The Curse of My Father

Cheryl smoothed the hem of her funeral dress. She could hardly believe that her dad was dead. Gone. As she looked into his bedroom, she blinked some tears out of her eyes and smiled weakly. Finally, her father could rest. He could be at peace. The general consensus of the town was that her father was insane. He was always rambling about the cloud of darkness that would rain down on the world. Cheryl had never fully believed him. However, she couldn’t help remembering when he would gently grasp her arm, and lock his gaze with hers;

“Listen to me”

He would say,

“There is a great darkness coming, sweetheart.”

Those words, he would repeat those words countless times, as if the weight of what he was trying to say blocked out all other thoughts. Sometimes those words were mumbled, sometimes they were screamed. Either way, Cheryl doubted that anyone except her and her mom cared about his death. She wiped a few tears out of her eyes, and closed his bedroom door.

Cheryl stepped outside. The sky was clear, and the sun was out. A cool breeze was blowing. The day was so perfect, it was hard to believe that she had just watched her father be laid to rest, forever. As she was contemplating, a few tears fell. Chery heard a soft thud next to her, and she swung her head to look. A crow had fallen next to her. It lay on it side, its chest barely moving. Cheryl looed at it, intrigued. She had always hated birds, crows in particular. The way they swarmed her house during the day, and kept her up at night with their incessant crowing; but today, looking at this bird, she was drawn towards it.

Her fingers brushed the black feathers and she felt a rush. A feeling of dread settled heavily in her stomach. Something bad was coming. Cheryl keeled over backwards to get away from the bird. She had to warn someone. She had to warn anyone. Cheryl ran out towards the town. Another wave of dread rushed at her and she started screaming, flailing; anything to relieve the pressure.

Concerned people burst out of their houses. The sight that they saw was one out of nightmares. Cheryl was running down a steep hill, her blond hair tangled and unruly. She was clutching her dress with one hand while making gestures with the other. The hand that she was waving had some sort of mark on it. She tripped, and tumbled the rest of the way down. Numerous people ran to help her, but she jumped to her feet quickly. Her face was pale, and had blood running down it. One woman grabbed her hand to look at the mark. Something similar to a tattoo had appeared there. A feather, black as the night, ran from the tip of her index finger to the edge of her palm. As soon as them woman saw the mark, she released Cheryl’s wrist in horror.

Another woman quickly stepped forward to take her place. She reached for Cheryl’s shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“Cheryl, darling. Tell us what’s wrong.”

Cheryl looked at the woman in front of her. Without hesitating, she said,

“Listen to me. There is a great darkness coming. It will descend upon us like a flock of crows. The darkness will rain down like a thunderstorm. It will bring death and destruction instead of life and water.”

The woman also stepped back. Cheryl experienced momentary relief from the dread crushing her. The women around her started whispering to each other.

“That’s the same tattoo her father had.”

“The poor dear, her father’s death broke her.”

“She’s gone crazy.”

“It runs in the family.”

Cheryl started to protest,

“I’m not crazy! Listen to me! I’m not, I swear!”

The women all looked at her with pity. One of them stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

“I’ll take her back to her mother. Step out of the way everyone.”

Cheryl followed her willingly. She could feel the foreboding settling in, and all she wanted was her mother. However, she became increasingly distracted. Without realizing, she started mumbling,

“Listen to me. There is a great darkness coming”

As they continued walking, her mumbling got louder, and more incoherent.

“Listen. Darkness coming. Listen! Crows. DARKNESS. CROWS. DARKNESS. DARKNESS.”

All of the sudden, Cheryl’s mind cleared. She saw her house and ran towards it. She knocked on the door. Cheryl’s mother opened it, and took a step back. Her eyes swept over Cheryl’s body. Her eyes froze on the crow feather, and her face went paler than Cheryl’s.

“What have you done child?”

Cheryl’s face crumpled.

“Mommy”

She started. Then, she felt the dread again.

“Listen to me. The darkness is coming. It will descend upon us like a flock of crows. The darkness will rain down like a thunderstorm. It will bring death and destruction instead of life and water. The Darkness is coming. The darkness is coming.”

Cheryl’s mom looked at her in horror.

“You’ve gone crazy.”

She whispered.

“Just like your father. What am I to do with you?”

Cheryl heard her talking, but in that moment, the need to warn her mother was so strong, that all she could say was,

“Listen to me. Please, listen to me.”

Her mom shook her head tears shimmering in her eyes. She led her into the house and put her in her room. She closed the door. As soon as her mother’s face was out of sight, Cheryl’s mind cleared a little bit. She took in her surroundings and tried to make sense of what had happened. She looked at her hand, and touched the mark. Suddenly, she heard a voice whisper.

“You wonder why this is happening. Your father’s gift has been given to you. You must warn them.”

At that moment, her mother opened the door.

“Cheryl?”

“Mom. There is a darkness coming. Please listen to me. I have to warn everyone.”

“Oh, baby. I know you took your father’s death hard. Please don’t do this to me.”

A buzzing started up in Cheryl’s ears. Nausea overwhelmed her and she starting retching. Cheryl stumbled over to her window, and noticed a dark cloud on the horizon. She shuddered. As it drew closer, she beckoned her mother over. People started to scream outside, the feeling of dread settling upon them, as the sky blackened.

“It’s too late.  The darkness is here.”