The Tragedy

The true story behind the witch.

Garnet Thompson was a young woman who lived in this area with her husband, Turner, around a hundred and fifty years ago. She and her husband shared a small house on the very edge of town, right along the treeline of the woods. They weren't quite outcasts of the town, but everyone knew there was something different about them. Their daughter did not attend the school with all of the other children. Instead, she learned the ways of nature in the garden with her mother, or out in the woods with her father.

On warm summer nights, the family could sometimes be seen going out of their house and heading into the woods. No one knew why they were doing this, and most felt it was best kept a secret. No one had ever been bothered by the Thompson family, and no one wanted to bother them. All-in-all, they were good people. Though they did not attend the church, they were well respected by most everyone around.

There came a time when Garnet's husband was to take Sarah away to stay with her grandmother for a little while. The word in town was that she was to go for special studies. The trip would take one day to get there, and one day back. Garnet was offered by one of the ladies in town to stay with her family for the short time. She declined, saying this would be an opportunity to get some things done around the house.

The night of Turner and Sarah's departure was a beautiful one. Garnet saw it fit for her ceremony. You see, she was a studier of the occult. A ritual to bid her loved ones' a safe trip seemed fit for this occasion. After the sun had been down and the moon was it its peak, Garnet left her house and went into the woods. This same night, two of the older teenagers in town were out for a walk amongst the trees. Unfortunately for Garnet, they stumbled upon her ritual site. She had taken no notice of the young couple, and they quickly disappeared back into the trees.

The next morning Garnet had a knock on her door. No sooner had she unlatched the lock than she was on the floor and surrounded.

"You have been accused of being a witch. What do you say to this?" one of the men ordered.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Those foolish witch trials have been over for hundreds of years."

"That does not mean that witches are not an evil thing that must be destroyed. You shall be summoned to court tonight. Be there, or we will come and get you."

An execution was to take place, as decided by the court. She was left with only the remainder of this day to live. Tomorrow morning she would hang. And hang she did.

Turner was arriving back into town just as her body was being lowered from the gallows. With not even a moment to question what had happened, he too was roped and on public display. Told only that his crime was marrying a witch, they kicked over the stool he'd been standing on.

Author's Note

How am I doing so far?