(From the protagonists point of view...)
I woke abruptly. within the arms of a man… I flinched. He stood over me as my body shivered instinctively. His face was kind, as it was inches from me.
My expression hardened as I took in my surrounded. He looked worried, holding a steaming bowl in one hand, and touching something cold and wet to my forehead with another. I suppressed my urge to push away; tense with uneasyness.
I lay hugged by blankets in a cool cabin which air was flowing past my face only spiking my senses slightly. I guess someone doesn't look for drafts…
I propped myself up with my hands as he pulled his hand from my face. I stared at him coldly, awaiting a response. He smiled warmly as he explained where he found me.
Explaining calmly, I was down by the lake with no clothes. He had followed a past of saltwater to my iced body, curled on a lapping bank in a thick mist. Taken me to his cabin as he had warmed me, waiting for me to awaken. Now that I had, he asked if I wanted anything that might help me. He also inquired why I had been down there.
Staying quiet, I focused on his expression. he wasn't hiding anything as I could tell. His round eyes held concern, sleep lines below them, tracing down to his lips which were cracked from the cold. He was pale and soft. More than one would expect from a man laboring and caring for lost girls.
He glanced down when I did not reply.
I needed nothing, I had no desire for material objects. I just wanted to be alone forever. Looked away, I remained mute. He offered me simply the stew he held.
I did not reply, too ashamed to face him. I clenched the blanket and stared at my hands.
The man was sympathetic, I could tell from his eyes as I glanced up. He wore the same look I always saw in myself when I felt I was unworthy. A kind of understanding passed between us as he stood up and walked away. He could tell I wanted to be
alone, as he too seemed to understand.
I checked my body for injuries, feeling the warmth that had spread throughout my skin. It was unfamiliar. Constantly living in cold, I had forgotten how pleasant a warmth could feel. I was comfortable, like I could stay for awhile before I would long for the piercing grey liquid I called home.
As I appreciated the warmth I adjusted myself comfortably, smiling for the first time since Reyna and closing my eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Rusalka's Conflict
Short StoryHave you ever heard of a Rusalka? Well, a Rulsalka starts as a woman who has died a tragic death by a lake. They are given new life as a spirit to kill for the lake by way of murdering their victims. They are to be tied to this fate like a farmer to...
