The Cursed Gift | B1 [EDITING]

18 | Concidental Meetings

Quite a few years ago...

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"Oh, excuse me, I..."

The brunette woman stumbled as her pale hand faltered, coming into contact with a tanned muscled set of fingers.

Tiny particles of hair sat clumped on each set of finger, almost like a pattern of sorts.

This pleased the woman in an odd way.

She was standing in front of a crate of various fruit, in her favourite shop in the town of Eyebis.

This shop was decorated beautifully and always had a welcoming vibe to her. It sat right in the middle of the market square - a popular shop it was indeed.

The freshest kinds of fruit and vegetables could be found here. Grown by local farmers and sold to the local townspeople.

"I'm so sorry," the young woman rushed out, pulling away as she apologised for her mistake.

As if brushing their fingers together, the literal touching of skin, be the forbidden mistake itself.

However, the action vaguely seemed more of a calculated move than anything else.

As if planned and executed perfectly as expected.

There was not a single thing done wrong in the moment that made her appear to be almost irresistible from the get-go.

"No, that's quite all right."

The chuckle came from the young man beside her.

"I apologise instead," he insisted with a gentle smile.

As the woman looked up and their eyes connected, something bursted forth inside of both of them.

A feeling unlike any other.

The apple they both had previously wanted lay forgotten about entirely in the moment being shared.

Electricity shot through their bodies in a flash but in the fleeting moment it had appeared, it had vanished once more leaving both of them breathlessly dazed for a second.

Tingles shot up the man's spine and his nostrils flared only so slightly but enough to be intoxicated by the mere smell of the woman in front of him.

The most delicious kind of scent his nose had ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with.

He never wanted it to end.

"I'm -," he started but before he could finish, she had grabbed his hand and they had taken off in a jog across the various market stalls.

"Wait! Where are we going?"

"You'll see," the fair-skinned woman said as she looked back at the man with a wide, carefree smile.

As if this was the first time she truly felt free.

Running across town with a strange handsome man seemed like a great start to an epic adventure, she was almost sure of it.

She had never been quite this close to another male before, let alone the way his fingers expertly danced across hers in an elegant yet enchanting way.

It took every ounce of her to stay focused on just simply enjoying the presence of another man instead of attempting to study the movements of his fingers entwined with hers.

Handholding was also a first but that only thrilled her all the more.

The man could've been anyone and yet, she did not feel fear in the slightest. She almost felt safe in a way, as if he could not dare to harm a single speck of brown hair on her head.

An odd feeling it was; for she had never met this man except for the few minutes prior but something about him almost felt like home to her which was strange for she did not have one at all.

Travelling through towns as if she desired only to fill the gaps in the maps of her own mind.

Little money but just enough to get by to enjoy bringing back trinkets for the others.

Her life seemed so different from the bustling town life of Eyebis. Her place of residence was quiet, eerily so.

For there was hardly any visitors, let alone annual ones.

That is why she gravitated towards the lively town, hoping the welcoming and serene atmosphere would rub off on her in more ways than one.

In every land she had travelled so far, she had gotten something to remember it by.

But Eyebis was different, a town she visited so frequent that she worried more than a few spare items would go more than unnoticed each time.

"Tell me where we are going, please!" The man asked again in a rushed voice, barely keeping up with the lady.

"It's a surprise, I told you. Now hush!"

"I don't actually really like surprises," he suddenly commented with a shrug.

"They make me nervous."

"I mean I like throwing surprise parties, does that count?" He began rambling, trying to fill the silence that he was not quite used to.

She paused her brisk walk for a second to laugh, covering her mouth with her free hand in slight embarrassment of the genuine sound coming from her lips.

"Who knew strange men could be funny in a weird way?"

"Is that a compliment or an insult, my fair lady?" He asked in a charming voice, plastering on an almost unsure grin.

His eyes twinkled, showing genuine amusement for the moment being shared, however.

"Take it as you please," she simply stated before releasing his hand and then promptly beginning to point over at a willow tree just outside of the town walls, a little ways passed the gates.

The gate was open most of the time, giving off the impression that they were an inviting town, ready to welcome any stragglers or tourists in a heartbeat.

Even nomads were welcomed with open arms like old friends.

A facade of kindness was plastered all over the walls of their own town to keep their mottos in the town people's circulation of news.

Signs of peace everywhere the visitors went, to ensure the people didn't mess with their rules and customs in anyway.

The town thrived despite this due to the sleeping masses. Not a single soul cared to know what was coming in their future, their life was simple and they liked it that way.

Nobody cared who was in charge as long as they got to go about their business as they pleased.

Hardly anybody cared for gossip that concerned their kingdom.

"Why are you pointing at some old massive tree?"

"It's called a willow tree; they're sacred trees where I come from," she replied with a soft smile as they slowly walked towards the tree.

When they arrived, they stopped before it, taking in its ancient beauty.

The man had heard tales of tree women but he had never thought them to be real, let alone did he believe he would be standing beside one.

"Are you a -," he started once more but she silenced him quite quickly when she interjected with her next words.

"Curiosity can kill a cat, strange man."