Saga The Witching Time (Padmé gets an unexpected answer from a Ouija Board) Halloween challenge response

Author: Anakins_Force
Title: The Witching Time
Timeline: post AOTC/pre ROTS
Characters: Padmé, Sabé, Dormé
Summary: Padmé and her handmaidens get an unexpected answer when they experiment with Dormé?s Ouija Board. My answer to the 2005 Halloween challenge.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Lucas.

The challenge: Write a 1,000 word vignette with the worst opening sentence you can come up with. My word program says this is 1,000 words. (I didn't include the quote or title in the word count as they aren't part of the story.)



[image=http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b76/YellowDartVader/witching2copy.png]

Thank you YellowDart for the cover art!



The Witching Time

?'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.?
~William Shakespeare, Hamlet



Wearily, Padmé reaches down with slim delicate hands to tiredly caress her exhausted feet--as the terrible ache in her dainty feet wanes, she sighs drowsily and sleepily closes her beautiful brown eyes.

After a day of dealing with Senate bureaucracy, Padmé would have preferred to slip into a warm bath and have a glass of wine, but it was Halloween. She refused to attend the parties hosted by various Senators and Ambassadors because of the raging storm, but Sabé insisted that she not let another holiday creep past with no acknowledgement.

Padmé wished for the company of her husband, but he and Obi-Wan were away on a mission. To mark the holiday, Sabé and Dormé are going to stay the night at her apartment and they are going to watch scary holovids to celebrate Halloween.

A small grin flirts across Padmé?s face as she lifts her hand to the knot in her neck.

Anakin raises his hands and rubs the back of her neck. He always knows how tight her muscles are after a long day of Senate meetings. As he kneads her shoulder, he dips his head forward and brushes his cheek against hers. ?I don?t want to leave.?

She leans back and presses her body against his. ?I don?t want you to leave either. Mmmm. That feels wonderful.?

He murmurs in her ear. ?I once looked forward to receiving assignments from the Council, you know. Until you corrupted me, M?Lady.?

?I corrupted you??

He grins but doesn?t answer as his hands move to the buttons on her gown.

A blush warms her cheeks and she shakes her head as she hears the front door close. Sabé?s shoes click on the duratile. ?M?Lady! We are back.? Dormé steps in quickly, shaking the water off her cloak. ?This weather will be the death of us.?

Padmé joins the two women in the living area in time to see Dormé hold up three cases. ?I?ve got horror holovids?guaranteed to keep us awake all night.?

Padmé shakes her head and laughs. ?If this is anything like the last time we watched a scary movie, you didn?t sleep for weeks, Dormé.?

Dormé shrugs as she places the disk in the vid player. ?I was fourteen then. Surely it won?t affect us so greatly now.?

The three of them settle onto the couch with blankets and glasses of dark wine. As the vid begins to play, the rain pounds louder on the roof. The lights tremble. A blaze of lighting flashes outside the window and a loud crack resonates through the apartment. The room goes black.

Sabé squeals and Dormé clutches her blanket while Padmé stumbles to her feet. ?I have a candle somewhere.? Padmé rummages through a drawer until she finds a tapered candle used for formal dinners and a lighter.

After the candle is lit, Dormé moves from her spot on the couch to the entrance where her satchel is lying. ?Since we can?t watch the holovids, I have something else we can do. I was saving it for after midnight, but the atmosphere is perfect now.? Dormé drags her satchel to the center of the floor and pulls out a box.

Sabé moans. ?Is that a board game? I don?t want to play Monopoly?I always lose.?

Dormé rolls her eyes and unfolds the board, laying it flat o

 

Oh, very nice! Did not expect that! Bravo!

 

Whoa. Totally unexpected twist. Brilliant. Great job.

Sorry for the choppy review, but this is my last post before bed, so...

 

Oh wow, that's creepy! Loved it!

 

OOOHHHH! That gave me goosebumps! These Halloween challenge fics keep getting better and better!

 

Whoa - the Ouija board spelled out Vader!!



Brilliant response to the challenge

 

Awesome post!! That last line gave me the shivers!!!!

 

Great post! Very spooky...

 

Spooky...

One of my friends had a Quija board when I was young. I don't remember it being that accurate!

Nice challenge response. You got all the adjectives for 'tired' in there.

 

Cool twist at the end!
Neat fic.

 

Oooh, very creepy.

 

Very VERY well done!

 

What a great post for the challange!

This really made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and shout "spooky"! What an eerie portend for the future. Yikes!

 

Wow, that is a very chilling narrative and a brilliant concept. Short but extremely effective.

 

Whoa, freaky! Perfect for Halloween.

 

Nicely done. I wasn't expecting that ending to an otherwise cheerful silly story. Nice little Halloween story.

 

Ooo, nice twist! Excellent.

 

Wicked! Gave me chills! Poor Padme...not knowing who this Vader will be!

 

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!!!! Oober creepy!!

 

Wow, that is pretty creepy! So omiscient! Who is Vader, eh?

 

OOOOOH! creepy! This has the feel of a classic ghost story! And it's even better, because I got the feeling in the movies and books that Padme loves Anakin partially because of the part of him that leads him to turn into Vader, not in spite of it, though she would never admit to it, and that part of him eventually costs her her live. Great job!

 

Ohhhhh... now *that* I did not expect! Very, very nice work of lulling us into a sense of security before unveiling the big twist.

 

That was amazing! I think my eyes almost popped out of my head at that last line.

Whew!

 

Oooh, nice! Very creepy and nicely done! I'm ready for Halloween, now!