Based off of Genyun’s series “The Cursed Well”
I woke up to a nearby farm’s rooster, the sunlight shining in my eyes. I groggily got out of bed and noticed myself in the mirror. My auburn hair was shining brilliantly in the sunlight, my freckles seemingly jumping off of my face. Though I consider my body average for a maiden my age, I still manage to grab the attention of every man in the village. I cannot figure out for the life of me why. I firmly cupped both of my breasts and squeezed them, thinking to myself, “Maybe it’s because of these.” After a few seconds of standing there playing with my breasts, I went to the closet to choose my outfit for the day. I had decided to go with my favorite green dress, though I was not planning to go anywhere particularly fancy that day. I tied my hair back with a green band, and went downstairs to greet Mother and Father.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Mother hovering over the pot, stirring something. It smelled sweet and reminded me of strawberries mixed with oranges. I noticed Father on sleeping on a pile of hay. I guessed it was because of a fight him and Mother had last night, and decided that it would be best not to bring it up.
“Hi Mother,” I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Oh, Sarah, you’re awake. Will you be a dear and go to town and get me some herbs? I seem to have run out,” she said, focused on stirring her concoction.
Slightly shocked by this sudden demand, I accepted the task. I fumbled around my pile of clothes to find my white flowered robe to wear into town. I picked up some bread on the counter and ate it as a very quick breakfast. I kissed Mother on the cheek, and then left the house.
After walking down the path to town for several minutes, I heard a very strange voice in my head.
“Come to me…” it had said. It sounded far away, yet close at the same time. I looked around past the trees but saw no one. I immediately put it out of my head and continued on my way to town.
“Come to me…” it said again. This time, it sounded louder and more demanding. I looked around again past the trees and again saw no one. I tried to put the strange voice out of my head as I continued down the path, but it kept resounding it my head, making it hard to concentrate.
As soon as the town gates were in my sight, I heard the voice again.
“COME TO ME!” it yelled in my head several times, sounding as demanding as ever.
“What do you want from me?!?” I had yelled to the surrounding forest.
“COME TO ME!” it yelled again, this time louder and scarier than before.
As I frantically ran around the path screaming where this thing was, quickly looking over every point around myself, the voice repeated those awful words, each growing louder than before. With each command, I felt my body getting weaker. My movement slowed down, my mouth was soon silent, and the voice in my head grew even louder. As my movement slowed, I could feel my legs getting weaker, eventually stopping altogether, causing me to fall to the ground. It was at this time the voice shouted at the highest volume I think it could have managed, causing my already weak mind to shut down, encasing me in darkness.
Soon after, I had awoken to the sound of birds chirping in the distance. With my still weak body, I had found myself on a peculiar stone platform, with decorated stairs that was ravaged by time the only way up and down. As I looked further, I saw the woods, the evening sun setting behind.
“I had better find my way home, lest Mother get angry with me,” I thought to myself as I struggled to get up onto my feet. My arms and legs felt weak, making it a struggle to get up and walk down the strangely well built stone stairs.
As soon as I had reached the bottom, I felt so weak that my legs gave way again, causing me to hold on to the railing for dear life, in fear of getting my oddly clean outfit dirty. As I looked up, my eyes met a stone well.
“Come to me…” the voice said again. “Come to me and drink from my waters so that you may regain your strength.”
“Where are you?” I breathed under my breath.
At that time, a sudden realization hit me.
“It is the well.”
With all the strength that I could muster, I slowly stood up and walked to the mysterious Well, and stared at the blood red water. My mind and body was arguing whether to drink this or not. My body was saying yes, while my mind said no.
“Come on, drink me, and regain your strength.”
Against my mind's wishes, my hand quickly shot out and quickly scooped up the water, lifting it into my mouth. It tasted revolting, though my strength was returning. When my hand reached out for another scoop, I felt a strange tingling sensation coming from my belly. It soon spread over my entire body, freezing me in place. In my mind, I could hear the well laughing.
"Foolish girl. You have fallen for my trap. Now, you shall be hit with a curse too horrible to describe. Enjoy the rest of your life."
The tingling suddenly stopped, releasing me from my frozen state. I stood there for a moment, pondering over what the Well had said. Right at that moment, a strange warmth washed over my body.