The town is quiet. Dead. Silent. One of the first time it has even been so quiet; no screaming, no yelling, no uproar whatsoever-just a barren town filled with silence. The people approach their lives in a completely different way, and the town has done a complete one-eighty. The society as a whole is more reserved, and the only time everybody gathers at once is at church. The realization has struck the people: they have been living in a town of lies.
Off in the colonial town of Plymouth, Abigail Williams is cooking dinner in her new, fairly large house. Surrounding the house is a vast spread of farmland, in which her new husband works every single day. She is brewing some type of soup as her husband, John, walks in.
“Oh, hello there John! I was not expecting you this early,” she says.
“Aye, dear, my work is done for the day. I plan to go into town tonight, just to go see some of my old friends,” he replies.
“Aye, I completely forgot! Would you like some supper before you leave?”
“No thanks, I better be heading off soon,” he quickly replies.
“See you later tonight!”
As John leaves, Abigail soon starts pacing around. With a quick change of mood, she feverishly scribbles something on a piece of parchment. She crumples it up and throws it by the fire, but she does not realize it fell only a couple inches from going in.
A couple hours later, John walks out of the bar in town. He sees a man that looks lost, so he decides to walk over to help him.
“Hello there, sir? You look like you are in need of some assistance. Is there anything I could do?” John questions.
“Aye, please, sir. Do you know of a young woman named Abigail Williams?” he replies.
“Why yes, she is my wife.”
“Oh! Well, could you please give this to her? She ought to see it,” the man says while handing John a newspaper.
John, while riding home, unfolds the paper. On the front reads an article titled “Abigail Williams, The Real Witch?” While scanning the article, he reads a paragraph of it:
This day marks exactly one year since the termination of the Salem Witch Trials. The hanging has ended, but has the wrath of those involved? Abigail Williams, young woman involved, is now confirmed as one of the starters of the nonsense. Her evil acts of blaming others and making up lies and seeing spirits lead her to flee the town, and she has not been seen since.
“Why…this cannot be…” John says to himself. “She…what?”
As John arrives at his house, he quietly looks around. He sees a piece of parchment on the ground, and decides to look at it. In Abigail’s writing it says:
Perfect. Simply perfect. My plan is almost complete. And John does not suspect a thing. Knowing him, he will never figure out I married him just for the money. I will soon rise to power in this town, and the people of Salem will be mine once I control the land. Then I can get back at Parris, Mary, Hale, the girls, and especially Elizabeth…and then hopefully bring back my beloved John Proctor, the real John I want, with my spiritual powers. I will have it all!
John is in complete shock. His innocent Abigail, the one he thought would be the love of his life, has a completely different personality. She has been faking her love-the entire time.
A few minutes later, Abigail hears John pacing around by the fire. She decides to get up and go see him. Through the doorway she sees John walking in circles and back and forth, and her note she wrote to herself is crumpled in his hand.
“John…what’s going on here?” Abigail says.
“How about you tell me,” John angrily replies.
“Well…this is your entire fault!” Abigail screams.
“What are you talking about?”
“How could you do this to me! Ah!” Abigail yells.
“Wha-what did I do?” John stutters, becoming more and more scared.
“You! You!” Abigail screams, the combination of craziness and anger building up.
“Abigail, what are you talking about?”
“I can’t believe you. You…we…were in love, and then that awful Elizabeth comes between us!”
“Who’s Elizabeth?!”
Silence fills the room.
“Abigail?”
But Abigail has lost it. She hurls herself at John, and in the mess of fury, pushes him almost completely into the fire. She grabs a piece of firewood and continuously beats John more and more into the fire. He is so weak he cannot get up.
“I hope you burn to death, John Proctor! I will always love you, but I hope you burn.”
“Who’s…John…Proctor?”John sputters out, as his last words before he dies.
It has shown that in the mess, Abigail has psychologically mistaken her husband for the dead John Proctor. Her mind is anything but sane.
A few days later, Abigail arrives in Salem. The town is quiet, like it has been for the past few months. She slams on the doors of the houses, screams like a maniac, and everyone comes out of the church in the commotion.
“What is going on here?” yells Reverend Parris, walking out of the church.
“WITCHES! WITCHES I TELL YOU!” Abigail yells.
Everyone is silent.
“They’re coming to get us all! Elizabeth Proctor! She is a witch!!”
Everyone has a blank look on their face. Nobody replies to Abigail. Parris whispers to two men, and then go and grab Abigail by the arms. They put her in a stagecoach, and one of the men rides off on the horse pulling it.
“You are all condemned I tell you! It is witches controlling this town!” Abigail screams for the coach.
The horse and buggy rides off into the distance. Everyone of the town laughs, knowing her lies are the most ridiculous thing thought up. As for Abigail, she is disposed of at the Appalachian Mountains, where she hides and is never seen again. The towns of Salem and Plymouth have returned to their silent, peaceful state, never having to experience the wrath of Abigail Williams again.
Dana thought your story is really good and written very well. I like how you added the newspaper article! That was really creative.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good story. I agree with Olivia about the article it was a great idea.
ReplyDelete