Alive?

[Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism are religions that believe in reincarnation. They all arose from India.]

***

In a village, a woman was giving birth to a fragile little boy. Sadly, for the poor child, his mother died giving birth to him. To make it worse the villagers were gossiping about him with disdain.

"A cursed child."

"He killed his mother."

"Monster."

"How can such an ugly creature be born from humans..."

"He will only give us trouble."

"He would be better off dead."

"We should get rid of him."

The doctor looked at the depressed father trying not to throw the baby away and run from that monstrosity. The father was at the woman's side whipping a tear that was rolling on his cheek. After calming himself he looked at his child and with a sigh told them. "We will be leaving."

The villagers seemed relieved and didn't even try to hide their happy expressions. The man took the child and looked at it more carefully. Seeing it only had a monster like appearance made the father's face crumble. No one will accept his child.

'Maybe if the baby only had some scales it could have been hidden by bandages... if I was richer... And wasn't in this remote small village...' The man thought and shook his head. It wasn't possible to keep it. It didn't even look like a human but more like a beast.

He slowly dragged his feet in the dusty ground to the entrance of a forest. Its shoes could give their last breath anytime but he felt too exhausted and heavy. When he walked long enough in the forest, he placed the baby on the soft grass. He looked at it, trying to convince himself that it was the best option and after a minute of thinking, he lived without looking back. He never heard the baby cry.

**********

When Yui opened her eyes all her body was hurting as if being hit by a lightning. Seeing that she was still in the forest she thought that she somehow survived. Surprised, she thought: 'I'm alive?' But what surprised her more is that she was seeing much clearly than before. Even with the help of that mysterious flower that she would sometimes find and steal from the queen, her snake eyes would worsen by day. Sniffing the air, she felt blood on her and behind her.

She tried her best to move her body but she just couldn't figure out why it won't move. "Grrr!" 'Huh? What was that sound?' She tried talking again but she just repeated the same sound. She was unable to feel the surrounding the way she felt it before. It all felt different and new. If her muscle wouldn't have been in pain, Yui would have believed this was how it felt to be dead.

She slowly raised her head with a whimper. Yui looked at her black front paws and tilted her head. Even that little movement made her body scream in pain. The pain was making her nauseous. She did that movement when she was a snake and when she was having a hard time thinking, had found something interesting or it could mean 'what?'. Yui was becoming more and more confused. Her thoughts were like: 'What am l? Who am l? What was l? Why do I remember being a snake but have weird furry paws? What's with the blood?'

She tried to get up but her whole body started to shake and even her head fell to the ground. "Grrr!" She was frustrated at her situation. How can the thing she is now couldn't move? She feels so tired from just trying to lift her head that she could sleep except the pain didn't let her do so.

Yui decided to stop moving and just think about the situation. 'So, I really died and somehow got in this monster's body. It hurts as hell. I may even die again... maybe it's not so bad.'

Slowly the pain decreased and she changed her mind. 'Maybe it's only because I woke up in this body. I will kill all humans with these sharp claws. This time I will be more agile and they won't be able to see what killed them. Not to forget the promise…'

Yui got confused again 'What promise?' It felt as if it wasn't her memory but at the same time it was. She couldn't remember what the promise was about, her mind was becoming cloudy. A headache made her forget about the word 'promise'.

With a lot of struggle, Yui finally got up. She happily waved her tail and grinned with her white sharp teeth. If someone saw her they would think she was an adorable dog. She was now curious at what's the thing that was bleeding behind her. The furry creature thought that walking would take too much time so she pulled herself up with her front paws and let herself fall on her back. "Fa-thud!" "Ow!"

Even though she felt pain in her back, she was proud. Not far from her was a human man covered in his own blood. He had claws marks on his legs and his pants that looked more miserable than they already were. It was like a pile of cloth put on the body all ripped and dirty. Those attacks were used to make him fall and unable to use his legs. She knew that it was the beast that was once in this body that killed him. She stinks like him and is covered in his blood. Maybe hers too?... Furthermore, she has a vague memory of attacking him.

She stared at the man thinking that it would attract another monster or creature. But then a tough hit her. 'What if I'm in another world? Maybe back in the past? Or future?' It was impossible to be in the past, but in the future, it could be possible. If Yui was from the start reborn as a furry creature but only now remembered her past life, years could have passed. She wasn't even sure what she is now or how old the body is. She was curious but didn't care much. Seeing that humans exist here too, they will have the same fate. Death. Plus, if she's in another world she'll somehow find a way to go back to her original one and happily torture all humans. Maybe she'll leave some that she'll pity.

Yui slowly walked close to the ground towards the man as if he was still alive and she wanted to attack it without being noticed. She jumped one time, almost missing her prey and started feasting on him. Yui didn't know when her next meal will be and if food was in front of her she could as well eat instead of leaving it for others. Why would she help strangers? She found it first.

While eating her ears keep moving. She found running steps that were approaching her. She quickly jumps on her paws without a problem. It seems that she got used to this body and she felt no more pain. Only some headaches from time to time. Yui didn't even think twice before leaving her the dead body and ran away.

After some good running, she felt like she could control her body a lot better and the headache completely disappeared. On the contrary she could run forever and her stomach was satisfied. Using her new speed, she ran in search of a stream to take a bath and remove the stench of blood.