Under Her Cursed Scythe

She picked up a daisy along her way and for once-after years of rushing back and forth between her house and her school or her hunting spots, she could finally stop her pace, relax and get a good sniff of the scent of sun-baked, green, fresh linen kind of fragrance unfolding from the flower.

Her feet carried her through a park, pass a church, down a bridge... and as the town center unfolded before her eyes, Alivia was soon infected by the joy and humming excitement that were circulating the place.

She picked up her pace to a trot, quickly passing through the crowded costume shops where parents were milling around and enthusiastically selecting colourful fabrics, costumes as well as accessories for their kids; the supermarket where couples came out from it with smiles on their faces while they pushed a trolley of sweets, pumpkins and Halloween decorations; and a whiff of something that smelt like a mixture of vanilla and cinnamon rippled through the air while the barista called for someone to pick up the pumpkin spice latte from the counter.

It was nice, for her, to witness uninterrupted movements and noises sounding off here and there in the town center for the very first time, realising there was a different side to this place that she once thought of it solely as a place of lonesome and stillness. Every sound, every smell, every sight of happiness found there was new to her and unconsciously, her feet started to move in zig-zagged patterns, dancing in tandem with her excitement.

Her footsteps finally ceased when her eyes passed over the sign "10% off - 4 days before Halloween"-standing before the cafe. Something nagged at the back of her mind as she eyed at the words.

'Four days before Halloween...four days before Halloween...why does it sound so familiar?' She pondered.

Then, as if a light bulb had suddenly went on in her mind, she clapped her hand on her forehead and muttered to herself, "It's today! My 13th birthday!" She laughed at herself in disbelief. "Look at me. Once again, forgetting about this most meaningful event of the- nuh…" She quickly changed her mind about her birthday having any significance to her. "It's not really a day I want to remember, right?"

For a moment, her memories came rolling back again.

27th October, 2003 [5 years ago]

"Dearie, come here." Her mother's voice was once more, uncharacteristically soft to her on that day. And when Alivia was naive enough to think that her mother had finally remembered her birthday and had bought her something nice, she was fazed to find Mrs. Hestia turning up with a weary expression and blood stains all over her clothes and hands.

***ANNOUNCEMENT***