Death of A Rusalka

He had been a fool. He knew about how the rusalki killed any man they caught, but even then, his pride got the best of him, and he followed through with the dare he had been given during the foolish game he had played with his brothers. He looked up in the mirror he held and once again felt his head, tracing his finger along his scalp, feeling his buzzed burgundy dyed hair, wishing he could have his long blonde hair back. A knock at the door jolted him out of his reverie.

"Aleksi, Aleksi, ALEKSI," a voice called.

"What ma?" the man answered, walking to the door.

He opened the door to reveal a tall woman with golden curls brushing her collarbone; she had piercing eyes the color of a peacock. Her nose was unturned, her cheekbones pronounced. "You are to leave now," she whispered, to not wake the rest of the house. "You will travel to Vladivostok port and board a ship from there to take you to Japan. You will land in Wajima port and meet your cousin Ethel, who will take you to Japan; once you are in the city, find your father and tell him what happened, so he can help you. "

She took his hand and led him to the stables, where she grabbed a backpack hidden in a pile of hay and handed it to him.

"Будь в безопасности, сын мой, и помни, что я люблю тебя," she whispered in Russian, kissing his forehead.

"I will stay safe, and I love you as well, ma," he whispered back, wishing he could have just a few more moments with his mother.

She smiled at him and let go of his hand, walking into an open stall and bringing out a horse at least eleven hands tall and the color of the night sky without stars. He placed his hand on the muzzle of the horse, looking over the halter to make sure it was properly set.

"Don't trust me enough to put a halter on a horse the right way," his mother asked.

"I haven't trusted you to dress my horses since I was seven, and you forgot to hook up the sadel right."

"That wasn't my fault; you should have checked."

His mother grinned, remembering the memory of her youngest son falling sideways off his horse and into a pool of mud when he was younger.

They both stood stroking the horse, wishing they had more time, but the man had to go. His mother knew that if she spoke, she would cry, and her son would never leave if he saw his mother sad, so she grabbed his face and placed one last kiss on his head before turning around and walking back to her house, her head held high as she refused to cry, even though this may very well be the last time she saw her son.

Her son watched as his mother left him, trekking up the hill to the house and disappearing into it. He let a single tear escape his eyes and then turned back to his horse, whom he had had since he was three. He kissed the beast's muzzle and mounted it, then whipped the reins of his horse and set off riding to the port, staying away from the river because the rusalki could be in there. While he rode to the port city, he went over what he had to do. He knew that a ship would leave in the afternoon for Wajima port, and the ship he was to board was his father's, and he was to say that his father had called him and needed him for urgent business. He would board the boat, travel to Wajima, where he would meet his cousin Ethel, who would take him to Tokyo, Once he was in the heavily populated city, he would find his father, ask for his help in getting the rusalki to stop their hunt for him, and all should be well. He knew that he had to reach the Vladivostok port by morning so he would have enough time to get food and water for the two-day boat trip to Japan. Aleksi continued to travel as fast as his horse could go, not stopping for even a second, knowing the more time he waited in Russia, the better the chance the rusalki had to catch him. He turned off the main road he was taking and onto a forest path to get to the port faster so he could roam the marketplace for a bit. He continued to ride without trouble, and when he finally got to port, the first thing he did was start preparing for the two-day boat trip.