The Search for Freedom

I was lucky that my parents didn't see me going towards the bathroom, or else they would surely have scolded me and asked a lot of questions. Perhaps time didn't move when I left home, and perhaps time in the place where I was moving didn't move though I was no longer there. I didn't care about that anymore. If time wouldn't move, then it favored me, and if time would fly, it favored me too. Time was time, spending itself on everyone. It couldn't be seen or touched. It would only pass by and would never come back again.

The only thing I didn't want to happen was when the curse would consume much of my time because it could affect my whole life, my schooling, and the dreams I wanted to achieve.

After I took a bath, I dried myself with a towel, then wore my blue underwear, plain shirt, and black pants. I hung the towel back on the clothesline and got out of the bathroom. When I was walking to the kitchen, I saw my mother brushing her long, curly hair. It seemed like she was talking alone, or she was talking with her hair, because I heard it by myself.

"My hair, can you tell me if there's something wrong happening to my son recently?" She asked like an insane woman. "I noticed many weird things like bruises and wounds on his body these days."

Though her hair did not reply, it seemed to be saying something to my mother which I could not understand. I was not surprised anymore if there were many wonders about her, especially since I experienced wonders by myself too. I went towards my mother and hugged her from behind to let her know I was fine, though I had been facing a lot of difficulties at that time.

"Oh! Son, what are you doing and where have you been?" Mother inquired, her voice calm and melodious, rather than shocked.

"Guess it, mama," I replied.

"I don't know, tell me."

"Why won't you try to get your hair?"

"It won't tell me, it doesn't even know how to talk."

"From the grassland."

"No lies?"

I did not reply to her, but continued inside the kitchen and checked the cauldron to see what was in it. It was my snack, though I wasn't hungry at all. It was only a pretext to make my parents believe I was

Sometimes I even forget to pretend, but my parents still didn't notice it. Maybe they were hiding many things from me, but whatever they were, if they were going to tell me, I would never blame them and accept everything. "Acceptance" was a pleasant word that everyone should know. If someone accepted someone wholeheartedly, whoever or whatever they were, they were showing them their love.

After I ate my meal, I went back into my bedroom. I locked the door and lay down on my wooden bed. I covered my face with a blanket. As I rolled myself, I noticed something. It was someone who offered me the bluish cloud. I jumped from my bed and, instead of lying, I sat down there.

I looked at him and asked if he was doing what he was doing inside my room. If he wanted to add another problem like what he did every time he'd show But I noticed his face had become younger than before. I sensed the reason why he put this curse on me. Perhaps because it could help him become younger?

Perhaps he wanted to live longer in the world, though he wasn't even a human being, because I was the only one who could see him. It was useless if he became younger and handsome if the people could not see him. Even for me, the only thing that I could see about him was a wicked man who could not recognize the difference between right and wrong.

However, I was pulled out of my bed so that instead of fighting with me, he said, "Thank you, Lil." Ingratiatingly He was so irritating and I wanted to put him inside a jar so that he could not hurt other people.

I didn't know what to say or do but to look down on the rough floor and let him do whatever he wanted, because I knew no matter how much pleading he could receive from me, the curse would never be lifted. Maybe soon I will learn to live with it. Maybe I could learn to squeamish myself when my body was killing innocent people.

I wondered how he knew my name, because I had not told him anything about myself. What he did know was that I was a boy, but now it seemed that he knew more about me-he definitely needed to be despatch.

Nothing was impossible; maybe he used his power to find out and know more about me, so that he could use me more for his dark purposes, like killing people and making himself handsome. He was so selfish that he only considered himself, without thinking about others' sake.

"Lil, I know you're struggling because the curse slowly takes over your entire body, but if you need it, I can help you survive that." He offered in his most solemn manner, which even seemed unbelievable!

"How can you say so if you were the one who put me under this curse?" My voice gradually came out. "You really have no conscience." I will only trust you if you will remove this."

"You've just mentioned that if I removed that curse from you, you would conspire with me. Don't withdraw it, because the word 'you will' means sooner or later, so I can help you to survive from that curse if you will conspire with me now."

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"How dare you force me to conspire with you? You misinterpreted me!"

"It's just the same. If you are trusting me, you are conspiring with me too." He defended his wrong belief.

"If that's what you believe in, but I will only trust you if you prove to yourself that you really want to help me and you will remove this curse."

"Sorry Lil, but I cannot remove that curse." He told me in the most serious tone of voice. "But! I can help you get rid of it."

"You're really a fool. You were the only one who put me under a curse, but then you don't know how to remove it. What kind of demon do you think you are?"

"Shhh-lower your voice. Remember, I wasn't the one who said that to you, it was yourself because you did not listen to me. The most important thing for you was to have power and to become a superhero," he chided.

"Motherfcker! You have cheated me. That's why I accepted the curse. You are an idiot old man. You're a demon! A demon! A demon!"

"You had cheated yourself; it wasn't me who cheated you! You are the one who is a fool! A fool! A fool!"

He was really an idiot who could not recognize his mistakes. Though he was the one who brought himself to me and asked if I wanted power, then he could say that I had been cheating myself. I really wanted to cut him into pieces so that he could not cheat others anymore.