Rusalka/Memories

## Chapter 1

There's a saying that goes, "Boredom kills you," and I believe it to be very true.

Born a witch with a frail body, I spent my days holed up in my room. If I'd stayed alone in there forever, I'm sure I would've gone crazy.

But, the one who changed that fate of mine was my big brother.

Unlike my parents who wouldn't dare go near my room, he visited me everyday. He'd even bring me books so I wouldn't get bored. A book a day...for as long as I can remember.

Everything I have in my room was given to me by him. All the books, all the memories...

If boredom kills you, then I wonder what love does...

## Chapter 2

I can tell who's come home from just the sound of the front door opening. The sound of footsteps on the first floor soon move up to the second.

Hearing them get closer and closer makes my heart pound. I get so nervous that I hide under my blanket.

I can look at my brother in the eyes and have a conversation with him, and I can say, "Thank you" to him, but why can't I say, "I love you?"

All the girls in the stories I read were able to muster up the courage they needed to confess their feelings. If I mustered up my courage, would I be able to experience a love like they did? To tell him those three simple words...

The door to my room opens, and my brother enters.

Hey...Umm...I...

The words I wanted to tell him never made it out of my mouth. From behind my grim-looking brother, a stampede of footsteps barged into my room.

## Chapter 3

Apparently, a lot of people have died from a disease that's plaguing the village.

"You wretched witch! This disease is all *your* fault! You cursed us all!"

The angry villagers brought me down to the lake -- the home of the water goddess -- a place where people are offered as sacrifices to suppress the calamity...

Big brother. I don't know anything about a Curse. Tell them I've got nothing to do with this!

As I cling onto him, cold words echo in my ears.

"Filthy witch. I always thought you were disgusting."

Wha-? Big...brother? What's gotten into you...?

"You're always looking at me with those creepy eyes of yours. I only came to see you because our parents made me. You know, I hated every second I spent taking care of you!"

He yelled, before pushing me into the lake.

## Chapter 4

I sink deeper and deeper under the cold water. My heart wasn't filled with anger or sadness, but simply resignation.

As a witch, I always assumed my cause of death wasn't going to be normal, but...Heh...For my life to be taken by my own brother...

Ahh...Well, that was a short life!

I wish I could have gotten to go on a date with Big Brother. We never even got to hold hands, let alone kiss...

I guess my life really had nothing to it...

You know, I loved you, Big Brother... I...I loved you so much...That's why...I never thought you'd ever say those words to me...

All I did was stay in my room...So why...did you come to hate me...?

## Chapter 5

I've been at the bottom of the lake ever since, teetering between life and death. After a while, there was no point looking up at the surface anymore.

There's no way anyone would ever think of saving a cursed witch, so hoping is pointless. No one wants to save...someone like me...

Wha-? This sound...Someone's coming...? The sound was slow, just like the footsteps in the hallway...

No! Stop! There's no way someone's coming! Because...Big Brother...He...!

I covered my ears, trying to hard to avert my eyes, but the sound...stopped right in front of me.

It's not my brother--that much I'm sure of. And yet, I...

I lift up my frightened face. Someone's there, shrouded in light, holding their hand out to me...

## Chapter 6

The person who saved me was the Duke of Fran. Apparently, I had become of the witches of the Curse, and had made rain fall for the past 100 years.

The country flooded, and my village disappeared. There's not a single villager from back then alive anymore. My brother...wasn't alive anymore.

...Hey, why did you save someone like me? If I'm a witch of the Curse, you should've just killed me.

It's all my fault that my village, that my brother, that everything's all gone...I would've been much happier dying without ever knowing I did all this! So...*why?!*

...Because you heard my voice? That's it? *That's* your reason for coming to look for me? You didn't eve know if I was here or not.

That's so...stupid... You're an idiot...

No, the real idiot...is me. I'm the idiot for still thinking about my brother...

## Chapter 7

I still don't know how to feel about what happened. Should I be angry...? Should I be sad...?

Despite what happened, everything I have inside me is all thanks to my brother. To him, everything might've been one big lie...But to me, everything was real.

I lift my head to look up at the sky. If I didn't the waterworks would have started.

Thank you for all the kindness you gave me. I loved you, Big Brother. Goodbye.

One by one, the raindrops that hit my face begin to cease. Light slowly seeps through the dark clouds.

My 100 year curse...was beginning to clear up.