Once Upon A Time

This must be the longest story that I have typed.

"The Curse of Eidolon"

In the middle of nowhere, lay a small town. It was all muddy with no real roads. If you bought new shoes, you were a fool. If you own the shoe store where the fool bought its shoe, you're probably incongruous. "Incongruous" is a word which here means a person who needs to be institutionalized. There is no "gloomy part of town" because everything is gloomy and gray. It was as if no amount of color can change its gray environment. In fact that color would probably adapt and jut turn gray. Even the people who inhabit the town was as gray and gloomy.

It was a good thing that Glynis did not live in the town. She was far too colorful, too full of life. It would be a waste for such a soul to be turned into a dirty, gloomy, and gray simpleton. Instead she lived in the forest where the trees stood tall and its branches blocking the sun as if they were green clouds. Only letting delicate rays of light in, revealing the warm colors of the fallen leaves, crunching as Glynis go about her day.

Most days were the same but this day was different. More different than the other different days. It was not as different as burning a pie that you've successfully made a number of times. It is not going home and finding yourself lost even if you know every road and every path like the back of your hands. It is not like an author writing yet another story and finding herself lost for words.......

It was too different indeed. And far too abhorrent - a word which here means too horrible than other situations. At a distance, Glynis could hear the rustling of bushes and crunching of leaves. She didn't pay much thought into it for the forest is a fortress of different sounds. It could have been a deer just passing through or the wind gusting. But then something caught her attention. A buzzing sound  that seemed to grow louder and louder, clearer and clearer as each second pass by. Before she knew it a confederacy of people was in front of her house. "Confederacy" is a word which here means a group with a common pursuit. Their faces serious and full of disgust. Like that of a person you've deliberately not invite to a prestigious gathering.

Before she could welcome them with warmth and kindness or perhaps offer them something to drink. Even if it looked like the whole town had come to see her. A pint-sized boy came in front. His hair like fire. His face covered with freckles which would have been adorable. If only it did not lay upon a spoiled, scant demon. With his small, stubby finger pointed at Glynis, he shouted, "A WITCH! A WITCH!"

She felt her heart drop as if it had fainted without her. Then it started to thump as loud as a troll's steps. Thump! Thump! She could feel every beat as if it was moving her whole body. Thump! Thump! Her body was failing her. She could feel it at the pit of her stomach. Thump! Thump! She could hear the boy's words over and over. "A WITCH! A WITCH!" She felt sick. She wanted to faint but she knew she needed to stay awake. She knew what she needed to do. She knew she needed to run away. But before she could move her legs. Even before the thought of running passed through her mind, the town's sheriff had laid a warrant on her and his henchman had restrained her. As the mob searched her home for any "augury" -  is a word which here means evidence - of witchcraft, the feeling of defeat fell on her. There was nowhere or no one to run to. The gray almost devouring her. Then the Sheriff somewhat declared her sentence.

FOR UNDOUBTABLE REASONS, THE ACCUSED IS A WITCH.

THE PEOPLE OF HOKUM SPARES THE LIFE OF THE WITCH. IN TURN

SHE SHALL HEED TO THE PEOPLE'S EVERY DEMAND.

Glynis' life was spared. For a moment, things looked brighter. For a moment, thing were better. For a moment, she could smile. But only for a moment. For soon after, the gray would've consumed her. The colors drained from her soul. She would discover the mephistos  that lives in the town she barely knows. "Mephistos" is a word which here means people worse than the monsters under your bed. Day after day, she would be ordered to carry out greedy, vicious, and heartless demands. Spells after spells, potions after potions, nothing seemed to satisfy them. No "thank you"s were said to her. Not even in a whisper or a secret unsigned note. Only insults came her way. After all, They had spared her life out of  "compassion and kindness" from their selfish and horrid hearts. Yet her hope was intact. Holding on to her truth that these people let her live, oblivious to their true cause. As hopeful and as pure of heart as she was, it did not change how unbearable life is. She had every power to change her predicament but she knew that magic is just an illusion. And like all illusions , it will fade and disappear. For it to be forever, the change needed to come from within. And that change she will have to sojourn for. "Sojourn" is a word which here means to wait until one is probably old and gray. But no amount of hope, not even the promise of change, can blind her from an unbearable life. She still had to live each moment with snarls and glares from the people who seems to only want the death of her. Her truth stopping her from running away. But how she longed to smile again. She tries to remember those happier times. But it seems miles away, like it had ran away from her. There was nothing else to turn to but magic. It is the only thing that could cloak her from her own misery. An illusion that can make her endure. So for a moment the world would be blessed by her smile. A smile that shows her pure heart. Never judging. Full of warmth and kindness. So for a moment she could be clouded from a world that fears the different and the unexplainable. An illusion that only she can see. An illusion that would fill her world with color.

Each moment the sun shined brighter. Each moment the world grew more colorful. Each moment her smile grew bigger. She was basking in the warmth of not only the sun but love she thought she had. She was finally happy. Her cruel world now filled with smiling faces and kind voices. Reality has become a distant nightmare.

A nightmare that would crawl back in her sleep. Laughing at her for falling a fool for her own trick. Reminding her the hating faces behind the smiles, the insults behind those sweet voices. Tempting her with the change that she has hoped for. Forcing her to question what was behind the bubble that she had created. Her curiosity grew as if she was a child protected by its home, sheltered from the world. And like a child she wanted to step out and explore. No matter how her conscience tried to stop her just like a loving mother who only wants to protect her child from the evil that lurks outside. But Glynis did not listen to herself. She took back her illusion hoping that the change she was waiting for has finally arrived.

Her heart sank, broke, torn, and crushed as reality rushed in. The illusion disappeared, the colors has faded. But the grey was nowhere to be found. Darkness has consumed the town and its people. Their hearts blackened by gluttony. Their demands grew vengeful, relentless and lurid - a word which here means vengeful and relentless.  She was stuck in a hell she could not run away from. In her heart, she knew she took part in creating the darkness. Instead of hoping for a change, she should have taken a step towards it. With the purest of heart and purest of intention, she took her only life. But even though she had nothing but kindness for the people who treated her poorly, her trust for their will to change has gone. She has become the gray. On her last breaths she conjured a charm on her soul. A charm that will forever blind her from the evils of the world in her next life. Making her reincarnation an eternal optimist.

As said before all illusions fade. And when they do, watch out for the person whose colors will fade, for the gray that is near to becoming the darkness.

(Save the Whales!)

PS "Eidolon" is a word which here means fantasy.