Girls from Hell

The sky is red

The sky was not yet crying blood, but it was as effervescently blue as the silent waters that surrounded their kingdom. Their castle was made of sticks, stones, and timid ardor; and it stood like a turret of the blue bloods. Monthly storms shook its foundations in vain. Prying eyes and curious ears won't find this little stronghold in the forest as it held refuge in a far, dark grove.

Between the lips of the unsightly child was a strand she pulled from a stem, its nectar sinking down her tongue. On her head was a string of santan flowers, blush-red and tiny almost like herself. Days like these still her troubled heart. It calmed the fear that constantly watched her from the shadows.

There went a whistle as thin as her crown and as high as the trees. Marya, the girl, crouched down in slight agitation before rushing towards her castle. On the makeshift table was a bowl of piping hot beef stew and warm rice plated in banana leaves. Although her stomach growled like the beast she was, Marya ran to the stream to wash her hands first before running back to the small feast.

"Oh, Euan, you shouldn't have," she dimpled, waiting for her companion to seat at the opposite end of the slanted table.

"Please," he smiled, digging in with his fingers. "I know you must be ravenous. Look at you, thinner than a bamboo stick."

Marya regarded her soft stomach and knew he must be lying. Nevertheless, she ate with her hand and disregarded his long openmouthed stares. After lunch, he raised his hand to scratch his head and laughed, "If I knew you were that hungry, I should have brought the whole cow."

Her eyes stopped at his mouth, scarred from the statement. Euan looked away and recognized his mistake. Somehow, when he smiled, all was forgiven. It had been five years since Euan, still a child himself, had taken over the role as her guardian. In his kind words, he explained that Ol' Granny had reached the end of her term in the physical world and must now settle on the nether realm where she'd live again young and blissful.

Ol' Granny had the throne for quite a while, he said, that she probably thought it fitting for Marya to take the crown. Marya smiled at the thought of Ol' Granny living in the land of eternal happiness; but was saddened knowing she'd left her. Euan, who was by no means older than Marya, lived in another kingdom far away; but every week, he came to visit her to bring food.

When Marya was a little tot, she found a similarly young Euan crying in the deep of the forest. No one screamed louder than Euan did when he saw her, possibly thinking her a boar or a ghost.

"Well, you shouldn't have been hiding behind a tree," Euan said, recalling their encounter.

"Admit it," she snapped, scooping the vegetable mixture unto the egg wrapper. "You found my face appalling."

He wasn't about to back down from her remark when he saw her staring at him defiantly and thought it better not to speak. Strange red stains dotted his face.

Marya cursed her loud mouth and sighed. "So I hear that you've had visitors come to town."

"How did you know? Have you been leaving the nipa hut?" he asked fast and irritably.

Tears were stinging her eyes. "No, I haven't been leaving this castle. Ha! I'll probably die and rot in here like Ol' Granny."

"She didn't die," he whispered, a little helpless.

"Yes, and I'm not so severely disfigured either," she said bitterly, her lips shaking. She fumbled as her spring rolls got flavored with tears and withered hopes. "Leave me, Euan. That's what it will all be coming down to anyway."