The witch in this story is supposed to be Baba Yaga, who is indeed from eastern European folklore but whom I first met as a kid playing the game Hero’s Quest (or Quest For Glory, as it came to be known). I get pretty into folklore like this sometimes, because it’s neat and also because I didn’t really grow up with any. Mennonite communities — like the one I grew up in — tend to have a lot of pragmatic, conservative people who don’t have time for “folk tales” and other imaginative nonsense. [May 14th, 2014]