Page 3 of Souls We Rip

But the sound, as rare as it was, frightened people.

Men and women looked his way, curious glances here and there. They did not know about him or what he could do. They only saw a shadow of a man. They only noticed the myth.

“Who’s that?” some whispered as steps moved forward.

As soon as they saw his face, women screamed, children cried, and men hit.

He did not want to go through this again.

He pulled off his cloak, it falling at his feet, revealing his long horns. He stepped over it, hooves replacing feet and hands. With his horns, he slashed their bodies, cutting them in half. Their blood soiled the earth, their cries dying into the night.

Only the children were left untouched. They watched mesmerised as their families’ souls travelled to him, prancing on his hands. He opened his mouth to ingest the souls, his round eyes closing.

With the skull in his hands, he turned towards the children, avoiding their faces. “Tell what happened here today! Let it be my story!”

And with that, he disappeared into thin air, leaving orphans and tears behind.

Ana

My bare feet ran across the wet grass in our yard. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the air was too cold for me to be wearing only a long hemp shirt and wool socks.

The livestock was just waking up when I reached the gate to our vast land, the roosters already spreading the news that a new day was bound to start.

“Hurry up, you silly buffoon, we will miss it!”

My sister, Angelica, was running far too fast for me. Her long blonde hair, like the grain of wheat in the summer, brushed the grass, the tips getting wet.

I ran after her, steam coming from my mouth. “Wait!” I wheezed, but she was far ahead.

We should not have got out of the house. Especially since today was the day of the Girls’ Fair.

It was one of the most important events of the year for eligible daughters and sons to find their lifetime partner. For the past five years, I hadn’t found mine.

Every summer, I would put on my best linen dress, braid my long hair into an intricate style, adding some radish juice to my lips and cheeks. Our mum would cheer me on, saying the next fair would surely be the one when my twenty-three-year-old self would find love. Or at least, a partner for life. That was a wish of my own, as well. A family, with all its joy and penance. My heart could hardly contain how tightly I clung to that wish. I longed for touches under the moon, stolen kisses beneath the sun, for little hands to touch my face and for eternal gratitude.

The truth was, the chances of meeting a kind man were slim. I did not even consider my own father a good man. Indeed, he provided for our family by working hard in the fields. But other than that, we turned our cheeks away.

He used to be happier before my younger sister, Angelica, was born. After, he started drinking at the local inn.

I believe he wanted to have a boy. My mum had a saying: ‘the daughter leaves the home, but the boy stays and takes care of the land, the house and his parents’.

In his eyes, we were never considered capable of doing all the above.

Our parents did try to have more children, but my mum couldn’t carry many of her pregnancies to term, which resulted in my father blaming her for not giving him a son.

“Come on!” my sister shouted from across the hill. “You’ll miss it!”

This was Angelica’s first year at The Girls’ Fair. I was sure she would find a proper man. At the age of eighteen, she was suited to be married and bear children. I hoped she would be happy. She, of all people, deserved to be.

I rushed towards her, climbing the hill, running out of breath.

“A few more steps and you will be in the right place,” she taunted, her hand lifting into the air.

Reaching her side, I clutched my chest, panting. “Next time,” breath, “pick a”, another breath, “lower ground,” and another breath, “please.”

I gripped my shirt and collapsed into the cold weeds.

Her crystalline laughter filled the early morning air. “You should leave reading to those who can see better and move more,” she teased, her tongue pushed into one of her cheeks.