Unusual Tales From Another World

Do You See Me?

Olivia...

I froze. Who-?

Olivia...

A giggle ran around the room, echoing off the walls and sending chills down my arms.

One day I was pushed out to sea, children beware, children flee. Drowned, but still here, I see you. Here for revenge, do you see me?

I let out a scream, throwing off my covers and racing out of my room. No way this was happening, no way.

"Olivia? Are you okay?" I heard my mom's voice float up to me. I let out a sob and ran down the stairs, practically throwing myself into her arms when I reached the end. "Honey? What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"

I shook my head, my body shaking, not wanting to ever go back upstairs.

"Honey, you're shaking! Please, talk to me."

I still wouldn't talk, and my mom ended up sitting me on the couch and making me a cup of hot chocolate. I wouldn't go a minute without looking behind me to make sure she was still in the kitchen. I didn't want to be alone. When she finished the hot chocolate, she brought it to the living room, gave me a blanket to stop my shivering, and sat down beside me.

"You okay...?" she asked softly, hugging me.

I took in a shaky breath but didn't respond. Maybe I should tell her... Yes. I needed to. She needed to know what was going on.

"There's this story," I whispered, barely audible. A look of confusion passed over my mom's face.

"What?"

"There's this story. I read it a while back. It was about a girl."

My mom still looked confused, but let me continue.

"It's in a book in the study, but I don't want to go get it alone. Can you come with me to get it, so I can show it to you?" I asked, choking on my words. She nodded and brought me into the study. I quickly grabbed the book I had been talking about, and we both went back into the living room without incident.

I opened it up and flipped to the page where I had read the story and handed it to my mom.

"You can read it aloud," I meekly spoke.

She looked incredibly confused, but never-the-less cleared her throat and began reading.

Edna Graymore was a small girl from a small town. It was unknown to most of the world, and secluded in a mountain directly next to the ocean. It was known by the townspeople as the village of Nemia, but it was hardly a village for how small it was. Most people thought they were on the edge of the world.

Her father raised her since her mother was accused of being a witch and was burned at the stake when Edna was a baby. All the children made fun of her, picking on her and comparing her to her mother.

"One of these days you'll be accused and die just like your mom!"

"You're such a freak!"

"What are you going to do, cast a spell on me? Haha, freak!"

Edna didn't want anything more than to leave the town. Her own father kept his distance from her, thinking her to be cursed. Edna herself wasn't really a witch, and neither was her mother.

The older she got, the worse it became, until one day a group of children put together a plot. They invited Edna to go fishing with them. The ocean was only a mile away, but Edna had never been.

She had never been asked something like this before, much less had she had friends, so of course she accepted. Little did she know it was a trap.