“The witch said, ‘You have some difficult choices to make.’

“The woman thought, And imagine, not having to clean if you didn’t feel like it. In fact, a bit of dirt is probably what everyone expects. Imagine living in a grubby house where nothing matches and everyone thinks it’s charmingly bohemian.

“The witch said, ‘You want to be happy, but you don’t want to hurt others to achieve it.’

“The woman said, ‘You know, you could probably say that about pretty much anyone, anywhere, in the whole of human history.’

“The witch replied, ‘I know, but it frightens people if I just get straight down to it. Here’s what I think, I think you’re bored and you hate your life and you don’t know what to do. So I’ll tell you the three choices you’ve got, and then which one you pick is up to you.’

“So the woman sat quietly in her chair and waited for the witch to tell her the three choices she had.

“‘The first choice,’ said the witch, ‘is to leave it all behind and come and live with me. I’ll train you to be a witch. At the end of the winter, if you like it, you can have the caravan and take over my franchise.’

“The woman said, ‘But doesn’t it take years to get qualified?’

“And the witch replied, ‘Oh, yes, years and years. But you can pick up the basics in a few months, and study in the evenings. It won’t be easy, and you might be cold and hungry some of the time, but in the end, you’ll have your own life and your own power and no-one will ever tell you what to do. You can live in the caravan as long as you want. But if you want to leave, you’ll have to find someone else to take it over, because there always has to be a witch in this caravan and that’s just the rules.’”

Ava began stroking Finn’s forehead again.

“‘Next choice,’ the witch continued. ‘You can go back home to your husband and have a baby.’”

Ava’s hand twitched.

“‘If you love each other enough,’ the witch continued, ‘the baby will bring you closer and you’ll grow old and contented. If you don’t love each other enough, the baby will drive you apart, and you’ll be divorced within three years and spend the rest of your lives feeling guilty.’”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Ava objected.

“Not for everyone, but for the woman in this story. So then the woman said, ‘What’s my third option?’ And the witch replied, ‘Your third option is to carry on living the life you’re living right now. But at least you’ve got options. And if you choose to stay with what you’ve got, you can’t say ever again that you feel trapped, because it was your own choice.’ She was a very judgemental person, this witch. I should have told a better story.”

“What did the woman choose?”