Come Back Witch

David was standing in an empty, dark space. Was is the afterlife? He wasn't sure, he thought he heard a voice just before he passed out but couldn't remember it.

Something was wrong; he couldn't feel anything, no pain or sensation at all. He should be heavily wounded, but staring down, he couldn't even see his own body, just a small string of light.

David felt like he was waiting for something but had no idea what it was; there was nothing to do and nothing happening around him.

But just a moment later a small light that gradually grew seemed to appear on the horizon, giving the completely dark world a small change.

He felt strange, as if something were trying to pull him towards the light. Taking a step towards it, or however this body moves, the light seemed to only get more attracting. He felt with his whole body that when he reached the light, he would finally be at peace.

But life wasn't that easy; while sprinting, the dark sky seemed to split as a young girl's voice rang out.

''Face yourself and stand at last.'' David stopped in his tracks, not because he wanted to but instead as if the floor were swallowing him.

He felt like he was falling into water, only being pulled deeper. He wanted to grab something, anything, so he could return to the warmth of the light. But whatever was pulling him down didn't let him have the chance to escape.

Opening his eyes, he was standing in a garden, the warmth of the sun spreading around him. He was holding a hoe in his right hand and holding weeds in the other.

He remembered now; his wife told him too to finally clean the garden a bit and not being able to resist her plea, he got to work. Continuing his work, something felt off, everything seemed to be somewhat uncanny.

Smelling the newly baked apple pie his wife had made. His suspicion instantly vanished, slowly walking towards the house after putting his tools away. Something grabbed his leg, ''Dad, see what I've drawn.'' A small girl with long natural reddish-orange hair, which she got from her mom, around the age of 6 was holding his leg and threading a sheet of paper in front of his head.

Grabbing his daughter's drawing while laughing, he inspected it. It was a drawing of their yard, standing inside of it was a group of people, his wife and daughter with him at the center. But also their neighbors standing a bit to the left at their fence, smiling.

"What a masterclass, sunshine. Since when were you this good at drawing?'' The little girl seemed proud of herself. "I've always been this good." David just gently pats her head. ''We should hurry inside, or else the food will get cold and we don't want to see your mom mad, right?"

The kid nods in agreement, following him inside. Just after entering, his wife came up to him, and they both hugged each other for a second. ''Can you hold the little one for a moment? I have to put her masterpiece somewhere.''

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His wife happily took the hand of her daughter, leading her to the dining table. In the meantime, David was searching for a frame but couldn't find any.

"I could've sworn there should be some around here.'' While he searched a small storage room usually used to hold food.

While searching in a small box, he set the drawing down. Still not able to find a frame and not wanting his family to wait even longer to start eating, he decided to take care of it after lunch.

Sitting down next to his family, the mood was filled with genuine laughter and happiness, but no matter what happened, David seemed to feel something was wrong; he just couldn't pinpoint it. Not wanting his wife to feel worried, he pushed the thoughts away.

Time seemed to fly past while chatting with his family and just a moment later they finished eating, putting down his fork. ''Cleanup of the garden has been going good so far; I will probably finish it this afternoon.''

She just nodded. ''That's good, maybe we will be able to plant something this year then." His daughter, in the meantime, was still trying to finish her food, seemingly having no interest in the vegetables.

''Eat good sunshine or else a goblin will get you.'' Thinking about it, he didn't even know what a goblin was, as if something were trying to block his memory. After his daughter finally unwillingly finished eating, he stood up ready to continue his work.

''I'll be back in a bit; don't you two stay outside for too long. The sun is really bad today.'' Leaving his house, he could hear them both starting to clean the dishes.

Chopping away at the weeds, the sun only seemed to grow stronger, and while sweat was pouring down his body, the garden was finally finished. Finally looking up again, he saw the sun had already moved across the sky as the sun started to set.

The house was quiet; his wife probably already brought his daughter to sleep. But he had one last job remaining, finding a frame. As he was walking into the storage, he picked up the drawing once again. But something seemed different; their neighbors were gone as if they were never drawn.

A shiver ran down David's spine. Had he just imagined them being there? That must be it, getting himself together; he started searching again and finally found an old frame lying behind some boxes. He slowly picked it up and added the drawing to it, making sure to not damage it in some way.

Stepping out of the storage, he found his wife in the small kitchen next to the dining table.

''Honey, have you heard anything from our neighbors today? They seemed so quiet; normally they would've complained about me working so loudly again."

"Neighbors, what are you talking about, honey? We don't have any neighbors.'' David's mind felt like it was about to shatter; her certainty made him question his own memory. No, they for sure had neighbors, right? Maybe he was just confused from the work.

"Did you start drinking again, or why are you talking such things again?" Her eyes seemed watery as if she were about to cry. David instantly walked over, wanting to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

David was stunned he didn't know what was going on or what he did wrong, but before he could think about it, his wife had already hurried away to their room.

David was unsure if he should follow her, but before he knew it he was already on his way. Opening the door and wanting to say something, he found the room was empty; not just his wife was gone, even the interior had disappeared.

Stumbling backward onto the floor, David couldn't believe his eyes. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, but he just couldn't think about it again.

"Dad, what's wrong?'' The voice of his daughter called out from behind; he tried to stand up but fell down once again.

"Sunshine, have you seen Mom?"

"Dad, what are you talking about? Who's Mom? We are living alone.''

Slowly turning around, he stared at his daughter's face; she was smiling uncannily at him. While holding up the family drawing, which now only featured him and his daughter, not even the house remained.

Blinking, both were now standing in a white space. "What are you? And what did you do to my family?'' He was nearly screaming, his mind only now seemingly free from the confusion.

The innocent-looking child stood in front of the sitting man. ''I did not do anything; all of this is just part of your imagination.''

''What does that mean?'' David wanted to stand up and tear the impostor apart but felt like he was being chained down.

"Dad, why do you want to leave us behind? We miss you so much already. I will draw you another drawing if you want.'' Her voice filled once again with childish warmth and purity.

Finally able to stand up, David jumped at the impostor, grabbing them by their neck. ''You're not my family.'' He knew how to end this nightmare; he would only need to finish off the source of power and he would be able to escape.

"Dad, please don't do this; you're hurting me.'' Her voice was filled with pain and suffering as she slowly started to cry.

His hands froze; he wanted to finish this beast. But staring at his daughter's face, he couldn't move. Her voice was exactly the same since the day she first spoke.

Tears slowly began to run down David's cheek.

He was a father how could he even think about hurting his daughter?

Slowly releasing the grip from his daughter.

His own words echoed in his head.

A father was there to protect his family at any cost.

''Stay... stay with us.''