Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Thats what the villagers sang as they began to burn my mother alive. She was already bound to the wooden stake, and dressed with dry hay, and small twigs. Her long white dress, torn and dirty. The villagers added some logs of wood to finish the circle to which my mother was to be burned at. "Let's burn this witch, and send her to hell!" A villager yelled as he held a burning bundle of hay and twigs. He then threw in the flaming bundle, causing a chain reaction. Burning the hay, then the twigs, and eventually reaching my mother. "Burn the witch! Burn that she-devil!" A woman yelled as her white dress was kissed with a hint of yellow and orange from the flames. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!" Several villagers yelled as the flames grew higher. My mother, Jane Ally Nightingale, never struggled to be freed. She just stood there, bound and motionless as she burned. She then looked over at me, tears running down her cheeks. I looked at her from my hiding spot inside an old, slightly burnt cabin, which used to be my mother's home. She mouthed the words "run Alice, run away" at me as she was slowly engulfed in flames. "No! Mother!" I cried out. Then suddenly a villager turned in my direction. "Her daughter! She is a witch as well! Let's burn her at the stake!"The villager yelled. "A witch child? It can't be, she is only 13. No witch is so young. We couldn't burn a child." A woman said from the front of the villagers crowd. "But what if she be a witch? We shall all be damned to hell if she lives!" The man yelled. "We must do this for the safety of our children, and our village!" The villagers soon agreed upon this man's words and came after me. They soon reached the cabin, holding torches and surrounded all doors and windows. I got up from my spot by a burned window, and ran to the darkest corner I could find. But it didn't hide the view I saw from the window. I could still see my mother, her limp body burning and black. I hid my pale face in my black dress, trying to hide from everything. "Come out now witch, and be burned!" A male villager shouted. "Yeah! Come out, and ye' shall be burn!" Many of the other villagers yelled. I could do nothing, just watch as everything fell into chaos in my world. "Let's go get the witch!" The villagers then knocked open one of the locked doors, and flooded in. I looked up at them, pleading that they leave me be. They grabbed me by my long black hair, and drug me out to the Witches Circle. I was kicking and screaming, clawing at the dirt, breaking my nails while doing so. They threw me in front of a stake, beside my burning mother. Of course, they want to burn and torture me. They then bound me, and dressed me with hay. The ropes I was bound by, so tight they nearly brought blood to my wrists and ankles. "Let me go!" I cried. "I did nothing wrong!" Struggle I did, but it was a hopeless attempt to save my life. The man that started the fire and burned my mother walked over with a bundle of burning hay. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust! Burn this witch, send her to hell!" He threw the burning hay before my feet. The flames flickered in the wind, not wanting to flare up, but then they grew and reached out to my ankles, burning them. I screamed and cried in pain, but nothing relieved the burning. I looked around at the laughter and smiles of the villagers. Even the children of the village pointed and laughed at my pain and crying. "Look at her. Look at her cry. Watch her burn." Children were laughing towards me. Hate filled my heart, and I felt nothing but hate towards them all. The flames climbed my legs, burning them, turning them a shade of black, and sending pain through my entire being. I closed my eyes and chanted. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Burn and fall! Burn you all!" As soon as these words danced off my lips, the flames left my body like magic and grew. It grew hotter, and it grew brighter. The flames danced around in midair, not taking to the wind, it was obeying my every command. I could feel so much hate boiling up inside of me, and I could hold it any longer. "Burn." I whispered. The flames spread throughout the village and engulfed the villagers like a plague. The men, women and children, laying on the ground helpless. Every single one of them. Burning them all alive. As they did to my mother. A fate they all deserved. I watch as they all burned, and watched them turn to nothing but dust. As the fire burned, my heart felt at ease. But my heart still lingered in hate. I looked around, still bound at the stake. The fire was everywhere. It had burned most of the village, and made it's way into the forest, burning any life it could find. I couldn't let the fire burn the forest and the animals whom live among it, I just couldn't. It's the only thing that I could trust anymore. I could never trust a human being again. "No! Stop burning the forest! Don't burn anymore! Please!" I cried to the flames. And as fast as they grew, they soon died down. I was so tired from everything that had just happened, so I could barely hold my head up, so I let it fall. "Please...someone help me." I whispered. Cracking twigs caught my attention, so I lifted my head up. I looked to my left, nothing was to be found. And to my right, the same, nothing. I looked to the opening of the once burning forest. Standing in the shadows were glowing eyes. I heard snarling and growling coming from the shadows. As they came closer into the light, it started to snow. When they were directly under the moonlight, I could tell what they were. "Wolves." I whispered. Their fur, white as snow, but hinted with gray from ash. And their eyes, mixes of blue, green, and gold. They were beautiful, so beautiful. The wolves came closer snarling and baring their fangs. I looked at the wolves best I could. My violet eyes met with ice blue eyes. They belong to a small wolf in the front of the pack. He was covered in ash and snow, and holding up his right paw. It looked as if it were burned, by the fire I had started. He looked at me with not hate, but concern. A bigger wolf to the right of him stepped forward snarling, just right in front of me. His eyes were green, and his fur matched the snow falling to the ground. But he stopped as if he were conflicted. He looked back at the small wolf that caught my eye. The blue eyed wolf stepped forward and nodded his head. The wolf nearest me, took at breath out, causing a mist to form in the cold air. He nodded and stepped back, allowing the small wolf to walk up to me. He climbed onto the burnt wood that was at my feet, which seemed to have no snow on it. He was small, but he was still big compared to my fragile body. I hid my face in my hair by pulling my head down, not wanting to anger this wolf. He looked at me and tilted his head, confused at my fear. He lifted my head with his muzzle, showing my face. His muzzle was warm, but cold at the same time, it was comforting somehow. His face was calm, and didn't seem as if he would harm me. I glanced over at the wolves behind him, they to looked a bit calmer. I brought my eyes back to the wolf infront of me. He closed his eyes and lifted his burnt paw to my chest. I was scared, but I knew he would hurt me, so I didnt cry out in fear. "W-what is he doing?" I asked my self. He was feeling my heartbeat. He stood there as we got covered in snow. He could sense the fear, hate and pain. But he could sense something more. The wolf slowly took his paw away and looked at me. He turned towards the pack, howling into the night, winter sky. The pack joined in with his song, singing in melodic harmony, leaving mist from their warm breath in the air. I listened, letting the music fill my mind, and calming my heart. The song ended as soon as it started, and the wolves gathered around me. They climbed to where I was and broke the ropes with their fangs. I thought I would have fallen to the cold ground, but I was caught by warm, soft fur. I looked up to see the owner of the fur, and I was met by blue eyes. I felt at ease knowing the gentle wolf had caught me. The wolf carrying me headed out first, and the rest of the pack followed him into the forest, at which they came, and I, tired and in pain, fell into a dream.