The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Witch’s Moon 
by Rie Sheridan Rose 

The moon is full tonight. High above the trees. I hear its singing in my head. This must be the night. I’ve known it would come all my life. I’ve been studying for it. It means I won’t live to see the sunrise, but I’ve made peace with that. A long time ago, the tradition began. A second daughter born to a high witch is meant for sacrifice. On the first full moon after their eighteenth summer, they must lie upon the altar while the coven watches. The high witch performs the ritual. Giving their own child to the full moon. This will ensure the village survives until the next birth of a second daughter.

The second daughter is dispensable, you see. My older sister will be the next high witch. It’s her birthright. Just as this is mine.

I don’t begrudge my fate. I wish I could see tomorrow. Raise a family someday. But it is not to be. I must ready myself for the altar. God speed to you, my friend.

Beware the witch’s moon…

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Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose

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!