The Witch's House - The Diary of Ellen

Chapter 5

Ellen

I love you with my all.

Your fingers, voice, eyes, I love with my entire body.

I don't need my eyes anymore.

I don't even need my legs.

I can just see with your eyes.

I can just run with your legs.

So please, give it to me.

All of you, to me.

1

The moment that "spell" was used, the entire forest was shrouded in darkness.

A powerful wind blew, and birds took off in surprise.

Sleeping beasts woke up with a start, looking around cautiously in all directions. Because they didn't know where the air of unrest was coming from.

Among them, only one, a child, with eyes like glass, faced the correct direction.

The wise beast child knew.

That this forest was under someone's control. An ent.i.ty in a realm far above even the brown bear. That it observed this great forest, and intervened. And that they beasts were little more than toys in that ent.i.ty's palm.

The child saw the red roofed house - the house where the witch lived.

That was the place from which this unrest came.

Now, some sort of change was occurring with the master of the forest.

A great, unprecedented change.

It knew not what it was. Perhaps this had something to do with the life of the master.

In fact, for that reason, there was no grief. Even if the master died, they beasts would simply go on living in the forest.

The beast child's mother saw her unlucky child and sharply howled.

That was when it happened.

A lightning-like flash of light spread through the entire forest.

Only for a moment. Only for a moment did the white light take vision from the beasts, then promptly was gone. And with it also left the black fog of unease.

The forest regained its afternoon brightness as if nothing had happened.

The birds and beasts were relieved, and began to move.

...But the beast child did not.

A calm wind blew through the forest. It was somehow different from that which had always blown; it seemed to carry a sorrowful tone.

The beast child felt it with its eyes and ears, its entire body. But it was meaningless, as it had no way to express the emotion.

Again, its mother howled.

The child followed its mother, vanishing into the trees.

Had the beast child the means to express itself, perhaps this is what it would have said.

Now, one tragedy has ended - and another begun.

2

The white light filled my head.

As the light gradually faded...

...I slowly opened my eyes.

I heard the wind rustling the leaves of the trees.