Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers: Annabelle

Published on by Yinglan

wpid-photo-20150624202315838She stood at the edge of the pond. It was bigger in her time and not as nice. The centerpiece was added in the recent decades but what they’re forgetting was that this pond was once the spot where witches were placed on trial.

She was one of the victims. Her mother was a full-bred witch while her father was not. She was barely fifteen when her power began to show. She couldn’t control it and accidentally exposed herself on market day. She was placed under arrest and was put on trial. Her hands and legs were bound in heavy chains as she was thrown into the pond. Unable to use her powers, she struggled and drowned. Not long after, her mother was arrested and placed through the same test. She survived, hence proved herself was indeed a witch and was burned at the stake.

She thought she would reunite with her mother after-death but after centuries of searching, she gave up until today. “Annabelle?” She looked up as she heard her name called for first time in over three centuries. “Mother.”

(~180 Words)

I am participating in Priceless Joy’s flash fiction challenge, Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writer, where we write a piece between 100 and 150 words (more or less 25 words) in length inspired by the photo prompt above.
I think this story is just a tad more exciting than my initial attempt even though I’m about 4 words over. 

19 thoughts on “Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers: Annabelle”

    1. Actually, this is the second story I’ve come up with this picture, I thought the first one was too laid-back.
      The presence of water in the picture is quite inspiring. Thank you for reading. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Great story Yinglan! Quite sad really, they throw the women into the pond and if you die then you weren’t a witch. What the heck?! That is like being inbetween a rock and a hard place. Sounds like an excuse to kill women! I really enjoyed your story! I want to pont out something. In the second paragraph, last sentence, ” …hence, proving herself AS a witch and was burned at the stake.” You’re welcome to delete this comment.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
      Unfortunately, that was the reality back then. People blamed everything on the supernatural and they thought people with supernatural powers could magically escape the heavy chains and survive. What people didn’t know was they’ve arrested the wrong people but this story was one of those rare circumstances that they in fact did arrest the right person who tragically was a 15-year-old girl.
      Thanks for pointing that out. I went back and revised it but in a different way. I’ve added one more word to the sentence which makes the word count to 180. Thank you for reading. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you for explaining that is very interesting. I had heard that during the Salem Witch hunts they would take a woman and dunk her into water (or something like that) until she drowned. If she didn’t drown then she was a witch and was burned at the stake. The ones who died were not witches.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yes, it was very tragic and sad. I read somewhere that that witch hunting came to an abrupt halt when they accused the wife of the POTUS back then. (I don’t remember which one).

        Liked by 1 person

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