The Mystery of Witch-Face Mountain, and Other Stories

The rugged cliffs of Witch‑Face Mountain loom over a quiet gorge, their broken rock and scorched timber forming a phantom visage that locals swear resembles a witch’s grim countenance. Light and shadow play across the crags, sometimes revealing the eerie outline in a flash of moonlight or a storm‑lit glare, and the sight has become a point of pride—and dread—among the nearby hamlet’s folk. The legend draws curious hikers and steadfast woodsmen alike, each hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious profile before it vanishes like a fleeting fancy.

Enter Constant Hite, a broad‑shouldered lumberjack whose confidence is as towering as the mountain he haunts. He boasts of his strength, his keen aim, and the trophies he’s claimed, yet the spectral face on the slope seems determined to test his bravado. As winds sweep through the gorge and shadows flicker across the stone, Hite finds himself caught between his own swagger and the unsettling suggestion that the mountain may bear a deeper, uncanny intelligence.