Mom dragged me through the town as she called me a disobedient brat of a child. She was mad because I spoke with Jane, the homeless girl. Mom thought that she was homeless as a punishment from God for some sins that she had done or even because her parents sinned. I was frustrated with Mom's attitude. It was so old-fashioned. This thought nearly made me laugh as I realized that of course, it was old-fashioned. The year was 1693! I suppose my mom was thinking as any other person would think at this time.
She dragged me home and told me to sit on a stool in the small cottage we lived in. Mom was still very upset that I disobeyed her. It was a sin that I broke the 5th commandment to honour your mother and father. Then she thought that I have sinned because I talked with a sinner. I wanted to scream and discuss it with mom. This homeless girl needed our help and compassion, and not our judgement. I wanted to tell her that God was not a mean God who punished us and that we should not be afraid. I knew whatever I said would land on deaf ears. Mom was very mad and she was getting madder at every second as she screamed and shouted at how bad I was.
Then she demanded that Dad came in. Mom wanted Dad to whip me and make sure that obedience was beaten into me. This terrified me as I was never spanked in my life. I started crying and getting hysterical I promised that I would behave. I would do every single thing that my parents told me to do. I was certain that I would spank. Dad never stood up to mom and often escaped to work on the farm when Mom was too much for him. He looked at me, and then told mom that no child of his would ever be spanked or whipped. He believed that violence did not lead to everything.
Dad looked at my mother and said in a stern voice, “Maybe you should start showing this child love and compassion and not hate her the way you do. She needs a mother that loves her and does not hate her! Why do you not tell her now that you do love her?”
Mom just grunted and told me that she thought that I was corrupted by some demons, and possibly even Satan himself. Then she went off in a rant that there still must have been a witch in town. The lack of rain must be a curse by this witch. This made mom tell us who she thought was a witch. I think, in the end, she must have named half the women in town. This worried Dad, as he warned mom that she had to keep her accusations to herself. Otherwise, her accusation could lead to an innocent person being burned at the stake.
I noticed that mom did not tell me that she loved me. All she can say was that she thought that I was being influenced by the evil one. I knew that mom did not love me and this hurt me a lot. The fact was that mom did not love anything. She was bitter and afraid. This was sad.
My sister wanted to cheer me up, so she suggested that we went swimming. We stripped down to our undergarments, which still covered every bit of skin. We swam in a small pond on the farm. This was so much fun and we ended up giggling as we splashed water at each other. My sister told me that she believed that God did not want us to suffer and be unhappy and afraid of him. He gave us a beautiful world that we should not be afraid to use. I nodded my head and splashed her with more water.
I was having a lot of fun, but I knew that something bad will happen. The magic book always sent me to a place where I would be in trouble. Why did the magic book not send me back to my time with my real parents?
Mom found us and was very mad. She thought that it was a disgrace that we were swimming in our undergarments. She ordered us to go back home. When we were home, she started scolding us and calling us names that I won't even write here. I have never seen mom so mad as she yelled and contemplated how we would be punished. At one stage, she fell to her knees and asked God what she did to be punished by having two daughters that had no modesty. She thought that my sister and I wanted to corrupt everyone. I was crying as I was afraid of what mom would do and I did not like she was so mad. My sister put her arm around me and got mad at mom. She told mom to stop scaring me. This only made Mom angrier!
Mom told us that she should cut all our hair off. It would stop us from corrupting anyone that we see. She told us to go to bed and to pray to God for forgiveness. We would get nothing to eat. Fasting would cleanse our souls. I did as mom said, and went to bed. For some reason, I quickly fell asleep. Maybe it was that sleeping was the only escape I had from the trauma and the fear. I never remember my dreams, but I am sure that they were good ones, where I was with my real parents in 2020.
The next morning, Dad woke me up. He asked me did I know where my sister was. I got up and helped Dad look all around the farm. She could not be found. I told dad what happened the day before and mom wanted to cut all our hair off. My sister must have been afraid and wanted to hide until mom calmed down. Dad sighed and asked if my sister did not realize that he would not allow this to happen. Mom did not help us look for my sister. She was mad that she was hiding. Mom was sure that this was proof that my sister was guilty. Dad ignored what mom was saying. As for me, I was afraid of mom and stayed close to Dad. I suspected that Mom would take all her anger out on me and I needed Dad to protect me.
After we ate lunch, my sister came back to the farm. She also had two guards from town with her. They were well armed and looked very serious. They told mom that she was under arrest and tied her up and led her away. Everything happened so fast that I was crying. I was confused and afraid. I heard mom scream that she was innocent and she was a God-fearing woman. The guards just dragged her away to the cells.
I hid in the chicken coop trying to understand what had happened. Dad found me there and told me that my sister accused mom of being a witch. This confused me. What daughter would accuse her mom of being a witch? I know she was not the nicest of people. She never smiled. She was strict and I doubted that she loved us. This was no excuse to accuse her of something that she was not!
Dad said that the situation looked very bleak. Being accused of being a witch was a death sentence. It would mean torture or even the drowning test. If this happened, mom would be thrown into the river. If she floated, she would be guilty of being a witch. If she sank, then she would be innocent. This test seemed so bizarre. There seemed to be no hope for a person that was accused of being a witch. No matter what happened, they would be doomed.
When I did see my sister, I got mad at her. I told her it was very mean to accuse her mom of being a witch, and possibly would be the worse thing that she had ever done in her life. It was the same as murder because she knew that mom was innocent! My sister shrugged her shoulder and just mumbled that our mom would never punish us or make our lives hell again. She would be punished for not loving us. It was as if I was talking to a wall. I could not convince my sister that this was wrong to do. She must have thought I was annoying, as she said that maybe I was also a witch, for supporting a witch.
I rushed into town and found where mom was kept. It was a pit in the ground. It looked so dark, damp and cold down there. I tried speaking with mom and asking her if there was anything I could do to help her. There was no answer. I tried telling mom that none of this was my fault. I did not think she was a witch. I wanted her home! Despite I said all this, she did not respond. It did not even help when I told her that I would be obedient and do everything she said. The only response I got was that she did not want to speak with me. I was the only person she did not want to speak with. She told me to leave her alone.
In a family that was so Christian, and God was so important, why was there so much hatred? The members of our family never showed love for each other. This was the cause of the destruction of the family. It was obvious that mom hated me. I was even threatened by my sister. The only person that showed love was Dad, and he was as powerless as I was. Hatred is a strong force that consumes people's souls and only leads to darkness.
The grumpy old priest was suddenly there and grabbed me by my arm. He told me that he knew that he knew there was an evil force in my family. Now it was my duty to prove that My mother did not conceive me with Satan as my dad. It was my duty to prove I was not Satan’s daughter. This meant that I had to testify that mom was a witch and a servant of the devil himself. I did not answer him. To be honest, I thought he was creepy and was afraid of him.
The day came when it was time for moms trial. It was the same as the day that I was sent to this time. People were crowded in the courtroom and jeering at mom, calling her the worse of names. Mom was shouting that she was innocent. She always was a God-fearing woman that wanted nothing to do with Satan.
Witnesses were bought forth. They testified that they heard that mom had cursed the town with no rain. One person even testified that when it was a full moon, she took the shape of the demon and flew over the town, making people sick and even die. Another person said that they saw mom eat frogs and insects. One old woman has seen my mom kissing Satan in a pool of blood. These were of course all lies and some people had a good imagination. The worse testimony was from Jane, the homeless girl. She told everyone that mom did not allow me to show any charity, and she could see moms eyes turn red as fire as she prohibited that I helped her
My sister testified that mom wanted to sacrifice us to the devil. She said that she saw mom summoning Satan to our cottage when we were doing chores. My sister said that she had even seen mom’s horns!
This was ridiculous. It was all lies. People just wanted to make up things so they would see someone being burned at the stake. This was some cheap and wicked form of entertainment. I could not keep quiet. I shouted that mom was not a witch. She never talked with Satan and she did not have horns. She believed in God and even took me to church. If there was any presence of the devil, it would be here in the courtroom, Where everyone wanted an innocent woman to be burnt at the stake.
My sister was now upset and told everyone that I was also a witch. She saw mom tell me how to curse people and she also saw mom tell me how to hide my horns. Then the old priest testified that he knew that I was conceived after mom and Satan were intimate with each other. This means that I was more than a witch. I was Satan’s flesh and blood! The big surprise was when mom admitted that I was Satan’s daughter. Why would she even say this? Maybe it was because she hated me so much and knew that she had no hope of getting a fair trial.
The crowd held me and dragged me out to the stake. I was tied to this stake on top of some wood and dry bushes. As the priest was saying prayers, the sky became black and it started to rain. People were shouting to burn me. When the fire was lit, I was very afraid. Black smoke surrounded me. The magic book worked and I was sucked up in the air and thrown through time again.
This time, I ended up in a place where I was sitting on a chair drinking lemonade. A black boy was serving me cake.
To be continued in “Sign of the Timez – Mistress and Slaves”
ns 15.158.61.21da2
