1 The Curse Manifests

The agony is killing them all. I witness the children around me drop like flies as a great disturbance triggers my emotions to overflow. The sensation of being burnt grasps me from the inside out as if every fabric of my being wants to explode and splatter away for everyone to see. I hear the people's screams, anguish, and tribulations. However, overwhelming grief devours them as no one bats an eye towards me. I don't know if my body is preventing me from empathizing or I just don't care. They will suffer the same fate anyway. And they did.

          I come to my senses seeing familiar corners, smelling familiar scents, and hearing nothing but frantic footsteps somewhere nearby. I'm home. I am greeted by the door violently swinging open. My beloved Mother rushes towards me and grabs me by the shoulders. I feel a sting of pain as she tenses her hold on me but I can sense that there's greater hurt seeping through her amber eyes. I examine her for a while as she seems to be mustering her strength to speak to me. The hood of her black cloak over her favorite red tunic rests on her head making it hard to read the rest of her expression.

          "We have to go!" She beckons, pulling me out of bed. I fetch some of my belongings as she instructs.

          "Mother, what's going on?" I ask as we both find our way out through the back door. We're fleeing. That's what eventually registers in my mind. But why? We abruptly stopped before we could get even deeper into the forest. "Mother?"

          "You didn't do anything wrong, my child." She crouches to level with my line of sight. "I want you to remember that." Her voice is full of sincerity but I can't deny that there's a hint of aching from her breathing.|

          "I will, Mother. I promise." I respond, trusting her with all my heart. I start to hear a mob of angry townspeople marching towards our home. Former home.

          Their indignation echoes throughout the entire island. Even the rays of the moon's luster don't ease their sorrows. Bizarre chants and wails are being thrown from all directions. Surely they realize that we're not there anymore but their outrage only keeps multiplying like the stars in the skies slowly being tainted gray as the mob starts to burn everything we own. I immediately thought of my belongings. My carving tools, what's left of Father's possessions, and even my pet. I hope he escapes like we did. My heart breaks as the realization of the fact that I wasn't able to bring him with us hits me.

          My pet, Masid, is my best friend. He was gifted to me by Mother a year ago on my fifth birthday and we connected quickly just like a snap of a finger. He goes wherever I go, he comforts me when no one else wants to play with me, and he shares his warmth when the night is too cold for a frail boy such as myself. He's always looking out for me and I greatly appreciate him for that. He's a Black Panther cub but whenever I make a wood carving of him, I almost always picture him as a full-grown forest feline with all his teeth and claws out. I like how ferocious he can become. I hope that one day, I can grow up as ferocious as he can.

          I find myself in front of a dark cave entrance with Mother panting right next to me. I never knew this place existed until we got here. The way to this very cave is perilous to common mortal limbs but my Mother is not like them and that's what makes her special. It's as if the entire island gently assists us on our way here. I saw tree branches from a few paces back folded out of our way to give us a clear path and I even witnessed a grizzly bear frantically cower away as Mother's amber eyes pierced at the beast. She's beyond ferocious and I love her for that. I always feel that my safest place is with her. "Welcome to our new home, my child!" A warm smile illuminates her face which reflects to mine as we continue to walk inside the dark abyss.

          My eyes grow bigger in awe and like the forest nymph statue built in the middle of our town; I freeze in place, dropping the bags I was just carrying. From my peripheral, I saw Mother gaze at me with a fulfilling expression beaming towards everything in sight. It's as if both our exhaustion from all the walking, carrying, and climbing we did were just squandered into the dark corners of the cave. Calling this place a cave feels like an understatement as it appears to be capable of fitting a small community in here. As I scanned the area further, I noticed that Mother already prepared some torch lights attached to various walls of the place. In a single flick of her right hand and muttering an enchantment I can't comprehend, every single torch lit up illuminating the entirety of the inside of the cave.

          Elation is what hit me first. This place is magical, heaven even. Although the cave walls stand a few dozen feet tall, the huge gaping hole in the ceiling allows the natural light to twinkle in and the natural air to gust through. In the center of the cave is a lake that glistens as light embraces it and in the middle of that lake is a small patch of land that sports an unusual yet equally majestic tree that almost fills the space towards the opening from up above. Farther beyond is where a simple yet welcoming home was built. It's obvious that it has its own history but that's all the more reason why it's exciting to live in it. The air is suddenly filled with deafening moos, baas, oinks, and clucks. I steer my line of sight to where the sounds are the strongest and I was surprised but not disappointed by what I can see. It appears to be a small barn with cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens. It's just like what we had back in our former home in town.

          "You better check your room." Mother gestures towards the house gracefully. "Let me know if you need anything else and be caref–" I didn't have the patience to let her finish. I just took off without any moment's notice. I just left her there still being beautifully illuminated by the moon's gaze.

          I extremely find the house incredible as it closely resembles the previous one we had. Even my carving stuff is here and so much more. But, I don't find anything relating to Father and as naïve as I am, I expect Masid is somewhere in this house. I call out for him until my lungs give out but no thump of a paw, no grating of claws, and even a tiny hiss isn't heard. "Masid! Where are you?" I continue to call out. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" Maybe he's just hiding. Waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Hide-and-seek is our favorite game after all. No. No Masid was found that night.

          "Mother, are we going to stay here?" I ask, trying not to sound sad or anything knowing that Masid isn't here.

          Mother considers me for a brief moment after finishing the table for our dinner and responds, "Yes, my child. We'll live here for good." She beams her beautiful smile at me once again. "Why? Don't you like it here?"

          "I love it here, Mother!" I say truthfully but the sadness in my tone can't be fully concealed which she immediately picks up.

          "You're worried about Masid, aren't you?" The look in her eyes matches mine. The same longing for our precious cub. "Trust Mother. He'll be back. I promise." There's a surge of certainty in her tone so I wholeheartedly believe her. Even without those assuring words, I trust Mother with all my being.

          We happily continued our dinner but I couldn't shake off the idea about what happened back in town. What happened to me? Why do the townspeople hate us that they decided to burn us out of town and force us to live in this secluded place? Is it because of what Mother can do? That couldn't be it. The people of Hiraya know what Mother is. She helps them, heals them, and even defends them from foreign forces. She genuinely loves this place and its residents. It gradually changed when Mother met Father. However, even though there's a speck of shift in peoples' minds towards Mother when she fell in love, she continued to be in service to everyone so I don't understand this whole situation.

          I heard a story before that there were groups of pirates who planned to ransack the town but with Mother's help, the pirates couldn't even step foot on the island. She even killed their captain with a single breath of an enchantment. It is believed that her deadliest curses are the ones that can't be seen. Those kinds of stories are regarded as legends because even I don't see her do such things. I know she heals and does it very well but she hasn't killed anyone. Not that I know of. For now, I know that she uses her gifts to protect me. To protect both of us from harm's way.

          I don't remember Father that much because he died when I was still very young. The only things that remind me of him are some of the clothes he left behind and the fact that he also loves carving. That's obviously what I inherited from him and, of course, my undying trust and love for Mother. Whatever happens, I wouldn't let anything or anyone harm her but with this frail and young body of mine, that task is lightyears away from being attainable. I have to do something about that weakness of mine urgently. My turning gears seemed to catch Mother's attention and knowing her, she probably knew what was running through my mind and most likely she already had the best response to ease whatever doubts I had.

          "Do you want to share what you're thinking about, my child?" She asks, passing a glass of water to me. "Your silence is too loud for comfort."

          "I just miss Father. That's all." He and Masid, of course. "Can you tell me more about him?" I shine a somewhat forced smile at her in an attempt to conceal my true emotions but I know she can see through me.

          She happily obliges. I can feel that she's at her happiest when we talk about Father. Well, aside from me obviously. Her aura is jumping with the purest joy and love all around us that even the nearby vegetation dances with her. She shares her stories so well like she's chanting. I swear I can feel like I'm living their lives through my very core and I love that feeling. Even just a moment, just in borrowed memories, we can be a family. A complete and happy family. But whatever I do, I can't put a proper face on Father. It doesn't help that Mother doesn't have any photographs of him or even sketches but no matter. As long as Mother's happy, I'm happy, and wherever he may be, I hope Father's happy too. Happy for us.

          I'm about to go to bed after feeding the animals when I walk past Mother's room. I find the door open ever so slightly. Out of curiosity, I try peaking in and I successfully pop my head through the door frame. A smell of amalgamated scents of coconut and lavender caresses my face which relieves the remaining fatigue in my tiny muscles and bones from the day's work. Perusing the room further, I find it dimly lit but silhouettes of various tools are visible. I figure that those tools are used for Mother's charms. Murmurs suddenly whispers to my ears taking my line of sight away from the tools and shifts at her directly. I see her leaning on the floor, her back facing the door so she can't see me. With her gestures, I believe she's more like praying than doing one of her glamour.

          "I swear on every drop of my blood, I will protect my son from the rest of the world..." She keeps her head angled towards the ceiling, clasping her hands hard, "and the rest of the world from my son."