This is a continuation of “All the Demons.”
Amid screaming neighbors and a Roddy Garry who had fallen to his knees, Hannah Anne remained calm staring at the open gate to hell. She glanced down at Roddy, who at this point was groveling on his belly, and sighed exasperatedly. “By the Three, you could win a gold medal for stupid, Roddy.”
Reaching down, she pried the wand from Roddy’s fingers and pointed it at the gate. “Ostendo sum presencia!” She shouted. The gate wavered slightly, but the creature had taken one step through and it’s head could be seen. It looked nothing like the old paintings of demons and devils.
“Gah, Roddy! Why didn’t you listen to me?” Roddy didn’t respond, his arms were over his head now and he was screaming. Pointing the wand at the gate once again, Hannah shouted, “Ostendo sum alica!” The gateway wavered even more and the creature retreated, but she could still it, just beyond the gate, waiting.
“Argh!” Hannah stamped her foot in frustration. There has to be a way to close this thing! Clutching the sides of her head, she paced in a circle.
“Think, you fool woman!” she mumbled to herself. She continued to pace, stopping occasionally to look at the gateway in thought. “There has to be a way to close the gate!”
Hannah stopped pacing and clucked her tongue. “I’m the one to get a gold medal for stupid, huh Roddy?” Setting the wand down, Hannah faced the gateway and closed her eyes taking several deep breaths, opening herself to The Ley. When she felt the power running through the earth beneath her and tapped into it, her eyes clicked open, and, smiling crookedly, she whispered, “Propinquus porta.“
The gateway snapped shut with a deafening crack.
Offering a brief prayer of thanks to the Mother, Hannah toed Roddy in the ribs. “Roddy, get up.”
Roddy had stopped screaming, but now a low moan escaped from under his arms.
Hannah sighed looking around the street. Many of the people were walking about as if just coming out of a daze. They had all been frightened out of their wits by what had happened, but not her. It perplexed her and her differing reaction required some research.
Surveying the tables set up on her lawn, Hannah Anne decided to shut down her garage sale early this year.
For the Scriptic prompt exchange this week, Tara Roberts gave me this prompt: Oh, for heaven’s sake. You could win a gold medal for stupid.
I gave SAM this prompt: You have the opportunity to relive one day of your life. Which one and why?
Loved this! You worked in the prompt in perfectly, and I like that you changed it to fit better with your story.
Thanks Tara! I like to think of prompts as being malleable unless I’m specifically restricted by them in some way.
i’m glad that you found another prompt that could tie back into this story, and now you’re just teasing us as Hannah’s confusion about why she wasn’t reduced to a dithering fool by the gateway to hell opens up even more possibilities. very glad to see the next step in this characters story.
Of course I’m just teasing! How else are you going to come back to see what happens next?
This does feel much more like the natural conclusion. I loved the way the humor continued right into this week’s story.
Pingback: Weekly Roundup (August 10-16) | scriptic.org