once knew a sea witch. Honest! But she's gone away to sea, now, as she always said she would.

I wish she’d come back. When I look out across the ocean and see a patch of water that's not green or blue, I think of her eyes. And when I see the sun turning roseamberine at sunset, I remember her masses of hair. It was the same pretty colour. (She pronounced it ro-zeem-ber-een. Cool word, huh?)

I never believed what the kids at school said about her. But when I first saw her hair, I began to suspect. No ordinary person--or witch--could have hair like that.

Only a sea witch.

I felt very plain beside her. Usually I don’t care how I look because of my personality. Mum says I can talk her earrings off. (But that’s because she doesn’t screw them on tightly.)

In the lagoon where her houseboat is moored, I can still see her floating about her lovely things and smiling at me for no reason. Everything is exactly the way she left it, except for the sand that has crept over the floor and the spider-webs hanging off the beams.

From the cliff-top the lagoon looks a magical place. Surrounding the lagoon are frangipani and tropical trees with flowers that look as rich as jewels. To the left of the lagoon, you can see miles of sand glittering as if sprinkled with diamonds. In the distance, a wide sand bar separates the lagoon from the rush of the ocean. But, no matter how hard you look, you will never see her houseboat. It’s our secret--Madame Sea Witch’s and mine.

I remember the first word she spoke to me. I was trespassing on her beach and picking some frangipani and brilliant red hibiscus. (I wanted to prove to the other kids that I’d really been there.)

She seemed to appear out of nowhere. I was watching an exquisite green and blue butterfly land on a flower just above my head. I looked away for a second, and when I looked back Madame was standing near where the butterfly had been and wearing the same colours.

I had such a weird feeling. I didn't know whether to make a dash for my boat or try to find out more about her.

"Hello," she said.

For the first time, all my good words ebbed away. As I stared at her, millions of thoughts went whizzing through my mind.

"How did you get down to the beach?" she asked. "You couldn’t climb down the cliff. Surely you didn’t just swim?"

By now I had taken a really close look, and I was amazed how witchy and beautiful she was all at the same time. Besides her witchy roseamberine hair, she had starey eyes—like dead fish. It occurred to me it must be lonely being a sea witch with no other sea witches around. There were only farming families, fishermen and surfers around here. Yet, there was something powerful about her; something that made her seem important. She had a shawl of the sheerest green material wrapped around her shoulders; underneath she wore a floaty blue dress (might have been a nightie); on her feet she wore knitted bed socks with fluffy pom-poms. Her roseamberine hair was thick with tangles and knots as if she’d just climbed out of bed. I suppose the afternoon is early rising for a witch.

"How did you get down to the beach?" she asked again.

I pointed to the rubber dinghy on the sand bar and told her I had sailed around the cliff from the other beach.

Her amazing green eyes showed a glimmer of life. "In that toy?" she asked. But from her tone, I couldn’t tell if she was impressed or if she thought me crazy.

"Well, I’m not going to let you go back the same way," she announced.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm an ocean girl," I told her.

"Yes, well, I think you must be," she said then led me up the hot sand towards the mile-high cliff.

A black Labrador bounded up the sand and trotted along beside us. He had the longest tongue I’d ever seen. It didn’t seem to fit inside his mouth and was always hanging over the side. I wasn’t sure if he was friendly; so, I made friendly noises and held out my hand. He wagged his tail and licked me. I liked him, then.

The sea witch smiled this sweet smile, and her eyes sparkled like the diamond sand. At the same moment this pack of seagulls flew up and circled over our heads like an airborne crown. I watched the awesome crown of seagulls circling above us; but, when I looked down, the sea witch had gone.

I spotted her disappearing into a cave at the bottom of the cliff. That must be where she lives, I thought as I ran towards the cave. From the beach, I tried to see inside, but the entrance was overhung with vines and things. I didn’t want to go into her home uninvited, so I waited outside. I heard the sound of whirring and cranking and she reappeared.

A few metres from the cave, on the right, was a man-sized cage of black iron with fancy lacework. Madame swung the door open, smiled and beckoned.

I panicked a bit. She wants me to get into that cage? But then I noticed the tracks leading from the cage going straight up the cliff.

The lift rose slowly with me inside. I pressed against the iron lacework crushing the flowers I’d picked and watching her waving and smiling way down below. When the lift reached the cliff top, I watched her disappear into the jewel jungle surrounding the lagoon.

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