Prompt: A New Life | Word Count: 1000 | Genre: Speculative Fiction
Lucy lived her life on gut feel and a creative budget. She was no stranger to unusual rental arrangements, old buildings and dirt, but this, this was a new low. She ran a finger against the wall, pushing grime aside to reveal a small trace of the faded wallpaper below. It might have been roses once, Lucy wasn’t sure. Lucy wasn’t sure about much when it came to the cottage. What she did know was that this building was old, an ancient, the Crone reincarnate as a dwelling.
Lucy stared at her dirty finger and let out a sigh, part contentment and part apprehension. The cottage was going to be a lot of work and she wasn’t even sure why she had come. Well, she knew why, (the ad had called out to her just like so many others before. The landlord had been brutally honest about the state of the cottage and Lucy had been just as brutally adamant that she needed to live there.) but she didn’t know why. And that was the thing about Lucy, each place, each new home, it always had a purpose, some reason for Lucy to be there and she always knew. Seconds after stepping across the threshold, she knew the why, but now she stood in this cottage and felt nothing. The Crone was silent, guarding her secrets deep below her creaky floorboards.