10,000 Days Part 43: Witch

They had to blame somebody for the bad luck, and a woman with no power or influence or family ties was convenient.
The crops had failed and there was no way that could just happen: there had to be a science to it, so they invented one.
Did she have marks on her that might make her less human? Evidence. Was she underweight? Ugly? Did she keep cats? Proof.
She was a witch.
And witches were scary.
But they were reassuring compared to the alternative of an uncaring universe, one where the crops could fail for no reason at all.