LJ Idol Week 29: Portfolio Challenge #2

[marlawentmad]

Surrender Under Protest

REMOVED FOR SUBMISSION

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So concludes my second story for the Portfolio Challenge.

Please check back after the weekend for voting information!

Comments

[bleodswean]

I wondered...I really did....But wasn't cheered to have my suspicions confirmed. A re-read makes it all so obvious rather than hinted at and that's a nice effect. Glad she has her cat with her for this grey time!

[marlawentmad]

I am pleased the breadcrumbs weren't ostentatious, since their meanings weren't obvious to our narrator. I always felt like the familiar relationship was so much more cosmic than the stories illustrated. I am glad she had that grounding comfort, too.

[penpusher]

My revelation from this piece is a simple one. The witch hunts generally were about women, who many of the men in whatever sad villages they lived in at the time, found them "not attractive" or found them "too attractive" or found them "behaving inappropriately," or were people they just didn't like and were likely used as a method of driving said women out of sight of the townsfolk. It is a continual storyline for many - we don't want to see you, now get out. Of course, that would be inhumane for the group leaders to do if those were the reasons for sending these women away, so there needed to be a string attached - she is a witch. " I couldn't help laying with her, I was bewitched." "Her mere presence in our community is a blight. She must be removed

[marlawentmad]

I agree with you, and I will add another thought to your list: "She knows too much." I think a lot of women healers were ostracized because there was no room for a woman who knew too much about how to heal the body, to take care of a difficult or an unwanted pregnancy, who listened to their intuition instead of bowing their heads and following along with the status quo. I was too young to understand my affinity for all stories involving witches, but as I aged I understand more and more.

[penpusher]

Yes of course! A woman who knows more than the male elders?! We can't have that.

Seriously, we watched that play out in 2016 so we're still dealing with this stupidity, now - some three hundred plus years later. Society needs to finally get out of the 17th Century, or we will all suffer the consequences.

[marlawentmad]

Yes, Yes! I always loved fantasy, genre, science fiction, because these stories are perfectly capable of highlighting major issues in modern societies. It is so frustrating how we chase our own tails, bite into them, creating cycles of wrongness and hurt.

[i_17bingo]

That was absolutely infuriating, but then again, injustice always is. You did a really good job of setting that ending up, though I would have loved to have seen revenge on the hag's part.

[marlawentmad]

Thank you! I like to think she might have a few tricks up her sleeve yet.

[halfshellvenus]

I wondered at first whether she'd had other cats, or the caught had gotten a little singed. But at the end... ugh, what a horrible fate for the two of them. The detail of the identical boots was a great way to cement her realization of her fate.

[marlawentmad]

You know, I think the cat made it, but a familiar's job is never done, even if your charge doesn't quite go on living.

[messygorgeous]

"Hags knew they also came for you in the early morning..." What an astute observation! I loved this story, and hurt for the witch when she saw her shoes hanging there in the tree. But work better the villagers who did this to her - what HAVE they unleashed on this world?

[marlawentmad]

Thank you so much for your comment. I would like to spend more time with this character to see what sort of heart she has.