Jillian Chantal

This week’s word for the group of writers who join together to write to a word prompt each week is chain. From the moment I saw that was the word of the week, I had daisy chains in my head. We made these when I was a kid growing up in Virginia. And as it is October when my favorite holiday falls, I decided I’d write a piece of flash fiction. I tried to keep it under 500 words but I went a smidge over.  Hope you enjoy.

Be sure to check out the other tales here.

Daisy Chain

Lady Meredith sat on the grass with a pile of freshly picked daisies on her right side. Her skirt covered her knees but she knew she’d be in trouble with her mother as soon as she got home. Sitting on the ground in a white skirt was frowned upon by the duchess but Lady Meredith could no more have stopped herself than she could’ve stopped breathing. Daisies were her favorite and the field was so full and tempting.

Moving quickly as if that would stop the dewy grass from staining her garment, Lady Meredith wove the daisies into a chain by hooking the stems together end to end. She’d made so many of these over the years, her hands worked as if on their own and she didn’t even have to look down at the flowers to keep them pristine.

She was looking up when a woman came into the clearing. A right fright she was. Dressed in a long black gown that shimmered in the sunlight, the woman seemed to glide toward Lady Meredith. It didn’t seem as if the stranger had feet, she moved so effortlessly. The black hair that matched her dress and the large beak-like nose as well as the red rash on her face made Lady Meredith repress a shiver.

Having been taught from an early age to be polite to all, Lady Meredith greeted the woman with a smile that was difficult to keep on her face. Especially when the woman smiled back with a mouth full of yellow and broken teeth.

“What are you doing here in my forest? Picking my flowers?” the woman asked.

“I’m sorry, you must be mistaken, Madam. This is my father’s estate. The Duke of Lancaster. He owns these fields but I’m happy to share with you.” Lady Meredith held up the daisy chain. It was long enough now to be a necklace. “Would you like this as a token of my esteem?”

“We both know one such as you has no use for one such as me.” The woman pointed to the chain of flowers. “You put it on.”

Hoping to make the woman happy and that she’d leave, Lady Meredith placed the daisy chain around her neck.

Almost as soon as she did, the stranger lifted a hand that looked more like a talon and whispered some words under her breath.

The daisy chain came alive, as if it were possessed. Lady Meredith tried to pull it back over her head but couldn’t. As she struggled with it, the thing grew tighter and tighter until it was choking her so hard she lost her breath.

Placing her fingers up to her throat to break the connection and try to survive, she heard the woman say, “This was my land before this place was a country. No one cares about the Duke of Lancaster.”

Lady Meredith wanted to respond but she wasn’t in any condition to do so. Her last thought before dying from strangulation from a daisy chain was that at least her mother wouldn’t scold her over her ruined gown.