TOMORROW, THE MORTAL REALM
"Kurian! Kurian wait for me!" called the little girl after her brother as they raced over the hilltop together, basking in the evening light that kissed the thousands of blue wildflowers that grew all around them.
Kurian jogged to a halt and wiped his nose with the end of his sleeve, his hair plastered to his brow with sweat, which was now glistening with a yellow sheen in the slanted light. "Come on, Ancy, you're so slow. Mom will be waiting for us."
Running and breathless they reached the tiny house built at the edge of the tiny hill. Mother opened the door for them, letting them into the warm kitchen inside so they could have cups of water.
"Wait to drink the water until you have calmed down," adviced Mother, quietly stirring the chopped brinjals in the aluminum utensil on the stove.
Ancy wrinkled her nose. She so hated brinjals. "Mommy, mommy, do you know what happened today?"
Mother added a spoonful of seasoning into the cooking vegetables. "What did?"
"Big brother did this curious thing with his hands and ice crystals came out of his palm!"
"Did he now?"
"Mommy, you don't believe me!"
Mother laughed. "Ancy, you have been watching too much TV recently. Go wash up. You reek of ducks."
"That's because she tried to hug a duck to death to show that she loved it," supplied Kurian blandly.
"Mommy, I'm telling the truth about the ice. Ask big brother if you don't believe me!" said Ancy, stubbornly bringing the conversation back to what she wanted it to be about.
"Fine. Fine. I will," said Mother. "If you did see something it might be because your brother learnt a new magic trick he wanted to show off. Anyone can do it if they know the trick."
"Can they?" asked Ancy with big, eager eyes.
Kurian said nothing and slowly slunk out of the kitchen.
"Sure, sweetie," crooned Mother behind him.
Kurian went to his room and shut the door. Then he opened his hands to inspect them.
There was something wrong with him. It wasn't as Mother said. It wasn't that he had learnt a new magic trick. He watched as spikes of ice slowly pushed their way out of his hands.
Something was happening to him.
THE END
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Snow Flower, Fire Storm
Fantasy[ONC 2022 LONGLIST || FEATURED] Xie Xiao's fate changed two thousand years ago, when he nearly lost his life at the hands of a friend, and then became an immortal because of the same person. He has been living a wanderer's life since then, watching...
