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Floating topmost in the well of Joseph’s memories was the face – the body – of a woman, with wide green eyes, cleft chin, sleepy smile, deep-mahogany hair that flowed over her naked shoulders, her skin smooth and pale as moonlight on still waters; the mage rocked back in the shock its intensity, as other images followed and flooded him.
A toddler, tousled hair like freshly cut carrot and sharing features so similar to his mother’s; a fair-haired infant in the woman’s – her name was Bethany – arms who sang an Appalachian folksong to the baby in a sweet mezzo-soprano; another image of the same woman, singing the same song on a warped wooden stage, mountains blue behind her, the stars outshining the thin spotlight that rose below her bare feet and riffled through the thin weave of her summer skirt; quickly replaced by an image of two children – Andrew and Eloise — in a shaded sandbox, laughing up at him as they poured cool sand over a man’s feet, not his own solid, bear-like feet because these were long and thin and bony.
The mage buried his face in his hands and pulled away from the labyrinth of the man’s memories. This Joseph’s memories were more powerful than any spell he had ever woven throughout his centuries of practicing magic. He swore that if there was any way he could bring this man back to his blessed life, he would do so, no matter how long it took.
The three weird sisters sat at their eternal post, watching the gambit, laughing softly as the dark-eyed sister picked up a new thread, glittering with warm moonlight, and handed it to the golden-eyed weaver, who incorporated it into an existing pattern, while the sister with the calm, sea-green eyes rested her shears in the silky folds of her skirt.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2022)
The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “LABYRINTH”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories
Valley of the Trolls 
And the enchantment continues. Not sure I like the 3 sisters and their glib attitude, lol
They best be kind to Joseph!
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The gods & goddesses can seem cruel with their sometimes bored detachment from the human condition.
But that makes a good foundation for a story…😉
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True, Liz! That it does 😄
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The power of memory is impressive! I only hope he’s allowed to give back…..
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Even in half-life, there’s opportunity for choice…
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See, I knew he was a good guy. Memories as most powerful magic, yes. But now those sisters have me worried.
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They are amused, perhaps hopeful?
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Sometimes the Fates are kind. Sometimes.
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Yes. 🙃
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First sentence : not exactly suited for a morning coffee 😅 , hence my unofficial rule: reading Liz from dusk until dawn only!
Where you completely had me surrendered to your enchantment was Sentence Six…if I hadn’t already had a creation about Fates I would be morphing one, based on your words…maybe in the future.
Bravo.
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Lol…thanks!
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Is it a rule that weird sisters have come in threes? 🙂
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It is for these three: The Fates.
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Wowza… you’re gifting me with some clarity about that which assaults and haunts me; memories are a frighteningly powerful trap, sticky as a spider’s web.
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Or thick and sweet as honey in the comb…?
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Possibly 🙂
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Interesting suggestion about our memories, like Joseph’s, forming a labyrinth that can be more powerful than a spell.
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Pulls you in…can you ever truly come back to the same existence, once entered?
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No, not in my book.
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