Cursed

This might come as a surprise to you but it is considered bad luck to be unlucky. When one is unlucky all sorts of things can go wrong. Most things never go right and the simplest tasks can prove to be most dangerous. Kara Harrison was one of those people who had the unfortunate bad luck to be unlucky. She was so accident prone that even the least superstitious people in her town speculated whether the girl had been cursed.

Most people can say they have experienced bad luck at some point in their life, if you believe in that kind of thing. However, Kara had never before experienced good luck, in fact she had never experienced anything remotely lucky in her lifetime, as far as she was concerned.

Now when all sorts of misfortunate things constantly happen to someone, it is not so surprising to hear that Kara was extra cautious, suspicious and slightly paranoid. So at eighteen years old, Kara Harrison was what you might call a bit of a loner. Which is why on a Saturday morning, instead of doing all the kinds of things people with friends her age did on Saturdays, she was heading to her favourite spot on the beach. A rocky area at the bottom of a cliff with a beautiful view of the ocean that was perfect for sitting and reflecting.

As she walked along the beach Kara winced and scowled up at the sky as the hot sun glared down upon her, she had lost her hat the day before and despite looking everywhere it had not turned up. Reaching her destination Kara scrambled onto the rocks, scraping her knee and letting out a curse in the process.

After some time, she spotted a good spot to sit that looked relatively dry. There were a few wet rocks she needed to hop over before she could reach the spot she was eyeing. Kara jumped onto the first rock but then as she jumped for the second, she slipped. Kara’s hands slammed against the hard rock in a useless bid to save herself and she landed on her butt, hard. The unlucky girl sat there for a moment, stunned before bracing her hands to stand up. Kara’s palm slid against something soft and un-rock like.

‘Eeeeek!’ She squealed, heart pounding against her chest wildly. It was surely something terrifying, something out to get her, it was a... a... she looked down at it...a notebook? Kara gingerly picked the little black book up and got to her feet, shaking out the sting in her hands, forgetting completely about the pain in her butt.

She examined the outside of the book before opening it up. It was small and slightly worn but not water damaged. Odd. Kara glanced around, looking behind her back along the beach but there was no one to be seen. She flicked through the pages, it had what appeared to be...spells? Each page neatly depicted How To instructions with a range of ingredients, mostly herbs from the look of it. Kara scanned some of the titles.

How to Heal a broken heart, Invisibility spell, Cure for stomach ails. There were hundreds. Kara felt a chill go down her spine. She had the oddest impulse to hold on to it tightly. The pages seemed strangely endless for something so small. She stared at the illustrations of various herbs and oils and mixtures the book was depicting. She flipped to the front of the book and reading the first page she felt chills ripple down her spine.

IF FOUND ONE MUST RETURN TO THE WITCH RESIDING IN THE WOODS. THE BOOK WILL SHOW YOU THE PATH.

Kara shook her head but she could not shake the eerie feeling that had taken over body. She closed the book and bent down to place it back in the spot where she had found it. Maybe the owner would come back for it. However, no matter how hard she tried, Kara found she could not bring herself to put the book down. She took another look at the book before stuffing it in the pocket of her shorts. She had the strangest sensation of needing to somehow find the person who owned the book imminently. She rolled her eyes at herself, convinced she was being insane and yet... she started to walk. Not back the way she had come but instead along the rocks. Unsure what she was searching for but somehow knowing deep down she was searching for something.

The girl without a hat in the hot sun walked on, an unknown force propelling her forward and after some time (and much to her surprise, no accidents) Kara saw a crack in the cliff face with an opening big enough for her to fit through. She shivered as she stopped and stared at it.

‘I have to go in there.’ She thought and heart pounding, mouth dry and hands slightly shaking she took a step forward.

It was a tight squeeze between the rocks and she had to slide through sideways. After what felt like an eternity but was in fact only about thirty seconds, the small tight gap opened up into what can only be described as a perfectly rounded damp cave. It reminded her of the inside of a golf ball, the walls pockmarked. Kara had been coming to these rocks for years and had never known this was here. She scanned the cave, feeling almost but not quite paralysed with fear. Like something was stopping her from freaking out too much and running back. Kara shuffled forward noticing a small area at the back of the cave that was darker than the rest. On closer inspection she found it was a tunnel, not big enough to walk through but definitely big enough to crawl through. Kara broke out in a sweat.

‘Oh God no’. She thought but once again the strongest compulsion to continue on hit her and before she knew what was happening she found herself on hands and knees peering into the tunnel. It was dark. She didn’t have her phone (she had dropped and broken it a week earlier) so no torch or light of any kind to help her through this. This was madness and yet...yet...she knew she must do it. She took a deep shaky breath and crept forward on her hands and knees.

All Kara could do was move forward as terror was creeping it’s way into her very pores. Why was she doing this? Someone as unlucky her should not be crawling through spaces like this, nobody even knew where she was. The tunnel was narrowing, the sides scraping along her shoulders and thighs. The rocky ground beneath her hands and knees was gritty and she decided she didn’t like the feeling. Her mind raced. What if the tide came in suddenly? Would she drown in here? Did the water even reach here? It didn’t feel damp. She briefly pictured her parents forever searching for their only daughter, never truly knowing what had happened to her. All because she had seemingly gone crazy and decided to go caving after finding a suspicious notebook wedged in rocks. Yeah that sounded nuts. Her breathing began to come out in gasps, panic gripping her. She stopped crawling.

Only, as she lifted her head, ready to begin backing up, she saw a light up ahead. Instead of going back she gritted her teeth and increased her pace heading towards the light, panting and shaking as her body tried to fight the absolute mind numbing panic gripping her. Finally after what must have been a million years of crawling in the cramped tunnel, a coolness crept over her. It was a breath of fresh air that she didn’t even know she was craving. She could see the exit now and beyond that was... a forest?

‘How is that even possible?’ She thought. She had lived here her whole life. She knew her way around the cliff and the beach and there was no forest. Had never been a forest. Had there been anyone around, peering into the tunnel, they would have seen the utter confusion across her face followed by a wariness that surely came from a lifetime of bad luck.

She emerged from the tunnel, gulping down huge breaths of cool fresh air. She checked her shorts to make sure she still had the book and was pleasantly surprised to find it still there. To her left was a small stone cottage with smoke coming from the chimney. Somehow Kara knew she was here to go to that cottage door and knock. What she didn’t know was what was on the other side. But Kara hadn’t come this far to turn back now, and she wasn’t willing to go back into the tunnel just yet anyway. So taking a deep breath the girl cursed with bad luck strode forward and knocked on the door.

There were shuffling noises coming from inside the cottage and then the door creaked open and there stood a small old woman wearing a long grey robe that went to her feet. Her wiry grey hair was plaited on each side and her pale blue eyes were cloudy and staring straight at Kara’s face, into her very soul. The old woman’s face was so wrinkled and leathery, Kara guessed she had to be over a hundred years old. She looked almost exactly as what you might expect a witch to look like except for one detail. The old crones nose was not hooked and warty but rather what might be described as a button nose. The woman’s eyes travelled down Kara’s face to the spot she had the book tucked in her shorts. Her eyes narrowed.

‘You have something for me girl?’ She asked, her voice coming out raspy, as though it was barely used.

Kara stared, unable to speak.

‘Bah! Give it to me!’ The old woman demanded, impatiently holding out her hand.

Kara hurriedly reached into her pocket and pulled out the book, fumbling a little she handed it over to the woman. The old crone snatched the book so fast it was disconcerting, considering how old she must be.

‘Do you know what this is and what I am girl?’ She asked waving the book in Kara’s face.

Kara swallowed thickly and nodded though she couldn’t believe she was doing so. But there was no doubt that this woman was something...other. The haggard old woman smiled a toothless smile, handing a folded piece of paper to Kara.

‘It seems you’re luck is about to change girl.’ She winked, her long yellow nails scraping against Kara’s hand.

Kara unfolded the paper, peering down at it.

KARA HARRISON

TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS

Kara’s head whipped up.

‘But how did you know my name?’ She asked.

The witch just smiled that toothless smile.

‘Thankyou.’ Kara whispered remembering her manners.

The witch, still smiling that disconcerting smile, threw her hands in the air and Kara flinched as she saw a brilliant flash of white light and then...nothing.

~~~

Kara opened her eyes to darkness and the sound of waves crashing. She sat up and looked around. She was on the beach. She must have fallen asleep and it was all a dream. Of course she fell asleep somehow, it was just her luck to fall asleep in the sun. She must be burnt to a crisp. Actually her shoulders and thighs were stinging. Her parents must be worried sick. She was never out this late. Sighing, she shoved her hands in her pockets and started the trek back home.

When Kara arrived home her frenzied mother met her on the front porch.

‘Where have you been!?’ She exclaimed angrily.

Kara pulled her hands out of her pockets to explain herself. Both Kara and her mother stared down at the piece of paper in Kara's hand. It was a cheque for twenty thousand dollars.