Toad

Short story attempt 2 (750 words or less).

The Salamander sisters always seemed to be the centre of the town’s gossip-filled conversations; and rightly so… freaks. Everyone and anyone knew that there was more than herb-growing going on in that house; what sort of family had an ‘indoor greenhouse’ anyway? There was bound to be all sorts of weird things inside that big house of theirs. Not that anyone had been inside to see, (unless they themselves were weird also). Come to think of it, had any of those visitors resurfaced from the Salamander’s home? It wouldn’t have been the only suspicious thing to arise from that family.

Although judgments and opinions had changed since passed centuries, there were still many that floated around the town. The Salamander family- dominated by females and… unusual to say the least. Nowadays most of the talk was behind their backs. They were a lot more tolerated in the present day, what with the normal folk growing more deviant themselves, (of course, no where near the same level of deviance as the Salamander’s, but there wasn’t discrimination against certain things anymore).

They were allowed to walk about in the streets now, in the daylight too, though that didn’t stop people from walking in the opposite direction, or shielding their children’s faces. It has to be said, not everyone reacts that way. Some people aren’t aware of what sort of people the Salamander’s are, and people in today’s society are a lot more open minded. Anyone would think they were normal, which they couldn’t be further from. They would always be outcasts to the people who had heard the rumors.
But really, who wanted to be associated with a family of witches?

                                                          *

 ‘Get her away from me!’ cried Mrs. Jenkins towards her son Dean, who was currently hiding his new girlfriend, Misty, behind his back.
 ‘Mom, if you would just stop throwing things…’
 ‘Get that… that… witch, out of my house!’ she cried. Frantic was nowhere near a strong enough word for the woman right now. She was always one for gossip; of course she’d heard the rumors. She’d convinced herself that Misty, the youngest of the Salamander sisters, was going to turn her into a toad.
 ‘This is certainly not how I imagined you meeting my mother for the first time.’ Dean said over his shoulder to the cowering girl in the corner. ‘I cannot apologize enough.’ Another plate came hurtling their way.
 ‘Actually, I’d imagined a lot worse’ Misty said. Dean giggled a little; not that Misty was joking.

After a few more plate casualties, Mrs. Jenkins finally calmed down. Dean requested her and Misty sat and chatted before she jumped to any unnecessary conclusions, though Misty was quite sure it was too late for that. Reluctantly, the two of them agreed- for Dean’s sake.

The pair sat on the sofa in the living room in front of the fire. An awkward silence gripped both of them vigorously. Mrs. Jenkins kept her eye line away from Misty’s, sure that if they caught eye contact she’d instantly become hexed. Misty kept her hands firmly on her knees to Mrs. Jenkins’ request �" (she couldn’t do any harm if her hands were in view at all times.)
 ‘So…’ Misty tried to break the tension. The sudden sound caused Mrs. Jenkins to jump a little. Her nerves had completely gotten the better of her. ‘You have a lovely home.’ Misty began with a compliment. Mrs. Jenkins didn’t answer. She just nodded.
 ‘What sort of spell have you got Dean under then? I’ve heard all about that stuff you know.’ She couldn’t bite her tongue any longer.
Misty was astonished. ‘How dare you!’ She responded with an inward gasp to go along with it. The two of them stood to confront each other.
 ‘I know what you are’ Mrs. Jenkins scowled.
 ‘You don know the half of it’ Misty spat back.

From outside, Dean couldn’t hear much, just muffled voices. He was quite sure that they were getting on fantastically behind that door. His mom would love Misty if she took the chance to sit and chat with her. They were both such lovely women.
Impatiently, Dean became bored of waiting; ‘Are you two ladies finished making up?’ He asked as he entered the room. ‘Where’s my mom gone?’ he wondered, seeing that Misty was sat alone. She merely shrugged. Desperately trying to make sure that Dean didn’t notice the croaking sound that came from her bag.

Author's Note

A short story attempt, that I'm not all too fond of. But some of it I quite like (to the point of sharing) and have put aside for something I may work on in the future!