The Festival Part 1

I awoke to the scream of my sister's voice, and I screamed in response. She flashed her arms with a face morphed in morbid shock.

"What! What! What!" she bellowed. I pulled back my legs into my chest and clutched them tight. Annie's mouth opened up, then closed, while she twisted and turned.

I asked. "What is it?"

Annie narrowed her eyes at me. "Nils...you're...you've got..."

She was shaking, her face was pink. She backed away from me like she was afraid to come near me. "You've….", Her voice shook. "Your fingers are sprouting roots."

She said, pointing at my hands. My eyes shifted to my fingers. The roots were more obvious now. They propped up under the skin and coursed through the lines of my folding skin.

It made my hand look like I was some old man. Well, that was an ironic fact to think about now that I thought of it. Thumping footsteps echoed in the house. Annie looked around. Joel came running through my door.

"What's all the screaming about?" He looked in the direction of my sister's finger. Joel's eyes widened. He looked horrified, yet it seemed more muted than Annie's reaction.

There was just something about the look of human flesh being combined with tree roots and veins that was off-putting. I was aware since I had seen it yesterday. There was no hiding it now.

"My hands now too?" I groaned.

"What do you mean, too?" Annie made a twisted face with a flicking hand. My eyes blurred when I shook my head.

I was about to lift the sheet to show her my legs, but thought that it was better not to. I had not wanted her running off in horror. Instead, I just explained it. "Yesterday...um...my legs...it happened to my legs first." Not sure why it started with my legs, though.

Annie's face morphed, and that left an air of disgust. "What do you mean?! Why didn't you say anything?"

I held my hands up. "I didn't want to scare you, I didn't want to think about it and I didn't want the focus to be on my legs all day, I just wanted to enjoy my day."

She looked confused. Lost for words, Annie paced back and forth in front of me. Anger, I could have told she horrified and worried.

Annie turned to me with fear and concern in her stare. "Does it... hurt?"

I made a facial shrug. "Sometimes."

She held her face. "It looks so painful. Nils, I'm so sorry I screamed... I just, I've never seen something like this before."

"I know."

"How bad is the pain?"

"Pretty awful sometimes, but I managed to push through it yesterday. I can do so today again. In fact, my legs have eased a bit."

All this time since Joel had entered the room at first, he hadn't uttered another word. He just stared in shock. We even forgot he was there. It was like we both noticed him at the same time as we spun our heads in his direction.

He looked like he had seen a ghost. His face was drained of color, he looked frozen to the spot, and his expression looked like he was devoid of hope.

Fear was not a thing Joel showed willingly. I was the epitome of what Joel never wanted to see, his loved one in pain.

A manly hunter such as himself always tried their best to protect the ones they loved. Yet here I was, seemingly dropping off the cliff in health.

"Joel?" my sister asked. Joel's eyes softened and his face morphed into a nervous shift. I leaned up.

Joel motioned at me with the flash of a gesture. "This is a dream, right?"

"It isn't a dream," I said.

He cracked his neck in my direction at the sound of my voice. Joel's voice shook. "Ho-ho-ho-how?"

"It's the curse." I shrugged.

Joel frowned and moved his shoulders upward in a shivering shake. "No, how did you manage to get through yesterday like that?"

"It was just the legs," I said.

"Just?" Joel let his arms fall to his side. "Kid, I never knew you were that strong."

My heart melted. I knew, coming from Joel, that was a heartwarming compliment even it revealed his usual doubt in my overall prowess.

I came off the bed. "I didn't either. Strength comes in all forms, I suppose."

He nodded and shook off his disorientation. Joel opened his lips. A glance was shot towards Annie, which caused her to perk up to his gaze.

Joel looked away and then gestured with flamboyant waves of the hand. "So I guess the festival's off today then huh Ann?" He asked.

"Huh?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, right? Um…" Her eyes slipped down into sadness. "Yeah, that's off."

This was what I was worried about. I understood they cared about me, but I had to live and move forward. Holding me back from my last moments because of that lingering fear was annoying. It rested with me, after all, to make those decisions.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Well, because…" She nodded her head towards me or, in this case, my condition.

I replied, "Annie, we were warned this was going to happen. I still want to go to the festival; I want to meet up with my friends there too."

"But I thought you'd be in too much pain."

"Who cares about the pain? I'll push through it. It's possible that I won't be here in three days. I don't care about the pain. Let's go to the festival."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Joel reached his hand out and patted me on the back, one of those heavy-handed pats. It felt like I was being drilled into the ground with that.

Annie was not amused, however, and after giving Joel a disapproving look, she said, "Oh, okay then. If you're sure. But if you change your mind, let me know. If you're there and you're feeling-"

I stopped her. "I know. I can let you know. Relax."