The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Fae Trap 
by Elaine Pascale 

.On the morning following the full moon, “Jane” brought an offering to the Fae. She had assembled snapdragons, hydrangea, bluebells, and candytufts. This would be her last attempt. She wouldn’t have the strength to pedal her bicycle after this.

An earlier bicycle trip to the woods had been the catalyst for Jane’s terminal status. She had fallen prey to a Fae trap. They had appeared fragile and luminous and endearing. There was no warning in their incandescence. Enchanted, she had given them her real name in exchange for a floral cake with icing so sweet her heart fluttered. The flowers were made of colored chocolates that were transcendent. The succulent confectionery buds trickled with sticky caramel. Fresh berries nestled between the layers, and the baked batter was so fluffy that she feared it would float away before she could cram it into her mouth.

Both the cake and the name had been traps. The name transferred ownership, she no longer had autonomy, but the cake was worse.

Who knew that cake could cause such punishment?

She craved the otherworldly sweetness to the point that she could no longer eat human food.

At first, she had thought she was sick, like a flu. Then, as days passed and she was unable to keep even her favorite foods down, she knew it was more of a love sickness, of a deadly variety.

The sickness permeated her until her existence became one of constant nausea and pain.

If the flowers she brought were not received, and she was not permitted a taste of the mystical cake, she would burn their tree to the ground, hoping their revenge would be quicker than starving to death.

Fiction © Copyright Elaine Pascale
Image courtesy of Pixaby.com

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