Flash Fiction Contest Winner #32 – “All on our own”

Please note: Flash fiction stories are submitted by members of our Discord server. Many contain adult themes and may be objectionable to some readers.

“All on our own”

Twelve year old Arabella looked up warily and turned to her companions. “We have to hurry up, we don’t have much time! We’re almost there.”
     Megan ran to her side and looked to the sky as well. The moon was large, too large in the sky, and she could hear the thrashing of the waves on the nearby cliff. “Ara, do you really think we can do this? The matron said-”
     “The matron is in the hospital, and all the others are too. We just…have to be careful and remember what they taught us.” Arabella marched towards the sound of waves and Megan pursed her lips as she followed. She waved on Hannah, Elle, and Kye, and soon all of them were in a clearing on the cliff. The water peaked over the cliff and the girls all shivered as they pulled chalk from their bags and got into a circle.
     “All at once, girls,” Arabella took a deep breath and knelt on the ground as the moon started to tremble in the sky. The other girls followed her lead, and at the same time, they started drawing on the hard slate of the cliff. The five of them murmured the same rhyme softly under their breath, not daring to look up from their own drawing to see how the others were doing.

“Circle made of chalk on slate,
Help us stop this deadly fate.
Together we five convene,
To prevent the curse forseen.
With heart and soul and magic power
Make the wicked stop and cower.”

     As they finished the rhyme, all of their drawings met in the middle, and they quickly placed the chalk back in their bags, pulling out candles and lighting them as they stood just inside the circle they had drawn together. They placed their candles in the middle, on the points of a flourished star, and took each other’s hands.
     Arabella took one last look at the sky and dread settled in. A crack was starting to form across the face of the moon, and it was widening.
     “Okay. We need to do this right, and we only have one chance. So remember: project, hold on tight, and let’s get this done.”
     The gathered girls closed their eyes for just a moment to gather their strength, and started to chant.

“Mighty moon, source of our strength,
Ready to destroy at any length,
Return yourself to peaceful slumber.
Don’t pester this land any longer.
We order you back from whence you came,
To this place we lay our claim.”

     A wicked wind picked up, whipping the girls’ robes around them and pulling at their clasped hands. They squeezed tighter and kept chanting over and over as the crack in the moon widened more. A single yellow eye peered out from the crack, but the gathered witchlings focused on their spell and didn’t look up.
     With every repeat of the chant, the wind picked up more, and the moon’s cracks widened and deepened further. Tears were flowing down the girls’ faces until the flames of the candles shot up and formed a column of light and flame.
     Hope started to dawn as the something inside the moon shrieked and curled in on itself, slowly closing the previously growing chasm. The witchlings kept chanting as the moon retreated, not stopping until it was a tiny circle in the sky, where it was supposed to be.
     The wind died down, the water calmed, and the girls looked to each other in shock.
     “We did it…” Hannah’s lip quivered as she held her fists to her eyes and started to sob. Kye pulled the eight year old into her arms and stroked her hair with an incredulous laugh.
     “Do you think the matron will give us extra credit for saving the world?”
     “Pssh, as if, we’d have had to save the whole universe for that,” Elle grinned and did a cartwheel. “I can’t believe we did it! Guys, we stopped the Moon Beast!”
     Arabella groaned and laid out on the cool slate. “We did. And I know we’ll be called to do it as adults during the yearly Moon Festival, But I’m ready to never do this ever again.”
     Megan laughed softly and laid next to her. “Agreed. Thanks for taking charge, Ara. You did a good job.”
     Arabella smiled and sighed as she looked up at the moon. She could see the ghost of a crack, but the world was safe for another year.