Сај-Фај

As he fell, he was waiting to hear the sound of crunching bone, and maybe to feel the last pain in his life. His thoughts jumped to thinking how he should really try to turn around and maybe his arms would break the fall enough to…. Stupid idea. From the height he was falling, his body will turn to mush on impact. So he just closed his eyes and anticipated that crunch, maybe even some sloshing? And time slowed down, he felt almost like floating, and then… And then he opened his eyes, and he was in his bed, bathing in his sweat. He was dreaming something, just he no longer remembered what. The midday July sun was piercing through the window and was slowly cooking him. “Fuck, midday already?” he muttered to himself as he stumbled out of bed, trying to unstick himself from the drenched sheets. “Fuck summer.” The ice cold shower he prepared for himself did just enough to bring some semblance of good mood into him, that quickly evaporated as soon as he reentered his room. He really ...

This must be it, she thought, as they approached the cabin, the little boy clinging to her arm. The cabin was surrounded by a white-fenced yard, itself enclosed with the same scarlet-leafed trees that made Rotwald what it is. Except these were adorned by flowers that gradually shifted in glowing colors, giving a surreal illumination to the whole garden. It was a beautiful sight, nothing like the old man had described. Maybe the witch wasn’t as bad also? Surely an evil being cannot create something this beautiful. While she was lost in admiration of the garden, she felt the boy’s grip tightening around her arm, hiding his little body behind her leg. And then she felt something wet on her thigh. The warmth and smell that came with it told her that the boy had just pissed himself. She was ready to admonish him when she noticed the creature in front of her. It looked like a tall slim human covered in feathers, large head impossibly balanced on a bird-like neck. It’s beak was open, sh...