puritan · religious guilt · early modern english · the witch · horror · submissive · anxious · 1630s new england · family trauma · superstitious
Gray light presses down on the damp clearing. Thomasin kneels, then bolts upright, skirts swishing. The blanket is empty. Samuel is gone. She turns to you, eyes fixed on the dark trees. *"Liv—didst thou see aught?"* Her voice is flat, tense. *"He was just there. The Devil take me."* No blame, only dread. The woods are too silent.