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By Elizaveta Garifullina
Posted on November 28, 2022
Cover Image Title: Two Kids
Cover Image by: Andrew Ro
Classification: Photography
Specification: Taken by Canon 200D
Year: 2022
1.0
He himself does not know how he got lost and wandered here, but the person who opened the door to him inspires fear and horror. When he was still living in the village, he heard stories about butchers in the forest. Stories about hunters who kill people like him mercilessly and cruelly. This person was one of them. The hunter scared him to death while asking all his questions. But the butcher let him stay, gave him a bed for the night, and even a hearty dinner. The boy immediately began to eat, not thinking at all that the food could be poisoned. But fortunately for him, the hunter is not a person who uses poisons.
He may be a cold-blooded killer, but why did he not kill him on the doorstep? Did not even try? The butcher let him into his house, in the most vulnerable place. Does he seem to have lost his knack? Or did the boy's story pity him? Unlikely.
There is so much silver in this house. The boy has already been burned several times. The house is full of weapons, knives and daggers, and firearms. But this coziness and warmth, a fireplace, and a warm blanket. How long has it been since he felt this… He misses home, but here he feels almost the same. Warm and calm, even in the same house with a hunter who can kill him in a couple of seconds. But he trusts what the soul says. And now the soul is calm, so he has nothing to worry about.
The boy does not care at all that this butcher in the corner of the twilight is staring at him, and metal is sparkling under his pillow, which can end his life at any moment. The wanderer is pacified; he knows everything will be fine, and fate always helps him.
1.1
This boy is different from the others, why is he so stupid that he climbed into the trap himself? Did he come here for death? Or did he come to try his luck?
Waiting for the hunter to end another life? The butcher defiantly puts the dagger under the pillow, making it clear that he will do it at any moment. He is not afraid of blood. No longer afraid.
Not in the house. He must not lose strength in winter. It is very dangerous. Loss of strength can easily take your life if you just do not get home from hunting. Although the hunter does not hold on to life, he does not want to lose it.
It was not worth inviting the boy into the house. The food was left for several weeks before the next “order” was paid. The food is designed for only one person, but the stranger also needs to be fed something, since the hunter has let him into his house.
He will kill him at night, yes, at night. The boy turned to him, smiling, as if he saw in him the closest person to whom he had entrusted his life, the most valuable thing that he had.
He is definitely different from the others. He is obviously mindless if he does not understand that he can die at any moment in this house. Probably, life was gentle with him, since the boy does not suspect anything bad, but it is unlikely. He was left in the winter forest without shoes, warm clothes, and food. Therefore, he is just naive. There is such a type of people, life has been strict with them, but they still see only the good side of the world. The hunter sees the opposite, although rather, he sees all sides.
The hunter decided that he would allow the boy to stay for the winter if he himself lived until morning. If not, then it was high time for him to leave Earth. It is time for him to relax finally. When you take other people's lives, you stop seeing the meaning in your own. There is too much blood on his hands…
2.0
After death always comes life.
How many years has Death not felt the touch of someone else's hands, the touch of skin, someone else's fingers on her pal? It must be unpleasant for her, she never liked it when others touched her, got too close…
So why does she not feel it now? Why does she want to touch more and more so much? So that it is the hands of Life that intertwine her fingers without letting go.
She likes to touch this vital magic, this great power, to see the surprise in the eyes of Life when she herself pulls her hands to the face of Life, even though it was only a couple of times.
She no longer feels disgusted, as with others. The hands of Life are cool, but incredibly pleasant. It feels like a sip of a refreshing drink on a hot summer day. Like salvation.
Death freezes, looking at how the fingers of Life touch her open palm, not wanting it to stop.
Never stopped, they feel like one. They feel as if they are inseparable. They have very little time together, they are always separated, but those moments when they are united feel like the most pleasant infinity. They want it to be more, but it is impossible, these are the rules, and they cannot be violated even by Life and Death.
* The End *
[Writing Editor: Min Ji Choi]