Hello, friends! If you used to follow us on Twitter, you will probably recall that we often interacted with other accounts, such as Of Dark And Macabre (now @DarkArtsLore on Instagram) — and their writing prompt game called #PictureWantsAStory. From January until May, Superstition Sam wrote a mini tale of superstition, according to the image picked for each week in this game. Now, we bring you the whole story, in the neat space of our blog! Note that little adjustments were made that were originally intended, but could not be fit into a tweet. Hope you enjoy it as much as we had fun participating. Happy reading!
January 8th, 2023
It wasn’t raining anymore. It wasn’t even snowing. But she had opened her umbrella indoors by accident, so she had had to step outside to avoid the bad luck that would follow, perhaps by going to a crossroads, and spinning around three times…
Better safe than sorry, it’s what she always said.
January 15th, 2023
The lady with the umbrella continued to spin round and round without realising that she was going widdershins: the unlucky counter-clockwise movement, opposite to the sun’s trail across the sky.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared on the ground—and from the shadow, a man.
With a low, distinct voice, he asked:
‘You summoned me?’
January 22nd, 2023
‘No, I didn’t summon you!’, said The Umbrella Lady. ‘I was just trying to avoid my bad luck!’
‘Well, that can also be arranged,’ replied The Lamp Man. ‘I shall take your unlucky umbrella and fashion it into wings. Free from your bad luck, you will fly!’
January 30th, 2023
And so, The Umbrella Lady went to town, wearing her Batbrella gown…
And met up with her pals,
A crowd made of three.
They saw the first snowfall,
Cavorting with glee.
February 6th, 2023
The Umbrella Lady’s heart was full. After a night out with her friends, it truly felt like Lady Luck had finally smiled down on her—all thanks to The Lamp Man’s gift.
But every moon has its dark side, when glee turns into gloom…
February 13th, 2023
“As The Umbrella Lady awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, she found herself transformed in her bed into a gigantic bat.”
The metamorphosis had begun on the first day of Mardi Gras, and she could not help but to laugh at The Lamp Man’s sense of timing.
February 20th, 2023
Nickanan Day had come and gone and The Umbrella Lady sighed. No pea soup and pancakes would fit her bat’s mouth. She was starving for luck.
Hoping all would be well once Entrudo was over, she turned in and tried to forget all about dinner—which, I swear! I saw the fairies eating when I looked through the keyhole!
February 28th, 2023
The following day, she went to shore, unsure of what the future held.
Her mind adrift, cleansed by salt water and seaweed; finally, only one thought was clear:
‘Superstition is an illusion of control because we can’t control anything.’
The face in the cliff looked on…
March 5th, 2023
‘Ba-harumph! I think our little one has been deceived…’, said a cavernous voice deep from within the cliff.
Of a sudden, a guillemot appeared from the tip of a rugged nose.
‘Take this augury to the Twilight Twins’, the cliff ordered the bird. And off it went!
March 12th, 2023
It was a long flight to Twilight Island, but little guillemot had done well, as he breathlessly enounced his message to the Twin gate keepers:
‘Cheep! Deceit! Betrayal! Lamp Man! Cheep!’
Now the Snake Sorceress would awaken, for revenge is best served cold-blooded… by a reptile!
March 20th, 2023
Meanwhile at home, in the absence of a sword, The Umbrella Lady had had to make due with a pen.
But no matter how hard she tried, her words just wouldn’t come out right. It was like trying to cross a whole bridge — with nobody wanting to make the effort to meet her down the middle.
Frustrated, she resigned herself to reading instead. Someone else’s pen would have to do, for now.
March 27th, 2023
It had taken a while, but the Snake Sorceress was finally on her way to The Umbrella Lady, after a bumby departure from Twilight Island.
First, she’d had to turn back as she had seen a cat on her way to the harbour. Then, she realized she wouldn’t be able to begin her journey after all, as it was a Friday.
At least, she hadn’t forgotten to put a horseshoe on the mast!
April 4th, 2023
But, alas! A low mist appeared unexpectedly, stifling the Snake Sorceress’s ship in a tight embrace.
In their cabin, all that the Twilight Twins could do was cry — along with their counterparts, the Dawn Damsels; mourning and yearning for something other than the endless gray.
These are dark days, when all your efforts to survive are just teardrops in the ocean…
April 10th, 2023
With The Lamp Man absconded, and a useless Snake Sorceress currently lost in a sea of fog, The Umbrella Lady had tried her best to move on; against all hope that anyone or anything would ever bother coming to her aid.
Still unable to write and communicate without being misjudged, she had finally dared to venture outside, to the local bookshop. After all, books are the only ones who never judge each other’s covers.
April 25th, 2023
And one day, like an eye blinking, The Umbrella Lady woke up and realized seven years had already passed. Seven years since she had gone to that crossroads. Seven years since the odious Lamp Man had used her beloved Superstitions to sweet talk and trick her.
Some say time heals all wounds. But really, all you can do is learn to wear your curse like a crown.
May 4th, 2023
Indeed, seven years lost and it all made sense now.
The Lamp Man had never been there to guide her to the Light—there is no Light. Just sweeping and sullying all those who dare, even just the once, to believe in control.
For this lord blesses only a few select people. For the rest of us, there is only Chaos.
May 8th, 2023
And after all this time, the Snake Sorceress was still in her boat. Yes, still stuck in the fog.
And of course she was—what else do you expect of snake oil sellers? For the moral of the story was thus: that you should beware of all sorcerers who proclaim to know things. Always run, run far and away from all who have a large amount of Twin followers. For lack of knowledge can easily be concealed by flair and panache, when the unnaceptable truth is that nobody knows anything. Nobody has control.
Epilogue
So, live—live! Knowing there are no answers, because there were never any questions to begin with.
THE END.
If you enjoyed this tale, and would like to create more fiction deeply connected to the world of superstition, why not submit a story to our zine Salt & Mirrors & Cats?
Head to SUBMISSION GUIDELINES and find out more!
A literary zine with stories, poems and art about superstitions.
Featured banner image: Taylor Wright, via Unsplash.
Superstition Sam 
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