. She’d never much needed to, before.
Murphy was surprised to see that Birdie lived in a pretty normal-looking house. She even had TV! She borrowed a dress from Birdie’s closet to cover herself in, and they watched TV together for a while, talking about whatever came up. They got around to talking about other people, eventually, with Murphy asking if she had any parents and muttering about how lucky she was when Birdie said “once upon a time, maybe, but I haven’t for a long time now,” and Birdie asking if she knew somebody called Leeda, to which Murphy said “only kind of, but she definitely says she knows you” and then that was the end of the talk for a while.
Their silence was broken when Birdie heard Murphy’s stomach growling. Birdie turned to her, looking sad, and said “I guess you should probably be leaving then.”
“Nah, it’s no big deal. Just my stomach. Got any food around here? Oh, or maybe you don’t like to share. I guess you don’t have to.”
“I don’t eat,” Birdie answered simply, and they both went back to watching TV, neither making any move to get up.
Went Murphy’s stomach growled again she got up from her seat silently and went outside. Birdie watched her leave, but she didn’t say anything or get up to stop her. She did wonder if they’d ever see each other again though. Of course it wasn’t likely, Birdie being confined to her side of the lake and Murphy probably having friends, and a family, and no business being out here, and- but it had been nice, spending time in the company of another. She had her dogs, sure, but even she had to admit that she wanted something more. Something human. And just as that thought was forming, Murphy returned to her spot beside Birdie, smiling and proudly shouting “PEACHES!” as Birdie managed to gasp out “You’re back!” They both fell apart, laughing at each other.
“You didn’t think I was just leaving, did you?” Murphy asked, still smiling. She took a bite of one of the peaches she’d hauled inside. “Perfect as always. Your doing?”
“I thought you were going back home. Don’t you need, I dunno, meat or something?” Birdie asked, electing to ignore the second question posed to her.
“I’m not going to leave without saying good bye! You’re not that bad of a hostess! Besides, I could always cook one of your little dogs if I need a snack.” She laughed at the horrified look that came over Birdie’s face. “I’m just joking! Look, I’m fine with these for now. At least until tomorrow.”
“Until… until tomorrow? You want to stay here tonight?”
“Well, got nowhere better to be. Mom’s probably off with some boyfriend so nobody’ll be missing me tonight. Unless you’d rather be alone.”
Birdie would not have rather been alone.
As the light outside began to disappear, so did a lot of the awkwardness between the two girls. Their conversations were quite unlike any others Murphy could remember. Birdie seemed to know a lot about peaches. Like, a lot. Maybe she really could talk to them. She refused to talk about herself and her supposed status as a witch, no matter how many hints Murphy tossed into the conversation, so she talked about peaches instead. Murphy listened. Eventually she stopped tossing hints, knowing what it’s like to have things you didn’t want to talk about.
There was a lot that Birdie didn’t know about though. Oh, sure, she knew of lots of things. She did have a TV. But she didn’t know about them. Really, anything to do with other people Birdie had no idea about. She never admitted it outright, but it wasn’t hard to see how lonely she was. When she wasn’t talking about peaches she was asking about people. What’s it like going to school, having a family? How do you make friends? What are they like? What do you do together? How do you know when somebody likes you? What about when somebody doesn’t? Any question you could think of, Birdie probably thought of it first. The poor thing, she really never did get any visitors.
Murphy answered as best as she could, but she wasn’t exactly an expert on good, friendly relationships. She kissed a lot of boys, which probably counted for something somewhere, but that didn’t seem to be high on Birdie’s priority list. She wanted to understand connections. That wasn’t Murphy’s thing. But maybe, she got to thinking after they had gone to bed, they could start learning together.
The next morning Murphy and Birdie walked back to the lake together, neither saying much until they got close to the edge.
“Isn’t there an easier way back?” Murphy asked.
“I don’t think so,” Birdie answered quietly. “It’s a big lake. Nothing I can do.”
“Hmm. I’ll figure something out,” Murphy said vaguely.
Birdie thanked Murphy for her visit. She said she’d try to remember some of the things Murphy had taught her, next time somebody came ”trespassing”. “It’s bound to happen again sooner or later. I’m not going anywhere, and it’s not like you were the first person to ever swim in that lake.”
Murphy thanked Birdie for not smiting her with her witchy powers, and instead letting her spend the night in her house and continue eating her peaches.
They hugged each other, then Murphy took off the borrowed dress and launched herself back into the lake. She waved, then dove under the water to swim to the other side. When she came up for air and looked back she couldn’t see Birdie on the edge anymore. She was already gone.
A couple days later, Murphy found herself returning to the lake. Birdie was surprised to see her. She wasn’t clear on exactly how long it had been since Murphy had left, but she knew it hadn’t been long. They spent the afternoon together, just swimming.
The next time Murphy came to visit, she brought a plastic container with her. She didn’t launch herself into the lake like she normally did, she slid in carefully and floated the plastic behind her. When she arrived at the other side of the lake she opened it up to reveal a little make-shift picnic, of convenience store snacks. Birdie may not have needed food, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the taste. At least, that had been Murphy’s hope. Thankfully, she had guessed right. Birdie was fascinated by the different tastes and textures. She especially like the Fuzzy Peaches. “It doesn’t look, taste or feel much like any peach I grow here,” she had said, “but it might be my new favourite kind.” She had laughed at that, and Murphy wasn’t sure what exactly was so funny about her statement, but she laughed along with her.
After that it was a while before they saw each again, but on the next visit Birdie could tell that she’d actually purchased a bathing suit. “Got tired of always having wet underwear every time I saw you,” Murphy had said, and then she had winked and laughed, as if she’d said something dirty. Birdie just stared, finally remembering her voice enough to tell Murphy it looked good. Birdie looked great too, of course, but it occurred to Murphy (and apparently for the first time too) that she couldn’t quite get a solid grasp on what Birdie was (or wasn’t) wearing. It was like there was just a blur over her body, but there wasn’t. It was like a perceptual blur. Murphy shrugged it off though. It wasn’t the first weird thing she noticed about Birdie. It wasn’t going to be the last either, she thought to herself. She was planning on spending a lot of time out here after all.
Sometimes they went weeks without seeing each other. Even Murphy could get busy after all. Every time they separated Birdie was sure it would be the last they’d ever see of each other, and every time she was just as surprised when Murphy showed up in her lake again. For the first time Birdie (and Murphy too) had found someone to connect with, really connect with. Even though their time apart never seemed long to Birdie, she started to miss Murphy when she was gone. She stopped feeling so sure that Murphy would never come back, but she started to feel afraid instead.
The forest started to change. You could tell when Murphy had been to see Bridie (that is, if you even knew it was happening) because the grass was softer and greener. There were more flowers. Everything looked brighter. The peaches were smaller when she was gone, less bright. Some might chalk it up to the weather. Nature was, after all, strange and unpredictable. Nonetheless rumours started as whispers in the streets. Some knew better. Not the whole story, of course, but some might say there was something wrong with the Witch. Nothing worth worrying over though, they would say as they carried on with their lives. What went on with the forest was none of their concern, really.
The peaches were small for a while, and the whispers started to get louder. Murphy started to hear them. She hadn’t even been near the forest lately, let alone near Birdie’s lake. She was expected somewhere else, but she rushed out to the lake anyway. She didn’t stop to grab her bathing suit, or anything else even though she had been in the habit of bringing gifts when she saw Birdie. She was worried something had happened to her, alone in the forest with nobody to help her except a couple scrawny dogs. She wasn’t sure if Birdie was the kind of person who would need help, but everyone did sometimes, right? So she had to make sure.
When she had made her way to the other side of the lake she found Birdie sitting on the edge with her feet in the water, sun shining onto her through the trees like a spotlight. “Are you okay?” Murphy asked, pulling herself out of the water to sit beside her.
“Why shouldn’t I be?” Birdie replied, starting ahead into the lake.
“I thought something happened to you. People in town were talking and I knew you were all alone and- I guess I was just worried about you.”
“I’m okay. I’ve been alone for a long time.”
“That’s part of the problem. You don’t deserve to be.”
“Well, I’m not alone now, am I?” Birdie asked, still never facing Murphy as she spoke. “I’ve got you.”
“I didn’t bring you a present this time.” When Birdie didn’t answer Murphy added, “but maybe there’s still something I can give you.” Birdie finally turned to face Murphy, a question on her lips, but before she could get it out of her mouth it was replaced with something else. Murphy had placed a soft kiss on her lips, almost over before it had begun. “Bet you’ve never done that before, huh?”
“Not until now,” Birdie whispered, and then returned the favour.