Saturday, 15th July 1995

I would have never thought, that something like this can happen. I had holidays. As usual I
spent them at home and it was really boring. This day was completely unusual and crazy,
but I am sure...

It was not a dream

I decided to go for a walk. It was a sunny day and as usual the temperature was high. People
were enjoying the holidays and the beautiful weather. I was walking around my small city. I
saw old shops and dirty streets. I went to my favourite shop. I wanted to buy water, because
I was quite thirsty. I was standing in the queue to the cash register. I took my wallet from
my pocket, but unexpectedly someone stole it! He ran away, so I started to chase that
person. He was a tall man and he was dressed in black. People were annoyed, because he
was running through the crowded store. The man ran to the wood. Near there was a rock,
and something interesting on it. It was an inscription: "Welcome to The Black Wood. It can
be your last journey". Now I am surprised, that it did not scare me.

My town is not very big. Not many people live there. There are lots of legends about my
city. They are usually about old, haunted places. I do not believe in legends, but I have
never been to any of this frightening places. I also do not believe in creatures, but after a
few minutes of chasing I was a bit scared. The wood was scary. There were black roses and
rotten fruit. There were dead ravens lying on the ground too... There was no grass and trees
did not have leaves. Whenever I arrived to the wood the weather was getting worse. But I
did not give up - I was still running.

The thief went to the old, small house, which was all black... I came there too, but I could
not find him. I was looking for him in every room. Where was he? I did not know... I
carefully went floor above by the dusty stairs. There were lots of breathtaking paintings.
The longer I watched them, the more I was terrified. There was a woman in one of them.
She had torn nails and burned hair. Suddenly I heard declining laughter. After a while the
whisper scared me. I froze. Something touched me with its cold, small hand. It was behind
me, so I turned back. I saw a child. It was a boy. It sounds weird, but I think he was dead.
He had no head. "Could I erase your soul?" he asked. When I winked he disappeared. I ran
outside.

It was getting colder and colder. The wind started to blow and it was piercing through my
skin. Trees were bending, clouds were darkening. I could not see the sun. It started to rain.
The cool drops of rain were streaming down my face. I saw lightnings in the sky. My
clothes were wet and I was cold. When I noticed a castle near the wood I ran there. I just
wanted to stay in a quite safe place during the storm. It was a very old castle with creaking
doors and stairs. It did not have glazings in the windows. All mirrors were broken. I went
upstairs. There were lots of rooms filled with old things. In the last room there was no
door. There were not even the windows. It was dark there, I could not see anything.
Suddenly I saw a light. It was far from me, so I went a bit closer and... I could not believe
my eyes.

It was a girl with a shining sword. I think she was really young. She had dark, straight hair
and she was pale - her skin was almost white. The girl was short and very skinny. She had
ragged, but beautiful, black dress. Her two cat's ears were conspicuous... She was hovering
in the air. It was strange. I thought it cannot be real, I thought it was just a dream. After a
while I realized that I was wrong. I wanted to run away, but she held my hand.

"Why do you want to escape?" she asked calmly, completely without emotions. I did not
know what to say. I was shocked. I was trembling.

"Do not be scared of me, I do not want to hurt you. My name is Lucy".

I was talking with her. In legends creatures are terrible, but that girl was nice. Only because
of her appearance she could not have a normal life. She told me her story.

Life can be cruel

"I was born in 1965 as an abnormal child. My type of creature is called micrus. Once, there
were a few people like me, but they all died immediately after their birth, so I was the only
one of this kind in the world. People said I looked like a skeleton. I could not walk, I was
always flying. And I looked a bit different. My childhood was not happy. My parents have
never told me, that they were proud of me. I always had good grades and I was trying to be
a good child, but they did not appreciate it. I had no friends. At school everybody was
looking at me. I know they despised me, but I did not know why, because I did not want to
hurt anyone. I hated my school, my parents and my life. At the age of 8 I started to have
schizophrenia. I had lots of hallucinations - I saw girls and animals. At first I was scared of
them, but then they were my only friends. In 1975 I was 10 years old. I was a little girl, but
my parents abandoned me. I could not deal with it. They did not give me a second chance,
so I did not try to live with them again. I left them a letter at the door. I was wandering.
After a few days I came there. I found a sword and I commited a suicide.

Now people are scared of me. They run away when they see me. It is all because of people
who say I want to kill everybody, but it is not true. I cannot go out of this room. I am
imprisoned, because I have invisible chains. I cannot eat or sleep, I am just sitting in this
room. I am a ghost now and I should be in the death land, but I cannot get there.
Somebody has to help me with that".

"But how?" I asked.

"My parents have never cared about me, so I did not have a burial. But it is very important.
It is like a ticket to leave the world".

I felt bad for her. I did not want to leave her all alone. I went outside with Lucy. The storm
passed long time ago. It was evening. It was dark, but she illuminated the road with her
sword. We ultimately found a cemetery near the castle. I do not know why, but I felt like
something was walking behind me. Lucy found a shovel and she gave it to me. I had to dig
a hole. It was a very hard task and it took me a long time. Lucy was sitting next to me. She
knew, that soon she could have a better life. We were talking. She was the first ghost I have
ever met. I think she was kind.

"I finished". I was tired. The girl was smiling. She was really happy.

"I am going to lie down there. Now bury me and say "mortuus" three times".

I did what she asked. It was a scary experience, because I have never been to any burial. But
I was happy, cause I could help Lucy.

It was a night. I saw the full moon. I had to go a long way. All the time I was thinking about
this day. The cold wind was blowing. The Black Wood was scarier at night. I started to run,
because I was very frightened. I finally saw the street's lanterns. How beautiful the dirty
streets were! And that plastic carrier bags dancing in the contaminated air... I think, that
this adventure was enough for me. I prefer my everyday life and boring holidays.

After a few minutes I eventually came home. Every lights were turned off. I went to the
bathroom. On the mirror there was a bloody inscription "Thank you"...