The Witches Tunnel
Close to where I live there is a forest, which holds a dark secret; The Witches Tunnel, a cluster of trees that have intertwined, clasping hands with each other to form a dark passage. It is said deep within the forest lives an old witch with eternal knowledge.
Walking through during the day is unsettling, a walk through this tunnel at midnight in the dead of winter when the moon is full is a different experience entirely. The branches will twist and sway as if trying to grab you and you’d swear they were alive. There will be no sound except the wind whispering in your ear, telling you to turn back. What looks like a distance of a few feet will take you nearly an hour to travel, if you turn round the entrance will be barely visible, a mere speck. Turning back now, however, would be a very bad idea, you must keep walking.
Eventually you will come out the other end, only this won’t be the same forest as it is in the day. The moon will be so big you could almost touch it and where its light manages to pierce through the dense foliage you’ll see the ground is alive with insects, one big crawling mass. Grotesque, mocking shadows will surround you in a thick blanket of fear.
As you continue, the path will split in two. Look for a crow in the the trees, she will indicate which path to take and serve as your guide. If you ignore her and take the other path, you will be doomed to walk it for eternity as punishment for your insolence. The correct path leads to a break in the trees overlooking a small lake, thick with fog. Remain here until the fog clears, then walk to the shore. Glancing at the deep black water you will see yourself reflected, only many years older. If you see nothing, you have already failed. You may ask your future self one question and it will answer truthfully. Ask wisely however, some things you are not supposed to know.
When you have your answer turn round and you will see the crow has reappeared, only now in her true form, a sunken-faced old hag propped up by a gnarled branch. She will turn and begin walking and you must follow her, a few yards behind. Be careful not to lose sight of her as you will become lost in these forbidden woods forever. She will stop beneath the tallest tree in the forest and her boney finger will beckon you over. Approach her, but do not look her in the face, lest what you see behind those ageless eyes drives you insane. In return for letting you into her wise woods, she will ask a favour of you. This could be anything, from reading a certain book to committing a murder. Promise her this favour and she will lead you out of the forest.
Upon leaving the forest return home immediately and go straight to bed. The next day, rise at dawn and return the witches favour. If you do not do so within twenty-four hours she will return to you that night. She won’t kill you herself, that would be too easy. No, she will whisper in your ear whilst you sleep, invading your dreams and filling your subconscious with dark suggestions. You will create your own death, tearing yourself apart both mentally and literally.
The witch does not forgive.
–
Credited to Nathan.
FIRST!
omg witch is anonymous
assuming that I would be dumb enough to do this, what would I get out of it?
I do it for the lulz
“If you see nothing, you have already failed”? It all sounded pretty fair up till that point . . .
The ritual stories often have an imbalance between the risks and the rewards. Either the risks are easily avoidable with a little thought, or the rewards are disproportionately weak. This was the second variety. Not so much because it’s useless (again, a little thought), but it’s almost always what these things have to offer.
Nothing much to complain about with the writing, though.
yum that witch sounds sexy
I like all the different things about the ‘Witch Tunnel’ but iunno it seems a bit too much..?
Cool story though!
Yeah, but, the thing is:
who’s gonna go do this?
So anon is comprised of witches…..I knew it!
BUT WHO WAS CROW?
not really creepy……;
Aside from asking your future self a question, doing this really wouldn’t see worth it. I’d have to ask my future self if doing the witch a favor landed my ass in jail.
This was ok. Not too good and not too bad, but just ok.
*gives aSak a cookie*
Astute observation is astute.
[sigh]……..didn’t I JUST say that ritual pastas need something to make them interesting? I have nothing against a good ritual pasta, but lately there has been a dearth of them, and a surplus of go to=w perform=x or death=y and reward=z
Also, the reward in this one is severely lacking. I mean, come on, “Ask it anything, except those things that you shouldn’t!” What am I supposed to do, ask for the time of day?
OGAWDS.
That was pretty good.
BUT WHO WAS WITCH?
…
I do it for the lulz…
The witch does not forgive. It does not forget.
BUT WHO WAS WITCH???
BUT WHO WAS REFLECTION?
Oh, wait.
benefit?
I shat brix.
“wise woods”? It doesn’t seem that way, the only real good thing you got out of this was to ask your future self one question. The witch doesn’t do anything but collect the payment
Incentive isn’t strong enough.
Ehh.
We are the Coven
We are Legion
We do not Forgive
We do not Forget
Expect us…
…to share an eye between us and to turn you into a frog and/or bake you in our oven! *mad cackle*
Wow that…I don’t really wanna say sucked but, it lacked. But really, what do they want us ask? 0_o
This was really…REALLY dumb
loved it..it reminds me of a gothic fairy tale
Bleh. I second bad ritual comments. What one question could be worth risking some generic dark and evil insanity/gory death? I agree with Feaster, most of them are just way too formulaic, not to mention they aren’t worth it.
Another ritual pasta with good promise but failed to deliver. Shame.
Cool
that was one of the good was i’ve read in 2009 but not the best i’ve read all together
1 “The witch does not forgive.” so, painfully, tacked on
2 not worth it (the walk even)
3 if i did have the chance to ask future me one question i would probably just ask who wins the next superbowl and bet shit-tons of money on it. i like to be surprised by life, asking something important would just be a spoiler for me
4 or i would ask what i asked myself and chuckle upon being told “that” (its kinda an inside joke, but with only myself… … from the future)
I liked this. But unless your future self has some sort of super-memory then what one question would be worth going through all that crazy ritual?
I mean if I was my future self then I would have already gone through that ritual as a younger man. I don’t know what I would tell my younger self. But I guess I should start writing down every lottery winner and stock market trend in case my younger self ever tries that ritual and asks me how to become rich…
ah i love this but some parts were a little tacky and overused. good pasta
BUT WHO WAS TUNNEL?
i would ask my future self if the witch is available for banging;) lol just kidding
So it does not forgive, it does not forget huh??
Does it have over 9000 penises in order to troll oprah??
If making a mistake in these rituals always results in death or insanity, or eternal wanding in creepy woods then how is there any one to tell you what will happen if you make these mistakes? no one would no not to look the witch in the eye or ignore the crow if the only ones who ever did it were never able to tell anyone about it.
@ witch fucker:
XD I died when I read your comment.
Died again when I read your name.
i would do it for a time paradox just to fuck my self up XD
Pshhhhhhhhhhhh. Stupid.
BUT WHO WAS WITCH?
I liked this. It would make a really kick-ass movie, though. Like, it could start out with some curious person walking in the woods and they discover this tunnel. And being curious, explore it. The whole tunnel part would only take half of the movie, probably, but the other half could be them trying to accomplish the witch’s task. let’s just say she gives them something really long and complecated. I think it would be pretty effing cool.
This pasta fucking sucked, seriously.
Cute. Reminds me of when I was little and asked mum to tell me something scary before bed.
This was so bad that it actually pained me to read. This is depressing.
Fear the Darkness
-Nex
um so where exactly do you live at?
Anomalous, the crow was the witch, now SHUT THE FUCK UP.
The witch does not forgive?
Does she forget? Is she legion? Should I expect her?
wait, wouldn’t seeing older you in the water mean that you’ve returned the witches favor without messing up?
ohhh now I think I understand what the whole “If you don’t see yourself you’ve already failed” thing.