Lucy Skylark Entry 0, 1^st March.

About this story: https://helenspeaks.com/the-magical-year-of-a-teenage-witch/

To: Vera Sparrowfield

3 The Willows

Grainthorpe

From: Lucy Skylark

Dune House

Barkmouth

Dear Vera,

I’m so glad you agreed to be my mentor. It was very kind of you when you could be enjoying your retirement, so I’m grateful for all your time and advice. I’m so excited to be taking my first steps to becoming a full time witch.

I will miss Grainthorpe so much. I know it’s a small town, but I always enjoyed going around the little shops like the grocer’s and the butcher’s, looking at all the weird things in Tarny’s Antiques, and spending my pocket money in Harriet’s Discounts, buying cheap lumpy nail varnish or a weird colouring book!

And I’ll miss the hills. I was thinking of when I first realised I had power, and I think it must have been the day they moved in to extend the bypass and chopped down the trees. I saw red, Vera. I remember there were still weeds they hadn’t got to – nettles and thorns. And I remember willing them to grow and they did. It was intoxicating. I was only 13 years old then. It felt like my weird secret. People I knew at school were doing much more normal kinds of rebellion – vaping, staying out too late, and there was me, disrupting a motorway.

I think I knew before then. I’ve always been good at growing things. My aunty Sandy used to say I had green fingers. She would give me the houseplants she’d neglected and they’d be green and growing again in no time.

My parents were so furious about the road, when they realised. There had been rumours it was a rogue witch… I’m sure you remember. And they were mortified. But I’m really happy because they asked you to help me when I had to go persuade the plants to go back. I started thinking I might become a full time witch. I’m so glad you persuaded them to let me go. They’ve always been very practical. I think I am too, but not in the same way. You see, they always hoped I’d get a business job, but I’ve always wanted to just help people. Not in a business way, in a direct way.

Speaking of which, please keep an eye on Mr Akhtar for me – I’ve been worried about him since his wife passed away. He never spoke much English but I learned a bit of Punjabi so we’re about equal. He was struggling to get around the house so I went and did some tidying and I fixed the garden. I persuaded the weeds to retreat and give him room. I helped his wife’s flowers to bloom again. I know it’s a simple job but it feels like important witch work. We have to keep an eye on each other.

Mrs Webfoot is my landlady and I’m staying in a lovely room overlooking the sea. She’s very kind and is very motherly. She makes sure I’m eating regularly and I’m not stuck in my room too long and not going astray. I can’t imagine local nightlife being very interesting! The day time in Barkmouth is lovely. There’s a path up on the cliffs with amazing views where I go to sketch. I’ve brought my art supplies with me and they’re a great help when I feel lonely.

Of course, I can’t feel too lonely because I don’t just have Mrs Webfoot, I also have Teddy! He’s a ghost! I’m not sure what my parents would think if they knew that the suitcase we bought from Tarny’s was haunted. He’s my age, from the 1920s. He talks like he thinks he’s a gangster, but he seems really lonely, deep down. And he’s really excitable and chatty. It’s a bit annoying sometimes but he’s good company around town. He came with me when we first went to look around Barkmouth and when we got to the little cinema – it’s a weird, old style place – we both got a strange feeling about it. Most of the people here can’t see Teddy – children and animals can, but most adults seem to look past him somehow. But the people in the cinema all smiled a bit too widely and they didn’t even seem to notice that Teddy was a ghost. And then they offered us free popcorn, which we didn’t take. Do you think they might be Fae? They have weird taste in movies anyway. They had some vintage horror and then some old rom coms from the 90s.

I’m hoping I might get to know more of the people in the town. But it feels so strange when I realise I was so confident in Grainthorpe because I’d lived there all my life and nearly everyone knew nearly everyone else. I’m a stranger here and I’m feeling shyer than I realised. I don’t know how they’ll take having a witch among them. I hope they’ll be kind.

Please give my love to Tibbles and your garden too!

Your friend,

Lucy.

Question: How much freedom did you have at 16? Do you think that teenagers now have more or less freedom than you did?

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Next entry: https://helenspeaks.com/2025/04/06/lucy-skylark-entry-1-10th-march/