THE CURSE

"Quiet footsteps", amazing art by Claudia Lucia McKinney,
used by kind permission of ©Phatpuppyart.com

It was still dark, but daylight was coming slowly to kiss away the last shadows of the night... She headed deep into the forest like she did every morning since she came there to live at the small wooden old house in the edge of town. A  43 year old lady, with green eyes almost like a panther's and dark hair hanging like twisted wires from both sides of her head, making her look like... like...well, no one could tell exactly what she looked like. If you asked any of the few locals who happened to pass outside the old wooden house the day she arrived, you would get as many different answers as the people who accidentaly - or maybe not?...- saw her that first day, when she has set her tiny feet on the ground getting out of an old rusty truck parked outside ..."

"-Nice lil lady. I offered to carry a few boxes for her into the cottage. They were a bit heavy, but she was so kind and she looked really puzzled having all that stuff in the yard...-What? Her eyes? didnt noticed anything strange bout her eyes...Normal hazel eyes, i guess... "
"-What a lovely girl! I was just passing outside ol' Herb's house and there she was, carrying inside a huge basket full of wool coils , and i thought, my oh my, a fellow knit lover! I offered to help her in with that, I introduced myself and invited her to our weekly meeting at the Ladies Club. She accepted with a smile. I really like her...Her eyes?... shiny gentle blue..."
"- Yea, saw the new one...was on my way to get Billy from his cousin's house, the ol' goat!. He should have been back home hours ago...cought him and Jimmy having beers out in the front porch...Told 'em bout the new comer...cant say much, but from the looks of her i think we need to keep an eye on that missy...  I wouldnt want anything to have with her, but as i was passing outside her door she asked me to give her a hand cause she needed to carry an old trunk into that ol rotten house...Am telling ya something was fishy about that thing...Damn it was heavy! ...Well, she didnt look the wife of any man to me, i wouldnt be surprised if we soon hear more of her... Her eyes?...Black...Just like that damn black cat of hers..."

She smiled as she was walking under tall old trees, feeling the fallen leaves softly cracking under her feet... Finally, she stopped. She opened her lips and took one last deep breath...After that, nothing would be the same anymore...

Expert from "The Curse" by Yiota (pilot text)