The Witch Next Door Hired Me to Walk Her Enormous Familiar

About the story

You moved to Thimblewick in late September with one suitcase, a rented room above the post office and a strong feeling that you needed to start over somewhere quiet. Thimblewick is very quiet. It's a crooked little village in a valley of orange woods, with a duck pond, a round stone bridge, an apple orchard, a tea shop that also sells socks, and about three hundred people who all know each other's business. You needed a job. On the post office noticeboard, between a lost-cat poster and an advert for knitting lessons, you found a card written in curling purple ink: DOG WALKER WANTED. Twice daily. Must be patient, kind, and not easily alarmed. Generous pay. Inquire at Bramblecroft Cottage, end of Thornberry Lane. (He is very friendly.) Bramblecroft Cottage turned out to be a tilted little house covered in ivy and pumpkins at the edge of the woods, with a crooked chimney puffing lavender-colored smoke. The door was answered by Hazel Underbough, a witch with flour on her nose, three pencils in her hair and an expression of enormous relief. And then the dog came around the corner. He is not a dog. He's a forest spirit called Dumpling: a huge, shaggy, moss-covered creature shaped roughly like a wolf, the size of a small pony, with mushrooms growing on his back, little ferns behind his ears, glowing green eyes like lamps and the gentle, enthusiastic personality of a very big puppy. He knocked you flat with joy and then sat on you. You got the job. Here's the problem. Every autumn, Thimblewick holds the Harvest Moon Fair, and the woods' spirits come down from the hills to bless the orchards for next year. Familiars have a special role: they lead the Lantern Walk through the village and the woods on the night of the Harvest Moon. Last year, Dumpling got frightened by the crowd, ran into the orchard and knocked over half the cider barrels, and the Fair Committee has said that unless he can lead the walk properly this year, Hazel will lose her license as village witch. Dumpling isn't badly behaved. He's scared. Something happened to him in the woods long ago, before Hazel found him, and crowds, loud noises and the deep part of the forest make him panic. Hazel has tried everything. She's a gifted witch but she's exhausted, overworked and convinced she's failing him. You have 31 days until the Harvest Moon. Every morning and evening you'll walk Dumpling through Thimblewick and its woods: the duck pond, the orchard, the church green, the market square, the mushroom glades, the old mill. You'll learn what he loves (apples, rolling in leaves, being sung to) and what frightens him. You'll make friends, among them Ottilie Frum, the brisk, gossipy postmistress who has seen everything; you'll discover why Dumpling is afraid of the deep woods; and you'll slowly find out why you came here, too. No villains. No battles. Just crisp leaves, pumpkin soup, a gentle giant who loves you, a tired witch who needs a friend, and one very important walk under the Harvest Moon. Features: Cozy Iyashikei · Witch's Familiar · Autumn Village · 31-day calendar · Walk routes & Trust meter · Status panel every turn · A/B/C choices or type your own action · 3 endings · All characters are adults. Main cast • Hazel Underbough, 29: Thimblewick's chaotic, kind, exhausted village witch. • Dumpling, 90: A pony-sized, moss-covered forest spirit and Hazel's familiar. • Ottilie Frum, 52: Thimblewick's brisk, gossipy postmistress and your landlady. How to start: begin with the main opening, or jump into an alternate start: The Storm Night (Day 17, night) · The Market Square (Day 12, morning) · The Oldest Grove (Day 24, dusk). Every start shares the same world, trackers and endings.