Sleeping Beast - Chapter 2-1

“It wasn’t a tower.”

The clumsy funeral ended.

Rafi built a witch’s tomb in the forest, a little farther away from the tower.

He did so because he thought he shouldn’t get too close to it. He remembered himself being helplessly trapped in the tower and stared at the tomb every single day. He hated it, so he purposely buried it in an invisible place.

“Because it’s made with magic.”

When he built the tomb, the tower disappeared. To be exact, it had turned into a small cabin.

Halion, who had known the witch since he was young, sat on Rafi’s palm and touched his legs to let him know the truth.

Halion was a nearly 200 years old fairy. The average lifespan of a fairy was around that length, hence he was also a being that would one day pass.

Rafi looked at the top of Halion’s head, which had become a little more distraught compared to when he first saw it. He then raised his other hand and washed his face dry. He was afraid he’d be caught looking sorry for it.

“So, this was originally a house.”

“The witch is often away from home. But it was the place she stayed the most often.”

“I see.”

It wasn’t a tower; it was a house. They lived together in the house. He didn’t live very well, but he still had something that resembles a family.

Rafi smiled half-heartedly. Laughter came out, but his heart seemed to be weighed down by something very heavy.

“Aren’t you going to cut your hair?” Halion asked. “You said it was a will.”

Similar to the top of his distraught head, Halion’s wings seemed aged. It was drooping and no longer shiny. Instead of flying through the forest like other fairies, Halion was spending time smoking cigarettes by entering holes in trees.

“Is it a will? That was the last thing she said.”

“Then it’s a will. Cut it. There must have been a reason. Witches on the verge of death are scary. No one knows what they can do.”

Halion spoke like a witch.

“Tomorrow.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll cut it tomorrow.”

It’d be better if he did it while watching it.

Rafi put off doing that. The will was still up to the living, not the dead.

Building a tomb did not mean complete death. It took more time for the witch to become a completely dead person, even in Rafi’s heart.

“Whatever.”

Halion tapped the palm of Rafi next to his hip.

“Then take me home. I feel weird today, so I’ll drink a glass of wheat and go to bed early.”

Rafi knew that even if it was not a difference between a fairy and a human, each one’s method of appeasing loss was different.

“I will. Drink a little and rest.”

“You’re so young and nagging. You should change the day of cutting your hair. I’ll see if you cut it well tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Rafi, who took Halion home, walked slowly and returned to the cabin, no longer a tower.

When he opened the creaking wooden door, the interior was the same as when it was a tower, so it was somehow unrealistic.

Whoo.

Rafi sank to the floor.

On the floor, the scissors that had been dropped as soon as they realized the witch’s death remained intact.

Such was being alone.

There were no more traces made by anyone other than yourself.

Everything had a clear and distinct reason.

There was nothing unexpected, hence nothing was surprising.

Loneliness was completely boring.

* * *

“I can’t go…”

Rafi failed to keep his will for another three days after.

It rained for over three days. Today was the fourth day.

It was not a rainy season, but it rained as if something was wrong. It was impossible to go to the forest.

It was as if the entire house was submerged in water. The firewood ate so much moisture that it had a hard time lighting the stove.

“Tombs… I hope they don’t break down.”

Rafi waited until this evening and decided to go into the forest if the rain didn’t stop. It was equally dangerous to enter the forest late at night, but anyway, there was no difference at night or day in this weather.

“Should I just go now?”

It was impossible to just sit idly by the fire.

Rafi couldn’t overcome his anxiety and eventually covered himself with a cape. He held a small lantern and a shovel in his hand. He even wore boots that came down to his knees and prepared hard.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As soon as he opened the door, a water storm flew into his face.

Rafi, who forcibly held on to the door that seemed to fly in the wind, headed to the forest as fast as possible.

His thoughts melted away in the rain, such as the thoughts of cutting his hair.

* * *