I stare out the window, taking in what's happening. A coffin is carried down the street, traveling to its final resting place. Another man was slaughtered by the reapers, and all he probably wanted to do was search for medicine outside the town for his sick son, or hunt at least one deer before he died of starvation.
It has been this way for 517 years exactly. On August 23, a shadow was cast upon the ground, depicting a large dragon. It flew to the cave in the mountain towering our small, isolated village, and roared so loud the ground shook. The first death did not occur till August 31, when a man attempted to hunt game. His body was discovered at the edge of the village bordering the forest, mangled beyond repair for recognition. The only way we did was because of a photo he had in his pocket of him, his wife, and his four kids. Since then, we called the dragon the King.
I hop off the window and tip toe to the kitchen, hoping to not alert my mother of my raiding. Yet, somehow, her ears picked up the sound and was standing in front of the cupboard, keeping the cupboard captive.
"Mother... May I please have ONE cracker?" I cross my arms and lean on one foot.
"I doubt it will be one." She lifts her head, challenging me to defy that fact.
"Then watch me, I don't care, I just need something before I go to bed." I take one step, and she blocks me.
"If you don't go to bed this instant, you won't be able to go to the market tomorrow." She smiles slightly, knowing she had me.
I breathe a heavy sigh. "Fine." I calmy walk to my room, knowing she was right. I would probably have sneaked in the whole pack of crackers. I crawl into bed and snuggle in, thinking of all the things I would buy at the market.
I leap out of bed, flinging the sheets on the ground and quickly slipping on clothes. Before I charge down the hallway to the kitchen, I grab the money I've been saving for 5 years, which was 267¥. Then I run to the front, nearly running into mother.
"Jay... Promise you'll always be careful." She looks like she's masking sorrow.
"Of course mother." I smile, and sprint out to the market.
Panting for breath, I stroll through the cobbled streets reserved for the market, a traveling store that comes every 5 years. For some reason, the King and his reapers allows the market to come through on the same day, every year and leave a week later exactly. For this, we are lucky, because we cannot grow or make some resources that we require. It also spices up the village a bit, to make things less bland.
As I stroll, I hear voices on all sides of me, yelling out the items they specialize in.
"Fresh lamb! Get your fresh lamb kababs here!"
"Jewelry, beads, gems; you name a pretty thing, we sell it!"
"Tacos! Beef, chicken, fish, and more!"
After looking back and forth, disinterest driving me away from all the stands, I spy one at the end of the line. Even from 30 feet away, I see the sign, which reads "The Dragon's Cave". My interest peaked, I jog over to the decorated stand.
"A young, pretty girl like you, interested in dragons? It's usually a man's topic, but I'm not complainin'." He smiles, which looks creepy on his face.
"I'm just looking, since everything else seems boring..." I start searing through all the necklaces, teeth, and other accessories until I spot a ring with a glass dragon eye.
"Most of the things here are many for dragons, or are made of them to "keep away" the nasty ones. I'm not sure-" I dump the ring onto the table, making him stop.
"You sure you got 150₱?" His eyebrows rise as I plop on the two twenty's, ten, and 100₱ on the table. He slides the money over to him, and I take the ring and go home.
I walk into the house, and I realize I've been gone for only 45 minutes. Mother, who's cooking, turns around surprised.
"Oh! Your home so early! What did you get?" She wipes her hands on her pants, walking to me.
"I bought just one thing." I show her the ring, the red iris glinting in the light shining through the window.
"Last time, you got so many things! What happened?" For some reason, she looks worried.
"Nothing, its just that there was nothing else that interested me this time." I walk into my room to inspect the ring.
I plop on my bed and lay on my back, holding the ring in extended arms above my face. The black slit for a pupil and the blood red iris stares at me, and I stare back. The golden band feels warm in my fingertips. I look on the underside of the ring to see of there's any writing. There just so happened to be, and when I brought it closer to my face and squinted, I read:
Fifth needs six to pave the way home
I shrug, thinking it was meaningless to me, and I put the ring on my right ring finger. I look at my hand from every angle with the ring on it, then I hear mother saying that lunch was ready. On the way out, my hand catches on the door frame, the ring being hit in the process. I look at it to see if there are any cracks, but instead I find that the ring somehow got wet. I shrug, wipe the water off, and start eating lunch.
"You like the ring sweety?" Mother asks, bringing food to the table.
"Yeh, it looks really good on my hand." I show her.
"Good... Well, I guess the extra money will go toward the next market." She smiles, and we start eating.
When I'm done, I clean my dish and go back to my room. For some reason, I feel a massive itch to look at the ring, and I do.
YOU ARE READING
I Give Up...
General FictionThis is a book of all the books that I wanted to write that failed. If you like an idea, you can totally use it (with credit of course.)
