The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Light Three Candles
by Rie Sheridan Rose

Marly sat in the darkened living room, a butane fireplace lighter in her hand and stared at the three unlit candles standing before her. Different sizes. Different heights. Different purposes.

The woman at the little shop with the odd name—Droch…Drako…Draíocht…that was it—had given her detailed instructions. Marly had memorized them, but she hit the button on the lighter and read them again by the flickering flame to make sure she had it right.

1) Light the tallest candle and say the words “lig dom dearmad a dhéanamh”—it will remove him from your mind.

2) Light the middle candle and say the words “faigh dó imeacht”—it will remove him from your world.

3) Light the shortest candle and say the words “lig dom bogadh ar aghaidh”—it will remove you from his world.

She sighed. It had been a really hard break-up. She was honestly done this time. She never wanted to see or hear a thing about Russell again. Yeah, they had broken up before and always gotten back together, but this time she was done. Even thinking his name hurt too much. 

The whole thing was probably BS, but what did she have to lose? She took a deep breath, and lit the first candle, saying the unfamiliar words carefully. Something shifted in her mind, and she felt better than she had in weeks, with no idea why.

Laughing at herself self-consciously, she lit the next candle. The words came with more assurance this time. Glancing around the room in the candlelight, she frowned. Wasn’t there a photograph or something in that empty space this morning?

She shrugged.

Lighting the third candle, she said the words loud and clear. 

The fireplace lighter fell to the floor of the empty apartment.

Across town, in the little shop named Draíocht the owner smiled in satisfaction. “Wouldn’t do to burn the place down, now would it?” she said to the young man standing beside her. “After all, your neighbors remember your name, darlin’.” 

Russell grinned down at his mother as she made a gesture.

In the empty apartment, the candles winked out.

Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Overheard in Hell:
Dark Poetry

Poems exploring hell and damnation. Tales of sorrow, vengeance, betrayal, and redemption. Ghosts, ghouls, and demons stalk these pages. Don’t read in a lonely house…in a darkened room by a single candle…

…unless you like the touch of an icy finger up your spine.

Available on Amazon!