7.4 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print Originally published 5 April 1952 Country United States of America | 3.7/5 Goodreads Genre(s) Fantasy short story Publication date 5 April 1952 Publication type Newspaper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Published in The Saturday Evening Post Similar Ray Bradbury books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"The April Witch" is a 1952 fantasy short story by Ray Bradbury.
Contents
Plot summary
Cecy is a 17-year-old girl born into a magical family. She has the ability to assimilate with other living plants or animals. Purely benevolent and innocent in nature, Cecy tells her parents that she wishes to feel love, despite their warning that she will lose her magical abilities if she marries a human. She does not heed their warning and merges her essence with a young woman named Ann. She forces Ann to attend a dance with Tom, a 22-year-old man who has been interested in her for a while. However, Ann has no interest in Tom. Tom is aware of Ann's inconsistent behaviour during the dance. The story ends with Cecy becoming attracted to Tom and trying to arrange a meeting with Tom and her human form through Ann.
Reception
Boucher and McComas described the story as one of Bradbury's "reassuringly lovely flights of fancy".
Publication history
The story was included in several of Bradbury's short story collections:
This story was later assimilated into Bradbury's 2003 fix-up novel From the Dust Returned.