2) A Negative Looking To Be Positive: A Short Story Compilation- 2

01) THE GIRL AND THE SWORDSMAN

CHAPTER 1: FROZEN

I was never a good man. No, not by any means. In fact, you could say, I did everything I could to be a bad man. There was no atrocity that I was too sensitive for, no depth I wouldn't stoop to, nor depravity that was outside of my character. So, it really was no surprise when the people strung me up.

I can't say I hated them, for it was after all, simply a means of equal and opposite reactions. I'm fairly certain that's a popular concept I heard about once, but being no learned man, I'm not certain. Still, even though I was not bitter over their desire to execute me, neither was I inclined to shuffle off this mortal coil. I desired to live, and sought any means to carry on.

But one thing I had always lacked in this life of mine, such as it is, is the strength to see me through my endeavors. No, I was more of a sneak thief and assassin. I hadn't the muscle needed to present myself as a proper threat to anyone. And my final breath, strangling at the end of a rope hoisted over a tree with my body dragging, was no different.

I became a spirit, and haunted the same city that saw to my elimination. However, unlike the spirits I had always heard of, I had no power over anything. I could not in fact, affect anything within the physical world. As such, I spent my eternal wanderings, as harmless as a bird on the wing.

Now, I have never been a particularly dangerous man by nature, but that didn't stop me from becoming one as necessity dictated. And though I longed to enact my vengeance upon those who did see to my execution I, unfortunately, had not the means to do so, but that was not to remain the case.

The season of winter is upon us, and the streets are frozen solid. Inside, the houses are aglow with the homely warmth of a fireplace. It's deep into the night, and the wind is especially cold. That's when I see him. A little boy, trembling from the icy air. He wanders the streets calling out for help, but none is given.

I can see his body turning blue, and I know his end has come. I hash upon a ploy. The boy stops in front of a toy shop and presses his hand against the glass. I use the only tool

at my disposal, the ability to creep inside other's minds and make them see things. Though I could frighten them, I'm still no greater than an evil sandman. But this would be different.

I slip into the boy's mind as he's halfway between a sleeping and waking state. "Hello boy," I call through his mental space in which he is trapped in a world of bright glowing ice.

He doesn't speak, but piques right up as he turns toward me.

"What are you doing out in the cold, all alone?" I ask, my words slithering about him as though a serpent while my body follows.

The boy sniffs, and his mouth quakes, but he doesn't speak, as he cannot.

"Where are your mother and father?" I ask, even though I already know him to be an orphan.

If the boy's eyes hadn't been frozen, I know he would have cried. His tale is indeed sad, I can sense it, though I know not the exact details. But then, I really don't care.

I decide to switch tactics. "Why are you not warm?" I whisper into his ear while circling his person. "Are there not fires ablaze all around you? Why then do you freeze? Don't the people want you at their tables? To share in their feasts?"

I can see his head turn and I know he means to shake it.

"But you're such a nice boy, aren't you?" I ask him, as I shift to his other ear. "They must be monsters. Only a monster would leave a boy to freeze out in this bitter cold. Only a monster would keep their fire all to themselves, and deny even a hint of heat to one so needy."