Bodies Full of Burning by Various authors

Author:Various authors
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror, anthology, menopause, fiction, short stories
Publisher: Sliced Up Press
Published: 2021-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

FLEDGLINGS/CRONES

B.J. Thrower and Karen Thrower

Mandy hissed at the bound man, “Worm! Your wife complained to us, scoundrel!”

Mandy’s twin, Candy, laid her hands over his eyes, chanting black magic spell words. He screamed as they both felt the tickle on Candy’s palms — of the worms squirming out of his sockets.

“Mandy? Candy!” The six-year-olds saw Mama in the doorway of their shared bedroom, thick, curly black hair bound up in a scarf and her apron covered in flour with one of the servant girls peeking over her shoulder. Worst of all, Mama caught them with a toy that wasn’t theirs.

They knew she loved them, but she also wondered about their magical inheritance, and how strong it was becoming. Making no sense to the children, Mama would sigh in doubt and murmur about blood and moons, “I suppose it depends on when their blood moons start, ay? If the courses are spotty or heavy, or last too long, or if the girls have cramps.”

Instead, this time Mama merely reminded them: “Please don’t break Brother Georgie’s doll, hear?”

Nodding, the girls re-focused, concentrating on the carved wooden soldier’s face. His features included a vague face and beard no more than black dots, but his uniform was quite nice, precisely painted on the male form in bright red with white trim.

Candy said, “He’s not bloody enough.”

Mandy smiled. “Get the watercolors, the red especially.”

***

Misty/Mandy surveyed her twin sister through the intermittent flames. Night bugs whirred around them, attracted by the campfire in the thickets behind the village, in a secret clearing. At age fifteen, Misty/Mandy was jealous of her sister; it wound through her veins like a snake.

Misty/Mandy figured she was the smartest of the pair of them. They weren’t even identical with distinctive faces; Misty/Mandy’s plumper, with what she considered a crooked nose, slightly bucked teeth, and plain brown hair. Crimson/Candy was slender, with Mama’s abundant black, gorgeous hair, and a pixie’s upturned nose. Willowy, Misty/Mandy thought in pure resentment.

Adding insult to injury, Crimson/Candy had started her blood moons two damned years ago, while Misty/Mandy hadn’t passed a drop o’ blood yet! It galled her, even if Crimson/Candy suffered cramps and bloating.

When will it be my time! she wailed to her mother, mindful that on a faraway day the menopause curse would smite them both and end their powers. But Mama could tell her only: Soon, my love. Soon.

Kept within the family, no one else ever knew their double names, a sign of their transition from children to grown women, and a rite of passage for witches. As the village church bells now rang in the distance, the young ladies were busy elsewhere in these wet, springtime woods, with a strange boy and an outdoor fire.

A teenager the same as them, they had coaxed him into the fragrant forest with promises of a jug, and perhaps, kisses. Pretty black skirt lined with red silk along the bottom hem, planted around her on the ground like scattered roses, Crimson/Candy had already used the knife on his

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