Posts

A Deal of Death

Image
My father was a heavy gambler, and he seemed to have luck on his side for the longest time before one day, he began to lose again and again. Mom pleaded with him to stop, but he ignored her and continued to spiral down that rabbit hole. Eventually, she filed for a divorce, and he was barred from seeing us. Dad once told me that his late mother was a witch, and that she had a grimoire that he would use from time to time. He said it granted him luck. I wondered if whatever spell he used had backfired at some point, or if it simply had run its course. As I grew older and reconnected with Dad, I learned that he had indeed stopped using the grimoire around the same time his winning streak ended. He said the spell he used consumed a portion of his soul at a time, shortening his lifespan. He didn’t want to continue that spell, but he couldn’t let go of gambling either. I pitied him. I asked Dad if I could borrow Grandma’s grimoire to boost my research. Dad agreed, but he warned me not to make...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unseen Chaos

Image
For as long as I could remember, I had always been clumsy in the most dangerous of ways. I would often fall down stairs and run my bike into trees, but somehow, I would also walk away from such accidents with barely a scratch on me. My parents were both terrified and astonished; they said I had the wildest luck imaginable. I found ‘chaotic’ to be a more accurate description of it as I grew up. Even after I had moved out and started working, I would often run into accidents both indoors and on the road. I would often fall in the office or crash my car on the road. My accidents were so frequent that the insurance company knew me on a first-name basis and dreaded it whenever I called. My parents urged me to sell my car and use a taxi, or even public transport, but I did not feel it was necessary. I never got hurt, and I never hurt anyone else either. I found it strange, recognizing the pattern of not even causing any property damage in my accidents. However, given how many times I crashed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Guardian Angel

Image
I had a brown bear soft toy for as long as I could remember, and we were inseparable. Ms. Bear and I would often have long conversations, and I always loved listening to her wise words. However, she never spoke in front of my parents. The first time I attempted to speak to her in front of them, she stayed silent, making my parents laugh and brush it off as my imagination. I was disappointed and ignored her that evening until she told me that if she revealed her powers to anyone but me, she would cease to exist. Ms. Bear was my guardian angel; her presence was meant to be a secret. She made me promise never to reveal it to anyone. I agreed. As the years passed by, Ms. Bear saved my life several times, much to the confusion of my parents, who didn’t understand how I managed to get out of the pool when I couldn’t yet swim, or how I avoided injuries after falling from my bike. Ms. Bear even protected me from threatening strangers, driving them away with what she called her “foreboding aura...
Post a Comment
Read more

Home

Image
Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence I had heard many fairy tales from my mother before she passed away, many of them being so spooky that they kept me up at night. However, our lives were far more cruel than any scary story she told me about witches and ghouls. My father was an abusive drunk who beat my mother to death when I was just six years old. I was left alone to take care of both household matters and raising my two younger siblings. I wished there was a witch out there who would punish him for what he did, but it seemed that things wouldn’t come that easily. For the next three years, he beat my siblings and me every evening once he returned from work. I bore the brunt of the beatings, pleading with him not to hurt my two younger sisters, but he was often ruthless. One day, I decided that we had suffered enough at his hands and started hiding both money and rations in my room in hopes of fleeing with my siblings. A month later, everything was in order. I woke my siblings up in th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Whispers of the Wild

Image
I was just six years old when I learned that I could speak to animals. My parents said it was just my imagination, but even back then, I knew they were wrong. Every sound they made, I could clearly figure out what they wanted to say. Other children my age didn’t believe me, and some even avoided me after I revealed my secret. Mom urged me not to speak of it with anyone else; she said people would only ostracise me even more. I took her advice and kept things to myself. Towards the end of my schooling years, however, my abilities helped me excel at my job at an animal shelter. I was able to detect any animal that was in distress, and I always knew exactly what was worrying them. One of my colleagues said I should become a vet, which I had already considered but was hesitant to pursue. After a discussion with my parents, I was convinced that it was the job that suited me the most. A few years later, I had my own clinic, and it wasn’t long before many people from my hometown, and even its...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Familiar

Image
As a child, I would often see figures moving in the corners; silhouettes that stuck to the shadows and lingered in the distance. Whenever I brought the matter up to my parents, they dismissed it. They said it was just my imagination. However, it only got worse as I grew older, and I would often run to my parents’ room, fearing that monsters were out to get me. I was a stubborn child, often refusing to sleep in my room. One day, however, my mom was able to convince me that our cat, Jupiter, would take care of any monsters that would try to hurt us. Jupiter was my grandma’s cat; we adopted her right after Grandma passed away. From the day she joined our family, Jupiter always seemed to be inspecting the surroundings. She would never leave my side when I was alone, and even slept in my room. Whenever I heard or saw something, Jupiter would run in that direction even before I could react, and I would often hear her hissing and growling at the shadows until any presence I felt disappeared. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Still Soul

Image
My parents prohibited me from taking photos of myself. They were so strict about this rule that even my friends were asked never to do it. I didn’t think about it when I was much younger, but once I reached middle school, I began to grow tired of their rules. They said taking photos only brought misfortune upon our family, and that both my grandmother and my aunt lost their lives because of it. They never really opened up about why they avoided taking photos until that day. Mom told me that some of her ancestors were witches, and that there was a curse on our family from over a century ago that siphoned a portion of our soul each time we took a photo of ourselves. It didn’t matter whether the family member was a witch or not, the curse would still flow through the bloodline. Mom also said that I was a witch, unlike her, so the curse would be even more potent for me. I was speechless and confused, since I had never been able to use magic, but Mom said there was magic emanating from me w...
Post a Comment
Read more