and they go, i hate to say i told you so - writing

[Legends]

a

[div style="0px; width:400px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt; line-height:13px;"]A Most Certain, Strange, and true Discovery bya VVITCH - damn puritans p.l

father had died. the cough had taken him.
she hadn't been enough.
everything he had taught her had not been enough
he was the last one to die in a series of silent aching ends
and the township, usually docile in their God-fearing manner, was a beast humming with unrest, looking for someone to blame
who could have put their children to death but the vvitch in the southwood

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unmarried at her age was not uncommon but not looked fondly upon. it was the role of woman to be a helpmate to her husband, obedient and quiet. it was simply the way. hadley stuck out for the very reason that she was hardly seen. living alone with her father on their land some distance south from the town and had not attended church regularly placed her in a formidable position as an outcast. not unwelcomed but unfamiliar. this only made the case in favor of her accusation worse.

once her father had passed she was left alone in her own in the south wood. she picked up the pieces of his departure by continuing in what he had taught her: herb gathering and drying, checking traps, watching for wolves. the routine was comforting but it was not enough. everything around her was cold. she could not save him: "the healer's daughter who could not heal" the town whispered unbeknownst to her once the knowledge of theodor's end has punctured their bubble. his practices had bordered on strange but hadley had no mind to question the methods he taught her: they worked when he did them. but how long until a simple acknowledgment of her failure turned into stories calling her the harbinger of death? as it happened, not long.

the weeks past and autumn formally arrived, bringing the harvest. she had avoided going into town until then but she had things worth trading and was in desperate need to more supplies. no one could brand her a fool for her apprehension, perhaps if she hadn't gone into town that day her reputation may have faded into obscurity and she forgotten. it was not so. 

eyes followed her as she went door to door, packed horse in tow, offering herbs and other products. six buyers out of all of them. she left at dusk with little more than what she arrived with and began home, unaware of the whispers: healer's daughter who could not heal

-/-

the noise.        THE NOISE.
                                                  it was        EVERYWHERE.
it was blindly bright like a full moon but the same color as fire.
it flew, no, it fell through the trees ripping them apart, screaming
it barely missed her house, landing, no, crashing beyond a hill
she went to it, unafraid, curious
who else had seen it? they would come soon if she did nothing
and then she would never know what it was

-/-

she ran towards the hill and stood, looking down at the largest watch she had ever seen. well, that wasn't exactly what it was but that was all she could think of. dark gears and springs littered the hillside below her and more spilling from the watch-shaped thing like blood. was there blood? the grass all around it was dark, soaked with---something. she passed her hand over it, her skin covered with something dark. it smelled like death. that was all she could think of. she got closer, running her hand over a portion of whatever it was, passing bolts and some kind of nail. the metal was warm to the touch but did not burn her but when she went touch one of these exposed pinions, it cut her, creating a small gash in her hand, then she noticed him

he was slumped towards, the front? she was unsure because in truth whatever the thing was it was circular. it was dark now that the sun had gone down but she was close enough see that he was bleeding on the side of his face and his clothes were soaked with blood. a healer never forsakes someone in need of their help she could hear her father say. the decision had been made: she would need her horse.

-/-

who was he
he was bleeding and he needed help
who was he
he had come from the sky
who was he
no one could know he was here
who was he
she did not know what they would do to him
who was he
she started stitching but there were cuts everywhere
who was he
he was bleeding and he needed Her help

-/-

blue morning light began to show through her windows and she was still stitching and cleaning and covering and stitching and cleaning and covering. he had woken once and looked at her, dark brown eyes masked with fear. she looked down at what she was doing and then looked back at him, noticing the blood around his eye. she thought it was blood. she immediately turned to the counter on the other side of the room to get something to clean it with, hoping it wasn't coming from his eyes, her father hadn't taught her what to do about that. when she returned to the beside the blood was gone, just a redness tint to his pale skin where it used to be. and he had passed out again. she continued working.

there was blood all over her hands. it was under her fingernails and it had stained her dress sleeves. but he had stopped bleeding. his brown hair was still matted with blood on the sides there was nothing she should do about that.  hadley had tried to ignore the pressure building in her stomach. how long till he stopped breathing? how long until the wounds she worked to close with whiskey watched needles opened and he bled again? how long until she needed to dig a grave behind her barn where he'd rest until his bones become apart of the earth? she needed to stop. he would be fine. hadley needed to start today's work but she was so tired. so so tired. she went to the barn and as predicted, climbed to the hay loft and fell asleep.

-/-

vvitch
          vvitch
                    vvitch who ends life
no i'm a healer
                      no i'm a healer
                                                no i'm a healer like my father
but what is a healer who cannot heal? who is not married? who fosters death?

a vvitch.

-/-

she had slept until midday. for a brief moment, the irrefutable fact that there was a man in she did not know was in her house had escaped her but it came back with a roaring in her ears. what if he had left? that would not be ideal, especially if he wandered into town or onto the property of someone else, both would likely end up with him in harm.

tossing a bale of hay to the stall of her horse larkspur which, before falling asleep she had taken the tack off of, hadley ran back towards the house, making a serious attempt to not trip on the skirt of her frock in the process.

he was still there.
thank God.

she turned and tasked herself with pulling down some of her dried herbs from the ceiling, knowing that next, she begin making stew from saved vegetables and the rabbit she had caught from the traps the morning prior. it would be almost worse if he were to starve after all the work she'd done on his wounds.

"Where am I?"

he was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at the floor. she wasn't sure what to tell him. "you are in the colony of connecticut. in my father's-" she stopped, "my house." he looked at her, the sun through the windows backlighting him into nothing but a silhouette. she still held the knife she had been using. "who are you?"

"Daniel."
"you were in something that fell from the sky. are you a kind angel of God?"
"No, I crashed. I should have died. You saved me?"
"yes.
"Why?"
"i'm a healer."
he turned from her and she let go of the knife, putting the rest of the vegetables into her pot, taking it to hang over the fire. "my name is hadley."
"Thank you, Hadley."
she nodded, the heat of the fire keeping her near the hearth. the air around him was cold. he wasn't, daniel himself had not been cold the entire time she had worked. his skin had actually radiated heat and it wasn't a fever, she had checked, he was just, warm. but the air on that side of her house was cold. cold with her dread of failure. how long until he dies?

she poured two bowls of the stew and placed them at the table. "for you." she said, and nodded towards the bowl closest to him. he slowly stood, gripping the bed frame to stand. his skin stayed smooth despite the cold air he was forced to walk through. "let me get you a jacket" she said and went to the trunk that held her father's old clothes past the bed. she had yet to get rid of it but that apprehension had come in handy. she came back and he stood, hand outstretched to take it from her but she did not hand it to him, " be careful or you'll rip your sutures." he agreed with a nod and only then did the shirt pass from her to him. hadley sat back down, debating whether she should’ve helped him or not.

-/-

did you see that last evening ?
the fire from the sky ?
was i the only one ?
it was out near the southwood
near theodor’s daughter the vvitch
she could not have brought it here ?
could she ?
no
could she ?
vvitch