Asphodelus

Prolouge

Maryland, United States;   Year 1697

           My mother was born to a family of witches. But these witches were kind. Always helping in anyway they could. They would use their god-given ability to help others.
    
         People didn't understand that. People are frightened by things they don't understand. And that fear turns into danger, danger turns into anger, and anger results in someone's death.

         It is said that when one dies of anger or regret, they are reborn again as something dangerous with a hunger for revenge.

        

     Ever since I was a young girl, my mother & I would practice White Magic. My mother was a very kind person and would do anything in her power to help others. Even though the townsfolk would treat her like she was malignant, she forgave them. There were countless when I'd see the people treating her wrongly. Everyone was afraid of her.

      "Mother, why are you so good to those people when they treat you as though you're a beast? You bring them long springs and healthy farming lands, yet they threaten you and even sometimes harm you."
"My beloved Moll, have you ever heard of the story Potatoes, Eggs, and Coffee?"
"No. But mother, what does that have to do with the townsfolk?"
"Listen, my precious child, and I will tell you"

Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time.

It seemed as though one problem was solved, another one followed.

Her father, a chef, took her tot the kitchen. He filled 3 pots with water and let them heat up. Once they began to boil, he placed potatoes in the first pot, eggs in the second, and ground beans in the third.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After a short while, he took both the potatoes and the eggs out and placed them in separate bowls. He then poured the coffee in a cup. Turning to her, he asked,
'Daughter what do you see?'
'Potatoes, eggs, and coffe.' she hastily replied. 'Look closer,' he said 'and touch the potatoes.' She did notied that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled. Finally, he asked her to smell the coffee. Its' rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

'Father what does this mean?' she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs, and the coffee beans had each faced the same adversity: The boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potatoes went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the onside of the egg became hard.
However, the coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
'Which are you?' he asked. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?'

"Mother, I still don't understand." "Moll, in life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us. Do you understand now, my little lilac?"
"Yea mother"
"Good. Now let's head home and I'll make you your favorite dish."

"You mean Apple Pie!?"

-Tmeskip 7 months-

A mysterious illness, to which there is no known cure, began to plague our town. My mother tried to the best of her ability to help but failed. Not long after, she caught the illness as well. It had impacted her so greatly that she was left bed ridden.

With each day that passed, she had gotten worse. I felt useless.  I could do nothing but watch as my beloved mother was being taken away from me as though she were a delicate dandelion being Sept away by the harsh winds.
She tried to stay strongbut, not for herself. Not even for me.
She did it for the people. The people who were afraid of her. The people who despised her. The people who hated her. She used every bit of power she had to protect them.

And what did she get in return? Nothing. Nothing but an eternal slumber. She left me all alone. I now had no one. I was completely alone.
I felt a lump in my throat and with a heavy heart, I let my tears of misery descend down my face.

Third person P.O.V

The winter was brutal, with a scarcity of food. Many of the townspeople have parished. A small vigilante group sought to bring what they believed was the cause of all the mosfortune to justice; Moll Dyer. They set fire to Dyer' cottage, resulting in her fleeing into the woods.
With a broken heart and no will to continue forward, she laid her hand on a rock. Using the last bit of power that was keeping her alive, she placed an unforgiving curse on the town.

With a smile full of demented satisfaction, the life began to drain from her body. Her vision began to blur. She was starting to see black spots. Her hearing was fading like a faint voice in the distance. Her face  turned a ghostly white and finally, she drew her last breath. And just like her beloved mother, she met a forlorn death.