The child-bride heard stories in hushed tones – of treasures ensconced between thick walls of the ‘haveli’, which was her marital home. She was told there was a curse on anyone who tried to extricate it – those who ventured died a premature death. She lost her husband. The child bride became a child widow. The palatial house was sold, and folklore has it that the new occupants found scorpions in the brass pots between the walls.
The old woman hired labor to dig the backyard. She never really believed the deadly tales, and never lost the desire to own the jewels.
(100 words)
P.S. ‘Haveli’ means a palatial house owned by landlords

Poor child bride, becoming so quickly a child widow.
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It happened quite often in those days with high rates of child mortality.
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I’d love to see this expanded.
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🙂
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Sometimes you have to break a curse with brute force.
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Right. It works.
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Good story. Why were there scorpions?
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Maybe, scorpions got into the pot in villages. It was used as a scare to keep people away from the wealth.
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I wonder if the old lady lived to tell her tale. Intriguing Reena.
Click to read my FriFic tale
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The rest of the family did.
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I was expecting a Bluebeard sort of tale, but the greedy old lady was a cool surprise.
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She existed once upon a time. This is a BOTS story.
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What is a BOTS story, please? I haven’t met the term before.
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Based on True Stories
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