This is a story I did for english class back in December of 2021, hope you like reading it^^ Another year has come and gone. It's Christmas eve again, now you may think this will be a joyous story filled with wonder and hope...but you're wrong. This is the story of how I came to be known as a being of death and destruction. I was once a kind being, I was just Tsubaki Myrine who lived in the small village of Mizuchi. My life was hard, but a simple one at that. It was: help anyone who was in need. I had done that up until I was nineteen, then one day I gazed upon a young boy on the streets asking for food. As I had always done to those in need I went up to the boy and gave him something to eat, he thanked me and I had carried on with my day. When nightfall came I had started to see things out of the corner of my eye. I decided I was just seeing things…little did I know that was the worst mistake I had and would ever make. That night I had fallen asleep and awoke not in my own room, but a dark and silent space… there was nothing but darkness. After I sat there for quite some time the little boy from the street appeared. “What a foolish mortal, how gullible could you be!” he taunted. Back then I had just stared at him with a blank face. “Ha, do you realize what you have done?!” He bellowed. The next moment I could see him changing from a boy to a demon, he had razor sharp horns and looked as ugly as a toad. “You've gone and cursed yourself mortal, you will forever walk this planet until three thousand souls of mortal beings are in my hands. Consequently, your soul will be set free.” he laughed. Now one thousand three hundred and six years later I only have one soul left. As I said it is Christmas eve, I almost feel bad for what I'm about to do. Well for now I’ll just walk the streets seeing if I can find anyone. After a while I saw someone walking and decided to take a closer look at who it was. When I could clearly see the person I saw a young woman maybe in her early twenties. I started to approach her then walk behind her but soon enough she felt uneasy and turned around. “W-who are you?!” she screamed. “Sorry for startling you, my name is Tsubaki. I just need to ask you something.” I lied. “Oh, w-well then would you like to talk at my place? It’s quite cold outside.” she suggested. “Sure! Let's get out of the cold.” I said with a smile. We continued to walk and got to the house. “Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t planning on having visitors.” she remarked. “That’s okay, um I never got your name did I?” I asked. “Oh! It’s Sakura.” she answered. “What a nice name!” I replied. “Thanks!” Sakura exclaimed. “I’ll get some tea, what kind would you like?” Sakura asked. “Jade tea if you have any.” I answered. She nodded and went into her kitchen to make some tea. I sat down then started to look around for a moment and my eyes stopped on two plants. There was a cherry blossom tree sprout and a camellia plant next to each other on the window sill. I stared at the plants for a moment and wondered if those plants meant something, maybe it was just a coincidence or maybe…fate. I looked away from the plants and looked at Sakura. I stood up, grabbed a piece of wood that was next to the fireplace and crept up behind her. I started to swing the wood just as she had finished the tea and set it on the counter next to her. She turned around and gave me a look of pure terror, but before she could run or scream, she was dead. “I’m sorry Sakura, if there were different circumstances I’m sure we could've been friends.” I thought aloud. I picked up the cup with the jade tea, raised it and drank it. I walked out of Sakura’s house, looked to the sky then closed my eyes. “Thank you Sakura, after all this time my soul can rest easy.” Another Christmas come and gone, but this time my curse has been lifted.
