Message Received

Message Received

“I have a message for you,” Edith Goody said as she paused by Ada Lovelace on the street.

Ada looked the older woman up and down, then sniffed.

“Beware of who you insult, dear,” Edith continued softly.

“Insult? If you mean yourself, that isn’t worth my time. I have much better things to do than that!”

Edith hid her left hand in her voluminous old-fashioned skirt as she made a sign.

“Good day to ye then. You have been warned!” she said aloud as she walked past her briskly.

“Old hag!” muttered Ada with a shudder. A shiver ran through her, but she shrugged it off as a brief icy breeze.

The gorgeous woman that was Ada Lovelace drew eyes whenever and wherever she went, of course. She always had. But somehow, today, everyone seemed to be avoiding looking at her.

She took a compact mirror out of her tiny handbag and opened it. The creature who looked back at her was old and hideous.

“What’s happening to me? I am starting to look like....” Ada couldn’t even think it let alone say it aloud.
She turned on a cracked heel and began to chase after Edith. She ran for what seemed like hours and saw not a trace of the old witch. Then something occurred to her that literally stopped her in her tracks.

“If I look like her, she must...”

Ada screamed long and loud. Instead of chasing after Edith, she turned around and headed home as fast as she could.

“Maybe it’s temporary. Just to teach me a lesson about treating others better,” she whispered in horror.

Edith watched her from the shade of a weeping willow and nodded her satisfaction. The spell was short-lived and wasn’t obvious to anyone but Ada.

“Lesson learned apparently.”