This weeks Flash! Friday asked us to incorporate the theme of coming of age into a story about the following prompt:
Past and Present No 2, by Augustust Leopold Egg, 1858. Public domain photo.
The Hard Way
Mary’s sobs were muffled by her mothers lap. She finally came up for air, “Are you sure it will be tonight Mama? Perhaps the curse will skip a generation?”
Her Mother gently shook her head, “I remember when I turned sixteen all those year ago and the curse was passed to me. I was so very afraid, but there is nothing to fear. In time you will learn to control the hunger, just like my mother taught me.”
Mary rubbed at her eyes, “How did she teach you?”
“There is only one way to learn such a lesson, the hard way.”
“Did you learn quickly?”
“It only took one night.”
The clouds finally shifted from the full moon. Mary felt her body ripping and reforming, and then there was a terrible hunger. There was only one source of food in the room. Her mother didn’t make a sound as Mary devoured her, and the lesson was learned.
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