The contest prompt was “One Room” – I decided on a stillroom in Regency England.
***
As Anna Norris saw it, Sir Richard had not taken leave of his senses. His senses had been taken from him. Anna had been the housekeeper at Pollton Estate for the better part of twenty years, and her husband George its steward. It was a good position and she knew herself lucky to have it. But for the past six months, since the accident, she had her hands overfull with the strange and sometimes terrible doings in the baron’s household. She finally entrusted the lion’s share of cleaning and cooking duties to her staff. Her most urgent business at present was the making of teas and tinctures. The doctor came up from the market town once every week. Betweentimes, the health of the household fell firmly on Anna’s aging shoulders.
… rest of the story as published in Short Fiction Break magazine.