GoT Writings

WK 5 2. Writing Challenge GoT wk end 8/31, word count 1309

Prompt 2: There's something not right about the place, but you have to go there... ~ Story
[w.c. 1309]

THERE

Everyone who went up there did not return. No one knew why. Right before they went up, the people of the town would say, “Don’t go. You are needed here.” Yet, they would go. Like all who made the journey before, they would not return. From the town teller of tales, I thought that those who ventured to that place were not well liked by the town folk, and were not missed.
This is the year 1670, and I have been employed by the town to teach only the very small children. Fifty years have passed since the Patuxet Tribe abandoned this land. Since ages before that, this place held mystical qualities, conjuring up the knowing that this place was forbidden. I, too, had the knowing. I, too, felt the tug to go there despite the warnings that something was not right there. This was the fifth time this month I took a moment to gaze at the scenic beauty of the Forbidden Place. Five times, the town clerics would stop and ask, “Do you need help, child?”
My ego rankled, “No, thank you,” and I would scurry away like a child caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I don’t know how I got the reputation of being the town troublemaker, I was not old enough to have done anything truly at odds with the town folk or anything really that put them at risk.
The closer I progressed to my sixteenth birthday, the call of the mountain beckoned more insistently. My kin wanted to have a coming of age party for me, whatever that meant. I did, however, notice that I was drawing the attentions of several of the boys in the town. This day, Jonathan was the one who asked, “Prudence, may I walk you to your home?” I consented. The walk brought us close to the edge of town closest to the mountain.
Stopping to lean into the barrier erected by the ancient Indian, I spoke my inner thoughts aloud, “I wonder what is up there.”
“Tis not wise to speak such things aloud, Prudence.”
“Who will you tell? Are you prepared for punishment for stopping to look? Do you really wish to be under house arrest for that length of time?”
“My father is a Presbyter, I do not have anything to fear.”
“I understand.” As we walked away, a sound tickled my eardrum. “Do you hear that?”
“No. What is it you hear?”
“I’m not sure. Almost a longing sound speaking my name.” I tried to mimic the singsong elongated intonation of my name. “Like that.”
“No, I did not. Something’s wrong with that place over there. Do not listen.”
“Well, yes, sir.” Jonathan did not respond to my tease. I might understand one day how this “flirtation” works, right now it was a clumsy effort.
Upon arrival at my home, Jonathan returned my satchel to me. “Do you have an escort for your party?”
“No.”
“May I be your escort? Please?”
“I accept. Thank you, Jonathan. Should I expect a withdrawal of your proposal when your father learns of this?”
“I am not like you, I asked permission from him first.”
“Oh, well, I guess you told me.”
“I apologize if it sounded like that. Yes, I will be your escort. You do understand that there is nothing you can say or do that will make me withdraw my request?”
“Yes, I think I do. Good night. I will be going to town tomorrow. I will be leaving mid-morning. If you are not here by the ten o’clock hour, I will hasten there on my own.”
“I accept. I want to see the unveiling, too. I shall endeavor to be here well before the ten o’clock hour.”
“Will you tell of my indiscretion?”
Jonathan smiled, “No. I will tell my father that the invitation came from me.”
Mother and father watched me closely, waiting for me to share more about Jonathan. Constance, my younger sister, assisted in setting the table for the evening repast. Mother chose this time to pause father before the blessing of the food. “Christopher, pause thee a moment, Prudence has news to share. She has another suitor.”
I could feel the color creep into my cheeks and to the very roots of my hair. Why must they do this? “Mother, he just walked me home and will escort me to the unveiling.”
“And?”
“And if his father is agreeable, he will escort me to my coming out party.”
“Anything further, my dear.” His hands folded firmly together, his voice firm and clear.
Mother was clearly not satisfied, but she shook her head rather than cross father any further.
“Bow your heads.” He then blessed each of us and the food we were about to receive. It was going to be a very uncomfortable night.
****
“Mother, is the time piece correct?”
“Yes. Best be on our way. Fetch your father from the stable.”
“No need, my dear. Is everyone ready?” Father led us all to the town square where the rest of the town people gathered. Everyone except the Presbyter’s family. The Elder looked straight at me and commenced the unveiling presentation. I was the only one refusing to look at the statute. The Presbyter would not look at it, why should I? He would not allow his family to view it, neither would I.
In one body, the town folk turned to face the mountain. As they moved into uniform line, I stepped aside to the outskirts. I would not stop the movement of humanity past the barriers to the mountain, dropping off in measured distance to form a gauntlet. They turned to face each other and await the chosen one.
I watched the last of them set up sentinel at the edge of the woods where the mountain rose up. I knew the elder had slid in behind me and I could feel his hot breathe at the back of my head. “You wanted to go before the appointed time and now that you are called, you will not go.”
“The mountain no longer calls to me.”
“Jonathan is the chosen one. He is being prepared for his ascent. If you wish to be his mate, you will have to prepare yourself for the processional.”
I could tell that if I did not go voluntarily, the people were prepared to throw me over the mountain.
“I need time to think.” Another lie that Presbyter did not bother to challenge me on. I could feel the accusation in the breeze. I could hear the soft whisper of my name as the wind picked up. Then my skirt whipped around my ankles, storm clouds rolling in, and the people still standing straight without acknowledging the wind or the thunder and lightning filling the skies. He was right of course. When the temptation to go was when it was forbidden, when it was proclaimed that there was something wrong over there, still I had that pull to go anyway. Now that the place no longer felt forbidden, I still wanted to go there – had to go there.
Jonathan touched my elbow. His father did not reprimand him for his impropriety. “Jonathan, can you hear it now?”
“Yes, Prudence. It is powerful. Turn to acknowledge the Summoner.”
Pointing in the direction of the people, “No. I do not want to end up like them. ”
His father commanded, “It is not necessary. Move with haste to your fate.”
Jonathan held out his hand. I took his hand in one of mine, picked up my skirts in the other and together we ran to the mountain in the midst of the rain and thunder clapping. There was a reason the others before us would not come back, and I knew each choice was made freely. Everything was quite clear now.