Apparently I found her secret,
How she was raised to kill a man
Apparently I fled the village,
And never wanted to see her again
Apparently I betrayed her,
After promising to meet her here

Only according to that man, of course.

But she had no choice but to believe it
What was she to do but
Defy the evidence?
I was gone; simple as that.

She allowed herself to be
Shepherded back home
By her mother, who said,
“I told you so.”

It was time (apparently).
The spell was ready, she would only need to cast it.
She paid up years of her life
And cast the curse.
She did what she was told

They said it was her destiny.

The curse rolled down the fields
Like smog, choking life, turning it grey
The people engulfed,
They clutched their heads as
The pain erased their minds.
The ruling family’s reign was destroyed.

The curse rolled on
Until it reached his mansion,
It sought him out, the patriarch
Only having time to make one sacrifice,
Suffered under the curse.

And still, she grew older and older.
Her hair was turning grey
When the curse broke all barrier,
And I could finally break out.

I saw her glowing with power
Her eyes like fire,
Bent on killing a man
They have never seen.

I yelled, I screamed, I did all I could.
When she saw me, she stopped
And the curse was forgotten in her mind.
She didn’t need it;
No one needed to die,

And she knew that.

But they needed it
Because it was all they’ve ever known.
Her mother took over her unfinished job,
Shrieking like a drunk,
“The curse is already cast!”

No one needed to die.
She knew that.
She called back the curse with
Another spell, another payment,
I told her to stop;
She was growing to be too old

Surely there was a limit.

But she wasn’t finished.
She turned and faced her family
Who wanted nothing but to return,
Ruthless perhaps, but still just human.
She cursed them
Out of spite, maybe.
Never again will anyone unfit
Cast another spell.

A wise choice? I don’t know.
But all I knew was she
Fell
Old and fragile.
When I tried to hold her,
She scrambled to flee
For she had paid not only with her age
But her mind as well.

She couldn’t remember.
That was a curse enough.
That was one curse too many.
That, I could not survive.