A parent opens the novel by telling a child that there is a Witch in the woods. While no one has seen the Witch, and all hope never to see her, everyone still knows she exists. The child questions the storyteller, wondering how people know the Witch is real. The parent points to the perils of the forest, naming the “poisonous smoke” and “boiling geysers” (2) as evidence. Obviously, the Witch created these dangers.

The parent explains, despite insisting the child already knows the story, that the Witch demands a yearly sacrifice of the youngest child in the village. On the Day of Sacrifice, all the people must be present to offer thanks to the baby that will save them from the Witch for another year. The child asks if their family ever had to give up a child, and the parent replies that yes, a long time ago they gave up a baby boy. The child wonders why the parent didn’t fight to keep him. The parent responds fatalistically that it would be impossible: The Witch would destroy them all. That’s just how things are and will always be. Tired of the child’s questions, the parent sends the child away.