A page away.

Escape

It happened every ten years a drought,followed by the feast of the demons. It was a curse but it had always happened since the begining of the kingdom. Luisa parents were victims of the demons feast which had ended their lives. She was little then and had lived with no parents after that. Peter was simply her only reason for living. His parents had ran away from the village years ago leaving him to his own fate. He was contented and he tried to make the best out of what he had. It was later heard of luisa parents horrible death. What was left of them was their bodies but their souls and their lifes force had been drained from their bodies.

          The drought was always prepared for since the kingdom had a store where each family had kept their residual farm produce of the last ten years. During the drought lasting of about eight months. The kept farm produce which were saved for each family in the kingdom were given back to them in order to survive during the drought,not without giving a percentage to the king.

          The demons feast usually came at the  thirteenth day of the nineth month following the drought. It was said that the number of thirteen was an unlucky number. But peter and luisa had their plans. They had both planned to escape from the kingdom. He always told her that the kingdom which was doomed wasnt a place to raise their family,they had both dreamed of. The haunted kingdom wasnt a place to raise their kids. His parents were probably successful and they both hoped to meet them after their successful escape. They agreed to escape before the thirteenth. It was on the second of that evil month thay had planned to elope. But they never knew that it was impossible to escape from the cursed kingdom. It had a spiritual force.

          The wind had blown heavily that day that they had both thought that it was going to rain. It rained for a moment and it stopped later in the hours of the night.  They met again with their few loads and accessories. Peter had already prepared a well fed horse for their journey. They needed to travel light.Horses werent good at carrying loads. Luisa sighed as she climbed the horse. She was leaving her home no doubt,but she was leaving her home for a better home.

          They went on their way while the stumping of the horse and the dead silent of the night filled their ears. They had long left their home behind and had come across the river which had a bridge over it. They had to cross but something was on their path. It was an old woman. For the first time in their lives cold chills crawled up their skin. What was an old woman doing close to the bridge in the middle of the cold night alone.

          The old woman was lying on the path that had led to the bridge. They couldnt have avoided her because she was directly on the path. Peter and luisa came down to meet the old woman who appeared to be sleeping. They walked towards her and stared at her face in the darkness. But she wasnt asleep,she was wide awake and was aware of what she was doing.

          He tried explaining the risk,she was taking over her life by lying on the road,but she was adamant. He offered to carry her from the road and she agreed. He placed her on the road and used his blanket that he tied around his waist to cover her. She thanked them for their kindness but warned them. They heard her stomach rumble. There was something dangerous ahead but for their kindness she would tell them on how to avoid them. She told them that there was an evil witch that haunted the lony forest that border the bridge from the next kingdom. The witch was to ask them a question,who ever failed it would be eaten and who ever answered it would be saved. And again they heard her stomach rumble again painfully. Goodness the old lady must have been hungry. They had given her a container and she had asked what it contained curiously. They said it was food and she thanked them vigorously before setting down to eat the bread immediately. She finished the bread and she still looked at them hungrily and they both pited her in their compassionate minds.

          They felt their legs weaken with fright. They had asked her what the questions were but she told them that if was theirs to answer not hers. With that they left the old woman by the pathway and left. The forest was dark and spooky. The hooting owl stared at them obvious of their impending doom and they both stared in return. Another heavy wind began to blow again,in the forest as strange as it was.

          The wind stopped and they saw a figure in front of them. They stopped in their tracks. The figure was far from them and they hoped they would escape it. They went in another direction and they met that exact same figure in front of them again. The figure which was distant from them turned and started walking towards them. They shook in fear as they unconciously took some steps backwards. The more they took steps backward,the closer the figure got to them.

          They had broke into a run leaving most of their things behind. The horse neighed and stampered away frightened at the sudden turn of events. They had ran away from the approaching figure. They had intended to run outside the forest but they discovered that they were running in circles. They turned around in haste to meet a familiar figure which had been haunting them for the past fifteen minutes. It had the agility of a soilder although the hair made them know that it was a woman.

          They stood in shock waiting for the inevitable to come. The old woman was right,the witch would ask them questions and they could not avoid. It was inevitable. The strength and agility of the figure confused them still. The light from the moon which beamed on her hair made them realize that she was grey haired. The figure walked closer to them and they sadly discovered that she wasnt grey haired,she was old. It was the exact same woman who they had met by the bridge. She smiled at them sickily while she watched them shiver before her. The second time,they heard a loud rumble which had again sounded familiar to their ears. She was still hungry.

          The forest was silent again some munching sounds and cracking sounds were heard far into the forest. It smelt burnt blood and the golden glow of the fire brightened on the fragile young looking woman who sat by the warm fire contentedly with a mould of flesh in her hand. She gnawed at the flesh again and chewed the meat happily while watching the big pot bubble on the fire.The owl continued hooting.