The curse from long ago(Fruk)

2

"Oh, so you are suddenly protective? I was going to suggest an exchange with you," she laughed.
"An exchange?" Francis said, confused.
"You give me him, and I let you go...... but if you refuse, I'll put a curse on the both of you!!!" She said happily.

My eyes widened, and I felt tears come down my eyes. I knew for sure he would give me away. Francis started laughing, and I looked at him, shocked. "If I gave him to you, who am I supposed to make fun of!" He laughed.

He put up fighting fists, and I looked at him like he was crazy. "You will have to fight me to the death for him!" He shouted. My face reddened, and I looked at the lady, who began to laugh. "Ahhhhh, definitely not the right time for the two," she whispered.

I held onto Francis carefully, and he began to back away slowly. "I have a great idea!!!! How about a curse!!" She cheered. I got shivers down my spine, and I continued to cry, horrified.

"We will tell on you!"
"Oh? I know....."
Her not carrying made it scarier. She suddenly began to chant some things, and it was like magic more than witchcraft. Lights arose from her hands, and she pointed at us. The lights danced around us, and I think that if I were not so terrified, I would have thought it was beautiful.

Suddenly I saw how Francis began to faint. Once he fell to the ground, I looked at him, worried, and tried to shake him awake, but nothing worked. Soon I began to feel weird, and then...

~
When I woke up, I was in my room. I touched myself all over, horrified, and I immediately got out of bed. I looked around my room and suddenly saw a letter on my desk. I walked over to it, and it said, "love within each other"? What did that mean?

Who cares!!! I was still alive, and I felt normal!!! I had to talk to Francis!! Maybe all of it was a dream. I quickly got dressed and ran out of the room past my brothers "sorry, I have to talk to Francis. Be back later!!!" I said quickly. I quickly ran in the direction of his house, and from a distance, I saw him feeding his cattle. "FRANCIS! HEY!" I shouted.

I caught his attention, and he quickly ran over to me. "My sister wouldn't let me leave till I finished my chores. Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. I nodded my head and pulled out the letter from my desk. "I got the same letter, but I don't know what it means," he said sadly.

"We seem fine... What do you think she did?"
"Probably nothing; she was just trying to scare us!"
"But... I saw you faint... I was so scared," I said sadly.
"Should we tell the adults?" I suggested.
"I'm not sure... They probably won't be able to find her anyway...." He answered. He had a point... she was probably long gone by now.

"So we forget this happened?"
"We will keep it a secret; I'm sure she did nothing. I don't feel any different, and nothing seems different," he explained. I nodded to him happily, and I let him be to take care of his chores.

~
Just like that, years passed, and we ended up not thinking about that night. Francis was turning twenty this year, and I was turning eighteen. We rarely talked about that night, and as we did things together, it was like everything was normal.

However, I know deep down that the two of us thought about it sometimes and that it drove us crazy.

Things were not looking so good around us either, and we were scared that it was because of the curse. Sicknesses were killing people left and right, and England had the grand idea to declare war on France a few years back.

"Thank goodness we live farther from the other villages. I heard the nearby one had to get burned down," Francis said sadly. I nodded, and we began to help each other with chores. Our two houses were closer once two of my brothers decided they wanted to build two new homes for themselves and their wives. "Hmmm, maybe our houses will become a village eventually," I laughed. He nodded, looking around "so much has changed," he whispered.

"Things have been pretty bad lately with the war going on for years, and suddenly people are dropping like flies... it's scary and makes me want to leave," he said. I nodded in agreement... "It might be a matter of time before armies make their way here or the plague," I added sadly.

I took a deep breath and looked at him with a smile. "Huh... You still look like a girl," I laughed. He pushed me away from him and shook his head, "and you still look like you are holding insects captive," he laughed.

I smiled at him feeling my face get hot... No matter what, he has always been my friend... despite fighting all the time.

I continued to do my chore, and Francis continued to feed the cattle. Life was hard, but our families had each other to help out. Francis thinks it is only for the money to support them even more. I know his sister is currently in the process of marrying someone.

I don't blame her for wanting to, though; sometimes, people have to put their happiness aside, and, sadly, she had to do that. I'm sure she would have loved to marry for love. I always saw her and one of my brothers always talking in secret, and I felt that maybe they would marry. But I know that might be a problem if she needs more money. It wouldn't change her situation much.

"Maybe we will live long enough to see this plague be over and this war end! I'm sure it can't go on for that long," Francis smiled at me. I nodded at him in agreement and continued my chore.