I’d travelled through time, hopeful to visit the genteel days of Jane Austen’s world. Instead, the calibration mechanism slipped and catapulted me into a reed-covered pond. Scrambling out of the machine, the corrosion was evident. How far off course had I come?
Sopping wet, I stumbled down the nearby path and came upon them: three young girls writhing on the ground. Suddenly they rose in unison, pointing at an ashen-faced red-haired woman in the surrounding crowd. “It’s her,” they screamed. “She’s the witch! Take her to the pond and test her!”
And they moved toward my beloved machine.
Photo by Dale Rogerson. Word Count: 98
First try at flash fiction using this week’s prompt photo, provided for Friday Fictioneers. Requirements: 100 words or less + photo attribution. Boston is a commuter rail ride away from Salem, Massachusetts — alive this time of year with reminders of its witch trial days! Not sure I’ll continue writing in this genre — but fun to try!
lillian the home poet 
On the edge of my seat with very few words!
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Love your response! Many thanks 🙂
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Dear Lillian,
Welcome! Welcome! You’ve certainly made a splash with this stunning story. I only hope she can outrun the three girls. So much for Jane Austen. Good job.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Many many thanks for your kind words, Rochelle….truly appreciated. I really enjoyed the challenge. Suspect I’ll be joining you in the Friday Fictioneers again!
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I certainly hope so!
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Welcome indeed! Those darn time-machines are just so testy… can’t be trusted!
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Many thanks for the warm welcome! Love your reply 🙂
Have a wonderful Halloween weekend!
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ooooh, just realized, this is your photo! Funny me…..I looked at it and immediately saw a time machine….or a huge snake. And I hate snakes so the choice was obvious 🙂 About an hour later, showed the pic to my husband (granted, he pulled it up on a big screen and I’d pulled it up on my phone original) and said, “it’s a chair” — to which I said “where?” I must have been initially so convinced it was a time machine, I never even saw the chair! 🙂 Funny what the imagination will do. Anyway, loved the photo!! So glad you took it and so glad it was used for this prompt!
PS: Nice to meet you, Dale!
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Nice to meet you.and…as written on.Rochelle’s page – “it’s not what you look at, it’s what you see!”
Glad you had such fun with it!
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Genteel for a tiny fraction of the population. A disease-ridden, half-starved drudge for everyone else.
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Thank you for your reply. Yes, the times Jane Austen wrote about were indeed divided in terms of those who lived “upstairs” and those who lived “downstairs” — and those who lived in hovels and/or on the streets. Point well taken.
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Oooh, good Halloween material! >
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Glad you liked it. Have a hobgoblin Halloween weekend my friend! 🙂
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It’s not celebrated with the same enthusiasm here. 😉
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Ah…..the candy industry must be disappointed! However the grade school teachers don’t have to deal with those sugar highs so much 🙂
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I love the lore of witches and all that they represent. Your words this am, Lillian – gave me a H.G. Wells shudder into Salem. What cool and unusual thoughts to magic together into an eerie tale…oooooo
Happy Friday
am:)
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Thanks, Ann Marie! Tis the season of witches and hobgoblins…….. Happy Halloween to you!
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Love this. Well done.
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Ah, many thanks Caerlynn. So nice to meet you this morning over my second cup of coffee!
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Second. Really? I’ve got some catching up to do. Have a great day!
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Oh gosh! The dangers of time travel! And seasonally perfect timing!
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Glad you liked it!
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What a great story. And what happens then? Will the red haired woman be rescued? Will the time machine be destroyed? Stranded in that superstitious world is a horrible thought. 🙂 Welcome!
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Many thanks! So glad you liked it……maybe you should write the sequel 🙂 Thanks for the warm welcome……I suspect I shall be back next week!
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Oh wow! I love it. Will they catch the red-haired witch in time? I guess you never know what kind of world you’ll enter into. Nicely Written, Lillian.
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So glad you liked it Amy. Nice to meet you this Halloween day — and the red-haired witch’s spirit is roaming the streets tonight in Salem!! 🙂
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Good to meet you, too. Welcome! Yikes! It’s a good thing I’ll be under a blanket with a bag of candy. 🙂
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Absolutely glorious! I love the mesh of future and past, the craft with witchcraft.
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So glad you like it Melanie. I thought it good timing with Halloween 😊🎃. Many thanks for your reaction here! 🙂
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Halloween or otherwise, it’s a good story. Welcome to Friday Fictioneers!
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Thank you!!
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A witch story – nice, in time for Halloween. I was a witch for Halloween in Grade 4. Won first prize for my costume. 🙂 Welcome to FF.
LIly
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Thanks so much for the welcome! Had fun with the story…a bit of time travel back to the Salem, MA witch trials. Read there were 80,000 tourists in Salem yesterday!!!
Hope to see you again!
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Great story! I didn’t see it going to the witch trials so I liked the little twist there at the end. Please write more of these!
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My fist time in FF….really enjoyable so sure I will step up to the challenge again. So glad you liked it! Stop by again 😊
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