Fire Mention - Tumblr Posts

The Best Story at the Cookout - Or, how one of my greatx6 grandfathers became an eternal bonfire story

(Casual warning for death, and fire, and also some mentions of racism. Names changed for safety. Blame the hyper-specific poll trend for this)

I've been threatening for years that I was going to eventually start sharing these family stories on tumblr. It only seems right that the hyperspecific poll trend is what gets me started. So - to set the stage. This is about my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather on my grandfather's side (you know, or well - don't know - the grandfather that was almost certainly part of organized crime, given the fact that the local KKK feared his connections more than they hated the color of his skin).

Now I don't remember the name of this greatx6 grandpa, which is good tbh since names are all changed. Plucking a name out of the air, I'm gonna call him Great Grandpa Brent.

Now, Great Grandpa Brent was always someone the family as a whole was worried was going to wind up on fire. He inherited the auto repair shop he worked at from his boss at the time when the old man retired, which was a problem to many others - because it was a black man taking over a white man's shop, and also happened to be the only auto repair shop that could be considered local for the most of them. Which led to a lot of fear, because Great Grandpa Brent already had burn scars from a story I was never told the whole of that involved a burning cross in the front yard. But he operated that auto repair shop with limited incidents for a long time - long enough that he met his girlfriend and had kids and Great Grandpa Brent was still running that shop. Until the day he was working in that shop and decided to blaze it. It being himself. As in, Great Grandpa Brent spontaneously caught on fire. He wasn't a smoker, and he was a bit of a stickler about safety as far as the family remembers. And as far as the folks who were working that day, while their exact details are different and filtered by what they were doing at the time (which leads me to believe this wasn't planned or a coverup, personally, but this is still allegedly so take all this with several grains of salt) - they remember him remarking on how blisteringly hot it was just before he was on fire. In the auto repair shop. In the auto repair shop where they were working on automobiles. Now, I don't really blame those fellas for hightailing it out of there, because Great Grandpa Brent stopped moving next to a wooden wall. Which proceeded to catch fire itself. In short order, to hear it told - the whole shop was ablaze. Y'all would be forgiven to assume this is where the story stops, but it's not. Because, y'see - Great Grandpa Brent had that girlfriend, and kids. So the folks he'd been working with went to go tell her that they'd seen her boyfriend stop moving, and he'd spontaneously combusted, and there was a good chance he was dead but at least it wasn't because of the KKK, so that's a silver lining covered in ash. Except they get there, Great Grandpa Brent's brother included - and they don't even get to knock on the door. She's already opening it, and her first words are "He spontaneously combusted didn't he?" And she goes on to say that she'd had a dream about that the night before and chalked it up as a nightmare, because the Fear of being hate crimed doesn't really ebb and nothing had happened for so long. And they have to tell her that she's right - they saw it happen, Great Grandpa Brent has been burnt and nobody knew where the flame even came from. For a while, the family assumed that was that. Except, well... They had to sell the lot the auto repair shop had burnt down on, and the folks what bought it built an ice cream shop there. An ice cream shop that seemed to utterly hate anyone who was bloodkin to Great Grandpa Brent - between the food poisonings, and the food allergies, and the place tripping up folks and leading to far too many hurts. No one else ever got food poisoning there, just bloodkin. And so Great Grandpa Brent became one of the most told stories at the family cookouts, usually told right in front of an open flame - and the only thing the family remembers him for is how he died. Oh, and not to go to that ice cream shop because it hates us. That ice cream shop isn't there anymore, just an empty lot - so it's a bit of a moot point now, but given the fact that the death of the ice cream shop is less than a decade old, maybe it has its own significance.

//// (If you read this, thanks for reading! This is an actual story passed down during family cookouts by my bloodkin, and the very first time I was told the whole story was because I ducked into the ice cream shop and felt far too hot and smelled smoke, and upon telling this to my mother the next day - which was en route to one of the cookouts, she dragged me to my grandfather and made him tell me the story. I never set foot into that shop again.)

Pyre

(Gift for @mothgodofchaos bc they've been working hard on their stuffs, I hope you like it!)

TW: Witch trials, mentions of fire/burning

"People of god! Look upon this wench, marked by their wicked deeds, has rejected the way of our lord and instead embraced the darkness that is the devil. There is no mercy for the likes of them. Do not be fooled by their cries and pleas of innocence. Their heart belongs to evi, and their suffering is just. THIS is the price of disobeying the Lord's will! Let this punishment be a warning to all: Those of you who consort with darkness shall be found and purged from the face of this world. Before the flames cleanse their soul, let us allow this witch to speak their final words. Tell us your lies." Tears threatening to spill while struggling in your binds.

"Please! I am no witch! I swear this upon my soul!" That was probably the biggest lie you'd ever told. You were most definitely a witch, But you weren't going to tell these assholes that. You tried to warn them about the oncoming storms so they'd have some time to prepare, but did they listen? NO. Instead they were going to burn you alive & for what?! TRYING TO HELP THEM!

"Do not burn me for a crime I haven't committed! My friends know my innocence!" You pleaded, your gaze sweeping through the crowd for even a glimpse of your coven. You locked eyes with the high priestess of your coven. "Please, you know I'm innocent!" The crowd looked towards her. "No. You are not. You are a soulless witch." She said blankly, staring you dead in the eye from the ground. THAT BACKSTABBING LITTLE-

"May the lord have mercy on you." The priest told you, approaching with a lit torch. Well, seems like it's curse time then. "Fine. Set me ablaze. But know this: My blood will not cure your hunger for righteousness, with every flame I-"

The sound of shrieking cut off your monologue. Hands made from rotting flesh rose from the ground and grabbed at the feet of the priest and other villagers. Absolute chaos ensued as everybody else started running back to their homes, you stood there in confusion wondering how dead people were interrupting your execution but you were grateful nonetheless. Suddenly a man draped in a cloak of deep violet appeared in front of you, he sat atop a skeletal horse and held a fancy staff you could only dream of touching. The staff was adorned with all types of magical sigils and on the top of it was a beautiful glowing crystal. The man grinned at you. "Well hello there, in need of assistance~?" He asked, dismounting his steed and approaching you. "So you're the cause of this interruption, hm?" You looked at his arms, a good portion of it was dark as charcoal. His fingers ended in incredibly sharp talons, he looked pretty strong too. The man rolled his eyes at your comment. "Would you like to be rescued or not?" You scoffed "Just unbind me, will you?" In a moments notice your ropes were cut and you were free. You gasped and quickly hugged the man, knocking his hood off. "Oh thank you so very much.." You gazed into his gorgeous eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of purple you'd ever seen. A blush coated his cheeks. "Of course, I couldn't let a beauty such as yourself go to waste." You then walked over to the priest who was frozen in place by the hands of the dead, taking the torch from his hands. "May the lord have mercy on you." You remarked mockingly before setting him ablaze. You then turned back to the man who cleared his throat and offered his hand to you. "Shall we leave this dreary village?" He asked, winking at you. "Of course." You took his hand and he helped you onto the horse. "Oh, did I mention I'm a necromancer?" You just smiled adoringly at him. "I love a powerful man~" If you didn't believe in love at first site before, you definitely did now.

"I think I'm in love with you."