In honour of Halloween I decided to post a rather scary (at least that was what I thought when I was writing it, because it was inspired by my fears connected with the uncertainty of the future and its oftentimes nasty surprises) excerpt from Almendra: A Fairy-Tale.
Before entering the sinister shade of the ShawlWood, Joannah warned The Upper Kingdom party to keep as close to her as possible or otherwise face the loss of sanity. It was on this foreboding note that the four of them entered the wood, where they were immediately surrounded by ear-splitting shrieks, coming from all the likely and unlikely directions. Fighting back tremendous desire to screw her eyes shut against the sound-assault, Almendra decided to get a better look around, though not before checking her proximity to Joannah. There seemed to be enough insanity as it was.
Inside the ShawlWood was nothing like a ‘wood’ Almendra thought it would be. Even without a dictionary to support her theory, Almendra knew for a fact that woods in general consisted of trees. But it was not the case here. Not after the initial tree-border. Instead of trees there were women all around, running blindly into each other with their hands held over their heads, producing blood-curdling shrieks on their way.
But that was hardly the worst spectacle the ShawlWood was ready to present and, as Almendra stared around, she saw her Nanny, grey as The Upper Kingdom sky, her face paralyzed with shock pointing with a shaky hand straight ahead.
For there just in front of them was, what Almendra was sure at least once was, a girl. Though now the picture was not exactly clear. It was a lanky, ugly-looking creature with a skull-like head and a batch of long strands of rare black hair protruding from its top. This ‘girl’ was wearing a long, wide, white robe with wide, long, torn sleeves. Her long, white, trembling hands and their just as long and just as white and just as trembling fingers were gripping a middle-aged woman by the neck, hauling her full-force towards a group of the same looking girls that were currently forming a circle sinister are-they-sure-that’s-how-people-smile forming on their are-those-actually-lips.
Each girl pulled the poor woman towards one another before throwing her in the middle of the circle. The girl that had captured the woman drew out of one of her sleeves something black. Something that turned out to be a shawl (not unlike the one Almendra was wearing at the moment) and wrapped it around the woman’s head, who immediately started shaking violently, producing those hysterical shrieks Almendra already knew only too well. The woman’s voice was full of sheer terror as she was convulsing as if in a fit, while she tried in vain to snatch the shawl off her head. The ugly-looking girls meanwhile sang in fear-spreading voices.
‘You came to know what future holds. But isn’t it a crime? To delve in something you can’t know? Now you’re just paying price. But we are creatures kind indeed. And we just want to help. That’s why we show what kind of future is lying on your plate. And our price though high enough is nothing you can’t give. So open up your wallet wide or we won’t let you leave!’
And, as the woman would protest against the terrible future that seemed to await on her, the girls would laugh a terrible laugh, making her try on other horrific shawls.
‘We’ve got lots of lives to trade. We can show you what’s your fate. There are bad and even worse. Choose which one you like the most!’
It looked as though the more she protested the more shawls the ugly creatures were ready to wrap around her wretched head.
‘More! More! Another shawl! Let me hear her scream some more! Put it on and let her see what her life is gonna be!’
Almendra would never have moved from her spot again if not for Joannah who was tugging at her wrist and pulling her into action.
‘Come on. We’d better get a move on.’
And as they moved on through the ShawlWood that consisted of huge circular rooms similar ‘rituals’ were taking place everywhere.