Weekend Freewrite - Earth and Fire

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I put tulips under all the pillows and then I set fire to the house. It’s an old spell and not one I’ve been forced to use before. Cases like this are the ones that make the news but this scale of intervention is very much a last resort. The couple weren’t happy but they’d let the problem fester and now they were out of options.

It’s the combination of earth and fire that is potent. The earth binds. You have to dig the tulips up, bulbs and all. It’s the life that attracts the spirits, otherwise they’ll just curl up in the smoke and drift to wherever you head next. Once they’re fixed it’s the fire that destroys. No-one really knows how. There are texts going back hundreds of years on the subject, each theory as unlikely as the next. Spells work and I get paid. That’s all that matters to me.

They were packed and heading out of state but I knew I’d be seeing them again. She had been cheating on him; it wasn't the first time and it wouldn’t be the last. Now they were marked and the anger between them would draw in the darkness wherever they went.

If I’m honest I felt for the house more than the people. Places like this are a responsibility. They need careful maintenance; spiritual as well as physical. Their arguments had disturbed something and it had objected. Old houses, old spirits, old morals. If they’d called me in earlier I could have coaxed it back to sleep. Now the whole thing would have to go up in flames.

I’d say the same for their relationship. He said he’d forgiven her but the way he tore the newspaper told me otherwise. A little too much relish. He was ready to see things burn.

Marriage guidance isn’t really one of my skills. But I did what I could. I gave them more tulips to add to the fire. Told them it would draw away the bad influences that had led them astray. There’s nothing to it of course. Neither of them were possessed. But people like to have something to blame. Maybe they would take the chance to start afresh. Maybe not.

And I told them they should look for a new build. It’s probably safest in the long run.

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My morning freewrite work-out. The goal simply being to write faster.

A different challenge today. Three separate prompts for three five minute freewrites which you have to string together. Harder than you might think!

391 words. About twenty minutes for the initial draft. More than an hour to move it all around and tidy it up.

Today's first prompt is here:
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/weekend-freewrite-3-the-first-sentence

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