827. A curse

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827curse

I didn’t want them to go. I told them not to go. They said, surely you don’t believe in all that hocus pocus? so off they went; the three of them in their old bomb of a car.

Hearsay has it that the old, old witch of the town was buried in a cave somewhere up the valley with a heap of gold coins. Years and years ago. Over a century ago. There was a curse attached: anyone who finds the gold will be cursed. So now, my two teenage kids and their friend are off in the car to find gold.

Surely you don’t believe in all that hocus pocus?

Well, at the moment I don’t. We’re currently building a new house, and my two kids and their friend, are off for a month’s surfing stint in Hawaii. All great fun!

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38 thoughts on “827. A curse”

  3. Cynthia Jobin

    “May they become persons of leisure, take a daily nap, and may lice in their shirts marry bedbugs in their mattress and may the offspring set up residence in their underwear.”
    [The old, old witch dealt in yiddish curses.]

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      1. Cynthia Jobin

        It reminds me of when, in my Calligrapher days, I was studying medieval manuscripts….I loved all the marginalia and the anathema, or curses upon those who would steal books. Stealing books was a big deal back then, when they were all hand written, and only owned by those wealthy enough to commission them.

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  4. thecontentedcrafter

    What happened to my witty comment? Gah – I think I must have forgotten to press ‘post’ [Strikes self forcibly on forehead]. Still, I see Yvonne took care of it and you responded accurately. No need to include the inevitable gruesome ending as my mind went there all by itself. See how well you have trained me!!

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  10. southamptonoldlady

    Good story! I remember going on a cave trip in the Philippines, the guide warned one of our party not to swim in the pool, where light was coming underneath, as a dragon will eat him. He chuckled and went anyway, then later he was picked up by a fisherman miles out at sea with huge gashes on his back. Because he’d lived to tell the tale, he explained to us that the light came from a tunnel that went out to sea. But on swimming through the tunnel, he got caught in its stalactites, then once out was shot out to sea by a rip-tide. So although it sounded hocus-pocus there is often reason behind superstitions.

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    1. Bruce Goodman Post author

      That’s interesting. I’m sure there’s often a reason for many of taboos in Society: it’s really a form of law. Here in “the West” we convert things into “thou shalt not” laws rather than scare the hell out of people with a rollicking yarn!

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