Oyster

I understand he, a Korean man with thick black makeup, a pair of haughty evergreen eyes, shark teeth and satin black attire interrupted with slits of silver. But he wasn’t right to deceive me in that way. He would tell me that he wanted me to rule with him, but I disagreed. I turned away, but his melodic tunes haunted me.

Literally.

I went to sleep, but the song never left me. It was like causing red Siberian Tigers to crawl from their hiding places. Telling me to come back to him. But I wouldn’t. I would sit right here on the beach, with the palm trees up above me. Shading me from the heat. I thought of sunscreen. I thought of water. I swallowed, squeezing my eyes shut.

I got up, searching for water. I wiped sweat off my forehead. I soon came to my knees, panting, anger coursing through me.

“Psst.”

I envisioned the water. Water was before me, but its saltiness—I licked my lips. I got up, dashing away from the tiger. Its soothing words floating towards me, but my hands literally whipping them away. His appearance was before me, on his throne of brown thorns sharper than knives and gold stones around him as a floor of his castle. He was handsome, I’d give him that. But he had killed all his family and surrounding neighbors because he wasn’t interested in caring for such a group of people. Or visiting them. Talk about a recluse who never spoke to anyone.

And he wanted me as his wife?

I laughed aloud at the thought. I’d be stupider than if I had said things insulting to him.

Anyway, the tigers’ words emitted such a perfume of words—an intoxicating attraction I turned around, but my lips pursed and my fists clenched. “What do you want?” I dug my toe in the sand, the waves lapping nearby. I’d rather drink saltwater.

“Come on. He’ll give you water. The only way is to return to him. You needed food. He gave it to you.”

The words seemed to just float towards me. It was like the words themselves were grabbing at my hair and wrists, tugging me forward. Those tigers’ rose pink eyes had tinges of patience in them. They shone, like the sun, with truth.

Truth that would become a lie should I listen.

“I’d rather die out here.”

“You would? You would rather die? You’d rather not see your family anymore?”

My family. I told him about that. But I couldn’t just ditch my family. They were all I had. I couldn’t just dive into the ocean, get eaten up by the waves like I was their dinner. No. my family would go crazy. Please. I was smarter than that. But I was also smarter than these tigers. I knew they’d have me in their stomach faster than I could drink a cold goblet of fine wine.

Or fine poison.

I said I’d go if I would just drink some water. “Please,” I begged. “I need some water.”

“Come with us.”

The tigers turned to go, their tails behind them. I ran up to them. “Lead me.”

They did. They ran, and I bounded, sprinted and then crashed through the pearl-encrusted gates of the castle. “Water, water!” I rasped. Some guards thrust a huge water fountain small enough to hold. I dived, mouth first, into the delicious stuff. Coming up only a few minutes later, I smiled, my eyes shimmering with relief.

He was standing there, and sighed. “Water is your wish. But you must pay for it.”

“Please. I was so thirsty. I just...I’m just a servant.”

“No!” He leapt up, fire in his dark eyes. “I said pay. Pay with your life or with a family member.”

“Family?” My mouth went dryer than it had when I was dying of thirst. I couldn’t sacrifice such a person. I would die before that happened. I declined, saying I needed to get out of here. Would it be okay if I just had—?

Suddenly, a pair of knives—deadly sharp—had been sawed to the hilt into the pearl doors. I turned, open-mouthed, at the king of this place, who was relaxing on his throne, legs over his throne chair. He spoke softly. “Oh—what a waste.”

I blinked, but nary a second went by before another pair of knives landed themselves on the ground, sliding a few inches away from me. I was being attacked. He was going to kill me if I didn’t agree! I suddenly jerked my legs up against the thrice thrown knives, them directed another way. I widened my eyes, and for a split second, I saw his eyes widen in fear. He knew I was smart, but he didn’t say anything. Never would.

Instead, we continued until I was completely exhausted. And maybe he was tired of being defeated. I didn’t dare try to find out. All I did was demand my freedom. He smirked and let out a laugh as bone-chilling as the skeletons hanging from some walls over yonder. I could see them, their stench evil. I clogged my nose. I began to ask him firmly, never begging. Begging was weak. He could—

The knife’s hilt went right into the palm of my hand. I returned it to him, flicking my wrist just so he would have to leap out of the way—if he did. He didn’t because the knife buried itself right into his throne. But when he raised a hand, a sliver of blood showed.

I held my stance though, inside, I was shaking with terror. Would he have any other plans? I was about to vomit. The stench, combined with his evilness, made me gag. I retched. My sick was before me.

I used it to slide out of the way, and then collapsed. The guards chuckled in loud, ugly laughs. Next, they’d applaud him for murdering me.

He cackled. “Give up?”

I tried to stand up, but slipped again in my own vomit. I was disgusted with myself. I suddenly slammed my ears shut with my hands. The song—or his melodic voice. It came back, and I shut it out, striving in vain to skip the beats of the music. It grew, its words catchy. Its rhythm unique. But I never gave in. I distracted myself with whether he’d throw another knife. My eyes darted. My hands shook. But I never let the music’s seductive voice draw me into its clutches.

I wouldn’t die.

“You wouldn’t die for your family, would you?”

He was right in front of me, my blood turned to ice. I gulped, looking down.

“No.”

He turned into a viper. I dodged his moves. Then I realized he must be under some spell, because he couldn’t stop singing that song I tried so hard to get out of my head. After I side-stepped his efforts to kill me, I asked him whether he really wanted someone in his life. He was the only one—

A knife! It cut my ear. Yelling in pain, I clutched it. If he was going for my ear, I…

I realized after a few moments of pain that the music was making the knives go at me. Until the singing stopped, I was going to have to dodge every knife. No, I realized later on, I had to get the stupid song out of my head. Yes, I had to—

Another knife!

I thought of my parents. I thought of my sister, a young, hair braided with neon blue and neon orange colors. Roxie. She was adopted, a black girl accepted into my family. We were white, but her smile lit up the room—

Another knife.

“You’re jealous.”

The king got up from his throne. A hand whipped up, and a few moments later, I relaxed from posturing myself to dodge another knife. I panted, tired from saving myself. I wanted to wake up next to my sister who was a few years younger than I. We shared a room, but she’d lean on my bed, shaking me awake, laughingly asking me whether it was summer. The king, who, when I looked at him, looked at me wiping my mouth from the foul taste, stared at me. His eyes shimmered. I yelled boldly, “You’re jealous.”

Years went by before I left this stupid palace. I grabbed whatever was there on the table, in the room or on the shelf, never asking. Just taking. Taking what wasn’t mine. I never gave back unless I had the guts to do so. I was always embarrassed I had taken something that wasn’t mine, but I couldn’t resist. So I swapped some pearls to hopefully sell to the friends I had at school. Their parents wouldn’t mind buying some costly jewels, right?

I hated that my sister’s eyes welled with tears and her mouth quivered before she ran out of the room, sobbing that I had taken something of hers. It killed me to know I had attacked her like that. I never told this to the king. Eventually, when I had trekked so long towards the portal that led through to my own home after killing myself through the never-ending blizzard, I found myself at home at last.

I turned around. That portal wouldn’t close.

And that king knew I was here.

He would end all our lives.

I thought of Roxie.

She hated it when I told her I’d stop.

But I took something from the store, the library or the park I knew wasn’t mine.

And I never gave it back.

I shook my head.

I dodged a few more knives. But as I told Roxie I had no interest in going anywhere, she shook her head and she avoided me. Talking to Mom and Dad about my disinterest in spending time with her sister, she said that she didn’t want me to be around her friends and her. I kept quiet as I stood at the doorway, hearing everything. When she saw me, and mom and dad did, too, they looked at me and her face grew tight, stabbing me worse than those knives.

“I promise.” I rasped, but she fled.

Through the portal.

Going through the portal as mad as I could, I lunged for her, us landing on the snow. “No! A mad, evil king wants to kill you. He’s jealous.”

“Kill me.”

The girl looked at me. “Why would that affect you? You know you love stealing more than me. If you didn’t, why don’t you stop?”

And she pursued what she said were pearls. I screamed, but my voice whipped away.

“Roxie!” I tried again.

Roxie was gone. Murdered.

I saw it—

No, I shielded her with my moves. My feet and legs danced, saving her very life. The knives could rust for all I cared. My sister was not going to get murdered by some guy in a castle! I protected her, demanding she go back where she was—home. She reluctantly obeyed. I faced the king.

“Here!”

The pearls came out of my hands and into his hands. I was that close to him. I gave him back the pearls. Now I wanted my sister to see. I said I gave the pearls back to him. “See? Here.”

I walked away, my hands in my pockets. The stupid song could be in my head. I didn’t care—it wasn’t like I was going to steal his music, wherever it came from. It could stay where it was. I was going home.

“I saw it!”

Roxie threw herself at me. “You didn’t steal. You gave back!” Her face lit up, her eyes sparkling and her smile stretching.

What a smile.

No shark teeth.

Just a smile.

A smile in return from me.

No more song, knives, wicked monarch or castle.

Just home.

We hugged, but I hugged.

“Thank you.” I whispered.