17 october 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2528: Beetle Oil, or Snake Oil ?
This post was inspired by today's 5-minute writing prompt in the Freewriters Community - 17 october 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2528: beetle oil
Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
Master Morichan had been ill for a fortnight, lying in bed covered in sweat, violent shivers and fevers wrestling with his weakening body.
Three different physicians in their crow-faced masks and heavy robes had been summoned and announced finally that they could do nothing. Master Morichan's was the town's wealthiest merchant attracted them, but all the gold in the world can't help when the knowledge isn't there.
In desperation, Mrs Morichan went to the woods to beg for the help of Mother Sawill. Some said she was a wise woman, others that she was a witch. But she said "Let me come down to your house. I'll stay a fortnight, and by the end of it I am sure I can make things better."
So she came to the house. The place was a mess, untended while everyone fussed around Master Morichan. An infestation of beetles had moved in. They crunched as people walked across the floor.
Every day, Mother Sawill guided Mrs Morichan in collecting a few beetles up, grinding them to a paste and extracting the oil. Then she'd feed the beetle oil to the feverish man on a large pewter spoon.
By the end of the fortnight, she stood up and said "Two weeks are up, and I must return home."
Mrs Morichan was aghast. "But my husband is still deathly ill. You said you'd cure him !"
Mother Sawill smiled a mocking smile. "Your husband will get better in his own sweet time. I never said I'd cure him. I said I'd make things better. You've spent all week making beetle oil, and now your house is rid of all it's beetles. Isn't that better ?"
Oh, that was clever! 😄 I didn't see that ending coming. Poor Mrs Morichan—she wanted a cure for Master Morichan but got a cure for beetle infestation instead!
Can we say Mother Sawill was a fraud or Mrs Morichan blindly trusted in an unconventional cure (beetle oil) out of desperation? Either way, it's an interesting take on making good use of natural resources. Beetles mustn't be wasted! A fine and enjoyable story. Well done!
!PIZZA 🙂
Thank you ! Maybe the beetles were causing the illness.... or maybe he was going to get better anyway, and Mother Sawill decided she could help with another problem 😀
I deliberately steered clear of using Beetlejuice jokes 😁
$PIZZA slices delivered:
@kemmyb(1/5) tipped @alonicus
This was such a clever and humorous take on the prompt! I loved the twist at the end—Mother Sawill’s wordplay was brilliant. It’s great how you set up the expectation that she’d perform some miraculous cure, only for it to be a practical way to get rid of the beetles! The buildup of the mysterious and eerie atmosphere with the beetles and the hopeless situation of Master Morichan really drew me in. Great storytelling with a touch of dark humor—this was a fun read!
Thank you ! I think most of what I write seems to have a dark side to it 😁