3157. The power of a word © Bruce Goodman 27 March 2025

Martha had no clue who or what she really was until she was in her late teens. Her mother told her. She had paranormal powers that had to be channelled carefully otherwise chaos would be heaped upon her world. These powers centred around the use of one word. Martha could select her own word and hopefully from then on she would never have to use it. Martha chose a word she would never use in a thousand years: Drat! If she used that word everyone within hearing distance would die a lingering. slow death. The more they complained the worse it would get until they screeched their painful way out of existence. These days Martha is living happily with her four kids. In fact, they have recently moved into a new house. The house is not new, it is new only to them. Martha got it for a song because it was run down. In fact it was infested with fleas and rodents. Room by room they cleaned and brightened the house. It was pest free, almost… That evening when the children came home from school and all were having dinner Martha proudly announced that she had “killed d’rat”. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story