Half Bad

This summary section includes Chapter 1: “The Trick,” Chapter 2: “The Cage,” Chapter 3: “Push-Ups,” Chapter 4: “Ironing,” and Chapter 5: “The Trick Doesn’t Work.”

A teenage boy named Nathan begins his tale by disclosing that he is chained in an outdoor cage somewhere in rural England. He is a witch and is attended by an older witch who feeds him well and keeps him in good physical condition by demanding that Nathan do pushups and run laps each day when he is released from confinement. The boy mends the bruises from his shackles daily because he has the power to self-heal.

Nathan wants to escape his prison, but even when he is free to move about the property, a charmed shackle on his wrist keeps him from getting away. He says, “The wristband contains a liquid, an acid. The liquid will be released if you stray too far and this liquid will burn right through your wrist” (11). One day, while doing laps, Nathan tries to run anyway, dipping his wrist in a nearby lake to dilute the poison as he goes. However, the witch recaptures him and brings him back. By this time, his hand is badly injured and swollen.