Family Rituals

by Yvonne Lang

I cried when Grandmother strangled the baby. I sobbed when I had to cook and season its body. Grandmother insisted it was an essential part of my witch education. The baby potion would keep Grandmother from aging.

My pleas for them to take my sister’s boy fell on deaf ears; my son had been chosen. Grandmother thinks I’m weak and sentimental, so she underestimated me.

I poisoned the spell. She’ll be as dead as the baby soon. Then I will have to deal with my sister. She is going to be livid when she finds out I switched the babies.

Yvonne Lang

Yvonne’s work has featured in a range of publications, from Northern Life to Siren Magazine and Schlock. Her flash has appeared in The Drabble, Fairfield Scribes and Trembling with Fear as well as appearing in multiple anthologies. She resides in Yorkshire with her partner and an opinionated cat.

Website: yvonnelang.co.uk