The Confession: Journal of Abigail Williams (Part 2)

August 21^th, 1692

It was in the woods where these matters were spawning. Parris discovered us dancing, dancing like heathens around an open fire. It was dances for lust and love. We girls never get what we want out of life. We, only is silence, can speak our minds. Even the boys of Salem village dare not speak to us for fear that the devil shall grow impropriety in their hearts. The fear of being seen as licentious in the eyes of their fathers and mother’s eyes are what control them to avoid us. We only danced for them. We wanted the boys to notice us. But, I of course had my own private reasons for dancing as well. And, I will admit that I did smear the chicken’s blood over my face, for the reckoning of Goody Proctor. Now, this is what our charms have led to, an all out witch-hunt. In nervousness and shame, the girls, Betty and Ruth, upon being found in the woods, went into a false sleep. They slept to spare themselves from punishment for their uncivilized behaviors. I was absolutely shocked when I heard that their plan actually worked! Almost immediately after, the other girls started pointing their fingers at me. They claimed I was the won who led them to dance in the woods. I had no choice but to blame Tituba for this. In turn, she saved herself by accusing Sarah Good and Goody Osburn with the devil. I, in my enlightenment, did too confess to seeing Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, and Bridget Bishop with the devil. In a feverish chant Betty named several women, their names in memory, making a compact with the devil. In this all, we have begun the hunt for the witches…