Stwy

Prologue

        The sky was tearing in two over her head and a putrid air was escaping from it. All her body was thrilling and her heart was on her lips. In a big effort she escaped from this place to another. Here all was in red. The sunset was embracing the village. The heat was stifling and accentuated the smell of burnt flesh that reigned there.

She was too late, again, she couldn't do anything. The monsters had already passed and had left nothing but ruins and despair. The tears didn't even flow, she couldn't. Scenes in this genre had ended up leaving her with marble for heart. This was only adding distance between her and this infectious world.

She remained for a moment contemplating the bonfires in the village center where the villagers continued to burn. She was leaving when someone called to her. She tried not to turn to that voice and leave as far as she could, but she couldn't control anything. Her eyes fell on a lost boy. Her heart drowned at the sight of this boy. The scene began to blur and the feeling of suffocation became stronger. Her legs threatening to yield at the slightest moment. The flames approaching slowly.

The child had disappeared, and in his place was a furious young man who pointed at her with an accusing finger. She knew he was insulting her but she didn't care because the flames had begun to encircle the young man. She began to ran to help him. Her eyes fixed on him until a barrier of fires forced her to cover her eyes. The young man had turned into an old man this time.

Then she began to run with more ardor. Only at the most she advanced the most she seemed to sink into shifting sands. She tried to shout and debate without success. She was about to disappear when she saw the old man's eyes on her. A look of deep disgust that made her lose all desire to struggle.

Maria sank into nothingness ... Until a shrill cry from beyond the grave awakens her with a start. It took her a moment to recover her senses. The head in her hands to prevent it from turning. And the word still sounding in her head : "Monster".When would the nightmare end?

                                                                                            ...

      The snow snow storm had finally fade away. The clearing was noisy this afternoon. A myriad of busy people were finishing the preparations for the ceremony. It consisted mainly of flattening the snow and spreading the many guests. From above, the scene resembled a snowy anthill. Another day, she would surely laugh at all this agitation. But not today. Sitting on a very high branch, she watched the scene calmly, watching for the arrival of the procession. Things had been done on a large scale. An orchestra had been hired for the occasion.

A bell sounded in the distance and everyone hurried to sit down. She, too, straightened up on her perch. And the orchestra began to play very softly. About twenty people arrived slowly by the broadest road leading to the clearing. They were dressed in black and burgundy. All looked straight ahead in spite of their slaughtered mines. Towards the middle, four men wore a kind of large black wooden box. It was splendid with its silver decorations and the burgundy stuff embroidered with a wolf on it.

Thus advanced the funeral procession to the altar.