Pitch Slam Entry 1: Devil's Playground, YA Historical Fantasy

Title: Devil’s Playground

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy

Word Count: 66,000 Words

Pitch: Elizabeth, a witch in Salem, uses her forbidden powers to save innocent people accused of witchcraft. When she accidentally curses the village, she must figure out how to reverse the curse before Salem is destroyed.


250 Words:

I shiver as my bare feet hit the wood floor. It’s too early to be awake. It’s always too early. An incessant throbbing behind my eyes tells me I ought to be back in bed.

“Elizabeth, are you ready to go?” Mother calls from the kitchen.

“Yes, I’ll be right there,” I lie. With a tired shuffle I make my way to the large chest at the foot of my bed and grab the first dress I see. It doesn’t matter much when my choices are the black dress, the dark black dress, or the other black dress. Shall I wear the one with the hole, the one with two holes, or the one the mouse chewed through?

“Elizabeth! We’re going to be late, we need to leave.”

“Just a minute,” I say. After exchanging my white nightdress for the dark black dress the mouse chewed through, I tie a white apron around my waist, attempting to hide the hole. Before walking out the door I realize my cap is missing.

With a sigh I quickly pin my hair back before covering it with the white cap, a symbol of my purity. I now look like every other girl in Salem village, just how it should be. It seems a shame to let my curls go to waste and I can’t help but pull a few forward.

After double checking that everything is in order, I walk to the front room where Father, Mother, and my younger sister Anna are waiting.