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Cursed

Sushant Yadav

    Being greedy means your thirst is never going to be satisfied. You are allergic to diminutive. You want more and more. I am Tembo, from a village named Valia. I am a vendor, importing goods from other towns and selling them in mine. I usually went to Miten to buy goods and sell them in my village. This tale is about my weekly journey to Miten. I am old enough, but the greediness in me never died. I am the wealthiest vendor in my village, but I want more. To reach Miten, one should pass through a massive, dense forest. I’d been to Miten many times before, but that day was unlike any other. As I said, I was old and rich, and it was time to rest and enjoy the remaining days. But my greed always won, and I was forced to travel for more pesos.
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    That day was the worst day of my life, and I regret it now. Why did I go that day? I left the house in the morning and went with my wagon. Usually, I always returned until dawn, but that day was not in my favor. When I was in the middle of the forest, I knew the coming days would get more challenging. My horse was feeling ill and could not hold the wagon’s weight. But without caring for it, I made it to push out of the forest. The horse took a lot of time. Therefore, I knew we were not going home that day. It was getting darker. We were just about to exit the forest, and my eyes fell on the left side of the woods. It was a small roadside food hut. I had traveled many times, but I had never seen that hut. I was hungry, so I stopped my horse and went into the house. I expected it to be crowded, but the owner was all alone. He was silent, dressed in a long sack, and had strange eyes and a long, thick white beard. I asked him how long it had been since he established this hut. He replied that it was the first day with a suspicious smile. I asked for supper and had it. I headed to Miten and spent my night in a brothel. The following day, I woke up and gathered my supplies and goods. My horse was in better condition, so it was time to leave Miten. Before I started my journey, I stopped by the hut, had a heavy meal, and provided my horse with fair feed. I noticed the house was still empty.
#
    While I was having my lunch, the man arrived and asked, “Have you seen the ancient ruin in the middle of the forest?”
    I knew what he was talking about. Long ago, when the forest was not there. There stood a magnificent castle. It was in the center, where the forest now stands. The palace was demolished in my early teens. A courageous king ruled the court. One day, he was attacked by another leader. I had heard that the king had been killed. After the king’s death, the attacker burned the castle with the king, his family, and enslaved people inside. It was the most horrific event of that age. Later, the court turned into a ruin. I replied to the man positively. I told him that I travel a lot through the forest, and this was not my first time here.
    He laughed and murmured, “You have seen the ruin, but you have never seen the black nature of that palace.”
    I heard it and laughed inside. I left the hut, and we resumed our journey again. My horse looked healthier than yesterday, and I thought it would not take long enough to reach home. But when I got to the forest’s center, I noticed my horse breathing heavily. So, I stopped, separated him from the wagon, and left him for a while to rest. But his condition was getting worse. I fed it with water and food and made it rest. The day was falling into the lap of darkness. I was sure we were not going to make it. I saw the ruin a little far from that spot. I had my horse attached to the wagon and drew it slowly to the ruin. Looking at the condition of my horse, I thought it would die. I detached the wagon and left it free of its load just at the side of the ruin. It was dark, and I was in the middle of a dense forest. I thought for a while and concluded that I needed to spend the night here.
    The forest is more deadly at night, and the forest’s animals can harm me if I travel at night, and the condition of my horse is also worse. So, I arranged for a fire. I took my horse near the fire and used my mat from the wagon to sleep on. I also had my knife for safety. My horse was sniffing continuously. I grabbed its head and gently touched it till it fell asleep. I was tired, and my body was asking for a nap. I listened to it and went into a deep sleep.
#
    It was midnight, and I heard someone beating a drum and hitting the bell. I was amazed at who would be doing that in the middle of the forest. I opened my eyes and looked around to see what was going on. I saw a group of people moving in a line from the inner ruin. The first two individuals were striking the drum and ringing the bell. They were going somewhere. I stood up and tried to get closer. I saw four people carrying a dead body. The body was carved with gold and silver. I was curious about where they were going. I watched them for a while. The rest of the crowd followed them. I noticed there was something wrong with them. The people were walking in an unusual form. They were like the living dead to me. I was scared, and I was shivering in fear. But at the same time, I was curious to know where they were going with the dead body, which was covered in gold and silver. I didn’t want to follow them, but my greediness made me do so. I followed them quietly and found that they were moving towards the river. I was silently hiding in the bush and watching all the circumstances. I saw the people keep the body down in the river. And they left the body in the water and returned to the ruin. I wondered why they had left it in the water. But I didn’t have the internal strength to check that. So, I went back to my spot and tried to sleep. But the whole night, I had the same vision repeatedly. I was in deep fear about the things I had seen that night.
#
    The following day, I thought everything was fine, and I wanted to reach home as soon as possible after that horrible night. I checked on my horse and how he was doing. He was all right, so I attached him to the wagon and tried to leave that place. We continued our journey, and just about mid-day, we were about to exit the forest. I was murmuring that I would never again arrive at Miten. I was concentrating on the pitch-black mud road when I heard a voice calling to me.
    I saw the hut man screaming at me, “You came so fast.”
    I was thrilled and got goosebumps. I was in shock for a while. I stopped the wagon and went to that hut.
    The man said, “You came so fast.”
    I replied sadly and fearfully, “I was never home.”
    I told him everything that had happened to me in the forest.
    He calmed me and said, “You are cursed now because you saw the ritual of that dead king.” So, you are cursed. The body was none other than the king. I had heard the story that he was never buried, and he was burned in the castle. Because he practiced Islam, his spirit desired to be buried according to Islamic rituals. So, his slaves always made his body pure by getting it into the water to be buried. “But the black spirits cannot bury him.”
    I asked, “What do I do to break my curse?”
    He replied, “You need to bury the king’s body to be free from the curse.”
    Now I had trouble, but I had to deal with it. It was getting darker, so I went to the same brothel and spent my night there.
#
    The following day, I fed my horse and prepared for my departure. I was curious to know if the things the man said were authentic or a terrific joke. I just wanted to go home. That day I didn’t even stop in the man’s hut. I just continued home. Everything was going as I had expected. But time intervened once more. My horse was feeling sick again. He was unable to carry the load. I tried to run without the wagon, but the horse could not bear my load. When I tried to sit on the back of the horse, it would sit on the ground. I noticed the area. It was the same spot as yesterday. I remembered what the hut man had said.
#
    Now I have proof that I am cursed. I was dismayed, but I gathered my courage and was going to break the curse. I did it the same way as the night before. At midnight, I heard the same sounds and saw the people. It was a horrific and terrifying situation for me. I followed them the same way and hid in the bush till the people returned. After they went, I came out of the bush and went to the side of the river. I went into the river searching for the body. The water was agitating me. I summoned my strength and courage and extracted the king’s body from the water.
    The body was decayed and rotten. His face was pale yellow, and worms were moving in his mouth. He had an unusually long white beard. Looking at the beard, I felt like I had seen this type of beard on someone else too. But there was no time to recall, so I just focused on my job. I just took out his body. Because of the gold clothes he wore, his body shone. But I just carried it out to break my curse. With my bare hand, I silently dug a ditch in the ground. I was digging and, at the same time, watching if that half-dead was coming. I was so frightened. I dug to the exact size of the body and pushed the body into the ditch. I was about to pour the soil in, but I noticed a mystic pearl ring on his finger. His whole body was covered with gold, and his fingers with diamonds, but my eyes only saw the mystic ring. I was afraid, but my gluttony woke up, and I hurriedly took that ring out and wore it. After wearing it, I filled the ditch with soil and hurried to my spot.
#
    While running to my spot, I felt someone had caught my hand from the back. I stopped and tried to resist and escape, but I couldn’t. It was a man; I saw his face. He had a long thick white beard. It was the same man who was in the hut all the time.
    With a terrific laugh, he said, “You are going to die; you weren’t told to take anything from my body.”
    I asked for forgiveness; I tried to be free and run, but all my trials were in vain. I had made up my mind that I was going to die. I was frightened and shivering in terror. The two men came and caught both my hands, and the old man took his shining sword out.
    He said, “I am going to behead you as a punishment for disrespecting my command.”
    I was crying for forgiveness. My eyes get shut with fear. Lastly, I heard a slice.
#
    I woke up. I was lying on the mat. My horse was near me. I stood up, and it was morning. My whole body was wet because of sweat. I recalled the entire thing. I thought it was just a bad, horrifying dream. I laughed and jumped into a craze. I just wanted to go home. My horse was in good shape. I attached the wagon and left that place. When I was leaving, I just took a glance at the ruins. But no ruins were there. I was shocked and thought it might be a hallucination. We traveled out of the forest. This time there was no hut and no older man. I was about to reach my house. I was a lot happier than ever to be home. I detached the wagon from my horse, left it freely, and kissed it. I was blessed.
    I was hungry, so I asked for food from my wife.
    She brought me up and asked, “Why didn’t you appear yesterday?”
    I thought I had been out of my house for three days, but I was just one day out. I ate my food and told her everything.
    She said, “I just had some kind of bad vision because there is no ruin in the middle of the forest.”
    I thought the same, and I slept for a while. I woke up because I remembered something; I slept on the mat in the forest for a while in the middle of the day. Just on the day, I was supposed to arrive. I never slept in a brothel or went to the man’s hut; there was no ruin. Thinking about these things over and over again gave me a headache. I asked for water from my wife. She brought me a glass of water. I noticed something on my finger as I was about to drink. It caused me to be disturbed and hanged, and it was
the mystic pearl ring.

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