#folktaleweek2019 6. KEY
They took the box of miserable ghosts out into the moonless night, down to the darkest dell in the oldest part of the forest. They'd meant to bury it there, a few feet deep — but it was quite nippy out, so they just left it on the ground.
They made their way back to Ned's newly ghost-free digs, looking forward to warming swig of his best whisky. For good measure, they did toss the key into a river that thundered through the vale and into a vast, deep loch. ***
To be concluded in the next post! Go back through my posts to read the story from the start. I'm joining in #folktaleweek very late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The final one will be 'CROWN'.
#folktaleweek2019 5. DARKNESS
That very evening, she came to the haunted cottage. She carried with her a small chest, plainly made in ebony with tough brass brackets and bolts. She spoke to the three ghosts with honeyed words and promised them that, inside the chest, they would be free from their torments at long last. They believed her lies, and rushed into the box. In a flash, she snapped it shut and locked them in the darkness.
Old Ned was astonished. If ghosts are real, perhaps witches are too, he thought. Or perhaps she just had a way with words. Either way, it seemed his troubles were over - but still he could hear the muffled screams of those three lost souls, from inside the black wooden chest.
"What next, then?" *** To be continued in the next post! I'm joining in #folktaleweek a little late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The next one is 'KEY'. Had no time at all this week but hopefully will finish the story off with the last 2 words soon.
#folktaleweek2019 4. SMOKE
The stranger was a young woman, with long, treacle-black hair framing a milk-white face.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," she remarked — which was very perceptive, although Ned could have said the same of her, noting her bloodless complexion.
She puffed on a briar-wood pipe, giving Ned a long, searching look, and she found all of the sadness behind his eyes. They sat together on a mossy dead trunk. There she listened kindly to his troubles, and shared her pungent smokeleaf with him. She promised to help him be rid of the pesky ghosts.
***
To be continued in the next post! I'm joining in #folktaleweek a little late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The next one is 'DARKNESS'.
#folktaleweek2019 3. PATH
One fine May morning, old Ned wandered the tangled paths of the vale, and tried to shake off his despair. Breathing in the brisk air, hearing the frisky songbirds, and stretching his legs beneath the towering pines, he did feel a little better. He almost forgot how the little ghosts had all but driven him from his cosy home. When he'd done about enough hiking for his old bones and started to head back, he happened to meet a stranger on the path.
***
To be continued in the next post! I'm joining in #folktaleweek a little late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The next one is 'SMOKE'.
#folktaleweek2019 2. SECRET
At first he tried to ignore them, however much they howled and wailed. It became impossible. They followed him into every room, drowned out every thought. When he was washing the dishes, perhaps admiring the view from the kitchen window, he heard sobbing from the pantry. No sooner had he poured himself a dram and settled into his armchair for the evening, than they would crowd around, hissing in his ears, telling him all their dreadful secrets, unloading the manifold misery of their short lives and long deaths.
He regretted moving to the country.
***
To be continued in the next post! I'm joining in #folktaleweek a little late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The next one is 'PATH'.
#folktaleweek2019 1. HOME
It was tucked away neatly on a pine-packed ridge, overlooking the wide green vale where wild deer roamed and the crystal streams split and sparkled. Moorland and mountain separated it from the nearest neighbours — which would have suited its new owner, old Ned, very well, had he not had to share it with three little ghosts.
***
To be continued in the next post! I'm joining in #folktaleweek a little late, trying to thread together one continuous illustrated tale based on the 7 prompts. 📝 The next one is 'SECRET'.
