My Corpse Husband

Once upon a time, a very long period ago, lived a girl who lived a life of a fairy tale. She was not a princess nor was her hero a king by birth. It was not the story of evens. It was the story full of odds.'

The old wrinkly grandmother started narrating the story, sitting on a chair near the fire place. The grandmother was in her late seventies with a soft knowledgeable gaze and a sweet wrinkly smile. She oozed out care and warmth.

'How can it be a fairytale without prince and Princess, granny?' her six year granddaughter questioned innocently, curling up in her lap.

Grandmother just laughed at her innocent granddaughter and started narrating the story while reminiscing the scenes as if it was hers.

*****

It was a bright sunny day in the village of Shadowvalor. The sun was glaring with all its strength and hot breeze was making it even more difficult for the villagers to come out to work.

People from Shadowvalor used the resources they saved up to use them in the days like this which is hard to work outside.

While everyone are taking respite on such scorching sunny day, a girl who is not a day more than twenty two years, is working hard in her little farm to gather a meal for that day.

Wiping the sweat every few seconds with the long sleeves of her ragged gown. About few yards outside the village, alone in the waste land, working in a little farm to earn food every day is nothing new for that girl.

It was the same tedious chores she does every single day from past four years.

Four years... She thought sadly.

How four years how her lonely life went on, only she knows. The pain she felt. The loneliness' she experience due to selfish motives of few people, only she knows how hurting it is.

Filling the jute basket with few eggplant and few potatoes, she returned to her small straw hut which is situated in the middle of her little farm.

Closing the wobbly door of her straw hut, she placed the basket of vegetables and fruits near the small fire place and sighed at the curse of a life she is leading.

The happy cheerful days of her childhood playing before her which made her smile and little and like a cloud they faded away in to darkness which made her smile turn sad and self – pity.

Bringing the cooking pot to the cooking place which is same as the living room and bedroom, she filled the pot with water and put the vegetables in it to boil.

How very ironic, she dreamt of working hard and providing enough food for her family one day and now when she has enough food from her hard work, she has no one to share it.

Is this the life she deserved?

What had ever happened to the little happy girl who always use to smile brightly?

She is no way the girl she once was. One incident changed everything in her life. One incident covered her life with dark clouds. One such incident made her a curse.

Just one incident!

"Ella"

"Ella"

She heard her name being called from outside her hut. She immediately rushed to open the wobbling door slowly, being careful not to bring it apart wooden holder.

"Ella, you went to the farm today? I told you I would bring the food then why did you go out in this heat?" Gode, Ella's only friend and the only person who ever talks with her, asked.

Ella looked pale despite the burning sun which made Gode's worry for her intensify.

"I am alright, Gode. I told you many times not to come here." Ella admonished her dear friend who just smiled at her gave her a container of food she brought for Ella.

"And I also told you that I'm your friend and will not leave you like those selfish people." Gode replied softly which soothed Ella's pain a little.

Ella, like always, just gave a sad smile to her dear friend and took the container to serve it two plates.

"You need to live your life on your own cord, Ella" Gode, said looking at her pale, thin friend who looked beaten from work.

Her face littered with specks of soil, her hair mixed with leaves and twigs, her lips chapped and lifeless and her stature small and thin, Gode felt sad at the look of her disheveled friend. Never did she think that a day would come when the fairytale that Ella fascinated turns into a nightmare.

"There's no life for me, Gode. You know I have no desire to live." Ella sighed out softly, her voice cracked, lacking any emotion.

After that night of her ill-fate, Ella tried to kill herself by many means. She tried to hang herself to the roof of her hut, but the strong and sturdy roof which did not even sway at the time of storm, suddenly fell. It was miracle or fate, but Ella lived that day.

The next time, she tried to jump in the rocky creak from the hill top. She closed her her eyes and was expecting the pain but it never came. As if God is against this, Ella's gown got stuck on a think branch of a tree and got saved again.

She tried to poison herself but its like even poison hates her that it did not affect her at all. She did lose her consciousness that day, but once she opened her eyes, she is completely healthy sleeping on her straw cot.

How she defied fatal venom that day is still a mystery to her. It is not like she has a family to save her nor any neighbor. She lives alone in her shack in the middle of hundred yards of a dry barren land. No person is allowed to talk to her. So how was she not affected by the venom, the question still lingered in her brain.

After that day, she accepted her doom and living a life of forbidden fruit.

"I wish you would get a –"Ella shook her head, stopping Gode from speaking any further.

"Do not wish for me anything, Gode. I have no longing for good to happen to me. Luck was never my guest. So do not wish for me anything." Ella, spoke, putting the plates filled with food on a hay platter.

"I will go have my lunch and come back soon. Do tell me if you are leaving." Ella said while walking outside her small hut.

"No, I will wait." She heard Gode's reply and nodded to her.

She walked straight towards her farm, crossing it, to a well near the farm. The dry sand is rising to make a murky surrounding, making it hard to see further. She pushed herself forward and walked in a small wooden arch that was placed out of nowhere in the middle of the vacant land.

Walking few more steps further, she knelt down and cleaned the dust from a raised platform with a cloth and placed fresh flowers on it.

The platform was in brown wooden slab and there's a large cross at the head of it. The cross has few carvings on it and in the middle of the cross is the name of the dead person and their details.

Alexander Knavesmire (1596 -1627)

Looking above and dusting the large cross at the head of the platform, Ella sighed and smiled genuinely for the first time in the day looking at the grave.

Grave... Such a negative word, yet so befitting.

Befitting to the person inside the ground and befitting to the people they left to their life too.

Talking out the two plates of food, she placed one on the platform of the grave, "Look Alex, I brought food for you. Let's have lunch together." She said looking at the tomb of her husband.

Husband...!

"Gode, brought eggs and a little bread toasted and meatball. I hope you like them. You know, I like meat balls with cheese a great deal." Ella spoke softly to the unmoving grave.

It might look like she is inane for the people who come across this event, but it was her everyday task. She shares her day events with her husband and tries to have at least one meal per day with him.

Living a deserted life out of the habitat, her husband's grave was the only thing that helped her get over her loneliness. After her husband, she never once looked at another man nor would she ever do.

Even if she wants to too, she cannot. After all she was banished from living in any habitation.

She was treated like an infectious virus and an inauspicious sight for everyone.

The person who saved the village is now an ominous person for everyone.

How selfish people are...!

How heartless to abandon a person who did their cruel bidding to save them and in return the same sacrifice became a curse for her.

"Alex, what do I do? I can live a lonely life but the self-pity I have for myself is eating me from inside. I feel so pathetic and helpless, Alex. There's no energy in me to go further in this life." Ella tears flowed down through her pale cheeks.

The dry sand rose up along with the wind and swirled around her and her husband's grave. The burning sun and the dry hot breeze is making her hard to breath but she didn't let that effect her as her main task right now is to cover her husband's food from getting dirty.

Ella leaned forward spreading both her hands over the food plate covering it with her hands as well with her torn napkin.

How come such a dainty little thing who's heart is as pure as pearl, is going through a stormy life?

This is unfortunate at the fate's end to make such a person pay for something she did not do at all. It was fate's evil game.

Waiting till the waves of sand haboob to turn calm, Ella had her remains of her meal while sharing her day activities with husband and went off towards her little trampled cabin to rest for the day, covering her husband's food plate with a hay basin and leaving it on the grave itself hoping it to be empty by the next morning like always.

"How was the meatball and toast?" Gode asked once Ella returned to her cabin after having her meal. She sat on her ragged hard bed and sighed a little before looking at her friend with a sad smile.

"It was like it was always." Ella answered with a sad smile and returned to the small clay pot to drink cool water and quench the dryness in her throat.

Not answering, Gode looked at her friend's harvest of fresh fruits and vegetable, "I spoke to one of my uncles who arrange a place for sellers to sell their goods in village market a mile away. I told everything about you and he agreed to have a place in the corner for selling your goods as long as you cover yourself or disguise yourself." Ella looked at Gode speculatively musing at the idea of selling her harvest.

Certainly it would do good to her if she earn a few coins but her only concern is what if people recognize her and throw names at her or worst what if the whole market gets shut down just because she was give a place.

She was a curse.

She was an untouchable and shouldn't be seen.

She was a bad luck.

What should she do? Should she embrace the opportunity and disguise herself or should she think about the welfare of the village people?

"Do not think about the wellbeing of the people who used you for their own selfish motives. This is a great chance for you to gain a few coins and repair you cabin and you should consider this proposal." Gode admonished, seeing through Ella's thoughts.

Gode maybe a little selfish and a hard nut to crack but she has an immense affection for her friend, Ella. From the past four years, she was the only one who stood beside Ella and caught her when she was deep falling in misery.

"I brought three cloaks that I'm not using now. You can use them and go to the market. You can sell your goods once every three days from noon to the sunset." Ella nodded her head at Gode and took the three cloaks that her friends was so kindly offering her.

Oh, how can she ever repay Gode for her kindness...!

"Do you think that I can fair well?" Ella asked, scared of the villager's reaction once they realize who was the lady in the cloaks.

"Yes, Certainly. The corner you were given was usually visited by the travelers and people from the other villages so I can tell you that they will not recognize your face unless you tell your name." Gode reassured Ella's concerns.

Sighing with scared fortitude, Ella tried the cloaks and capes she has to notice if she was well covered or not.

~*~*~*~*~

Next morning, Ella woke up early and packed the fresh fruits and vegetable along with few hay and jute platters she made in her free time. She was going to see if people would like to buy the platters or not and if they did buy them, then she was going to make them more for selling.

Putting the baskets of harvest in the large cloth, she knotted the ends of the cloth tightly without out any hole.

Sighing heavily at the thought of walking a mile with the heavy bundles and baskets to the market, she got wooden container of water and walked towards her husband's grave.

"Alex, I am going to the village market to sell the harvest. I might not be able to have the noon meal with you but we will have the supper together. Rest well." She spoke softly, kissing the flat top of the grave with a slight smile.

Walking through the vast dry vacant lands, she heaved and paused many times to catch her breath. Not long enough, a carriage rode towards her and stopped right in front of her to her surprise.

Stunned at the courage of the carriage driver who stopped and looked at her, she chose not to look at the driver for his own safety and walked past him.

"I am going to the market, dear child and the carriage is empty. Hop on, I will give you a ride." The old looking driver spoke with care and anticipation.

Ella still did not look straight at the driver but definitely shook her head, "No sir. I do not have coins to give you." Ella explained skipping the real reason of rejecting the ride.

"Do not worry, dear. Pay me with few of your fresh fruits."

"But -, You must be new to the village. You shouldn't be seen with me nor should you talk to me, sir. I am a curse."

The old looking driver smiles softly at her and gives her a knowing look. "You may be a curse, dear one but a boon is on its way to embrace every curse of yours."

*****

'What is the meaning of that, granny?' curious and involved granddaughter asks, looking at the wrinkled smile of her dear grandmother.

Grandmother lays a shawl over her granddaughter and smiles brightly at the little child.

'It means Ella's life has already started to change. And it means a curse for someone is a boon for someone else.'

Ella was stumped by the kind words the carriage driver said to her but she knew that they were just kind words, not true. Exhausted and sweaty Ella thought for a moment about the offer and climbed into the carriage with a grateful smile.

It felt cool and accommodating, riding in the carriage in such hot summer. Ella was thankful and felt lucky for having talked to a person other than Gode, after a long while and also riding a carriage after years. She was grateful for the old man's offer.

Ella opened the ties of cloth in the basket and took out two fresh and delicious smelling sweet mangoes and two big reddish yellow Apricots. Tying up the cloth again, she dusted the fruits with her little napkin and waited for the carriage to take a stop.

Once reaching the destination, Ella pulled her hood up and tied a cloth from the nose till the down of her chin to cover her face. The fruits she took out, she smiled and gave them to the old driver and thanked him profusely for his great help.

"People call me, Dale." He offered his name with a little shrug.

"I'm Ella." Ella replied softly expecting a violent reply but the old driver just smiled and nodded.

"I know, Dear one." He replied yet again with one of his knowing smile and walked away from there, leaving Ella stumped.

Composing herself, a few seconds later, Ella walked inside the market carefully, step after step, measured and cautious. Carrying a large heavy basket and trying to cover herself was not an easy task for a puny looking Ella. She stumbled many times on her way to her cart.

The market is flowing with many people in and around from many villages. There were many travelers and guards who were waiting to buy liquor in a long line.Women were busy purchasing provisions and children are running around towards a sweet chips cart. There are jewelry and hair supplies carts that are buzzed with young women buying different color ribbons and decorated pins for hair.

'Ah, how she wanted to have a carefree and relaxed like those young ladies' Ella thought to herself.

She pulled her cart from the narrow alley and arranged the fruits and vegetable on the cart. She was feeling nervous and anxious about being in the midst of many people after long years of living in solitude.

What if someone recognize her? What would happen if people throw eggs and tomatoes on her again? Will anyone ever care if she's here? Would anyone buy her goods?

She was feeling all the negative possibilities swirling in her mind and why wouldn't she think negative, when she went through a lot of pain, betrayal and has been a pawn of selfish deeds?

Tying the scarf around her face tightly, she waited for people to stop by her cart. Three hours passed but no one came to purchase from her. All the vendors around her were brimming with coins selling away their goods almost in an hour. Expect her.

Her harvest is untouched and un-approached. Not even one person looked at her or her goods at all. Standing in the hot sun in hope of earning a coin turned out to be more than nightmare to her given that she's hiding her identity.

"Hmm – you, lass." she heard a slurred voice from her right side and turned towards the source to see if she was being called. A man of five and half foot tall covered with dirt patches on face and clothes stood in front of her, drinking liquor directly from a large glass bottle.

He was looking at Ella evilly and smirked at her displaying his yellowish black teeth. The dark liquor was rolling down from either sides of the mouth disgustingly. He was swaying back and forth and laughed malicious at Ella.

Ella sensed the danger oozing out of the strange man who was looking at her like she was one tasty piece of meat. Looking around to find someone for help, Ella found no one near the perimeter of her cart as all the sellers from that side of the market has already left after successfully selling their goods.

"Looking for someone, lass? Do not be troubled, I will take better care of you." The drunken stranger laughed vicious and inched towards the shivering Ella.

Ella was in a fix as she couldn't fight nor could she call someone for help. She wore too many layers of clothes on her that her arms and legs are not supporting her to at least fight back. She was getting anxious as the evil man was eyeing her from head to toe like she was a sweet ball that you would find in carnivals.

Ella started walking back and was looking around to see if there was any way to find an escape but seems like her luck was at it's worst like all the other times as she was cornered by the drunken man.

"What are you d-oing? Please. Please stop there. I'm already married and my husband would hurt you if you touch me." Ella tried to trick the man in the name of her husband. In all the haste of trying to escape from the evil drunk man, Ella stumbled upon a large root of the tree that was behind her and she fell on the ground sporting a huge gash on her elbows.

"Ah, so you are beautiful looking married lass, I see. Your husband would not mind sharing something this pretty with others. Like I said, I would take good care of your pretty body." The evil man whispered in her ear, lowering himself to her level. That was when Ella noticed that her scarf was not its place and her face was quite visible clearly.

"Please Help. HELP" Ella yelled for help seeing that there was no other way to escape from the strong grip of the man.

"Ah, that sweet voice!" The drunk man closed into Ella and caught her small frame in his dirty shivering arms and leaned his face into her shoulder and bit her there, making Ella cry out loud.

Ella flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to push the drunken man from her but he was too strong for her. She was crying loudly and calling for help continuously but not a person came to help her.

"No please, stop." Ella begged the man and tried hard to shove him away only to have him pull off the cloak around her.

"Ssh, no one would come to save her. So quit flailing and give in." The man said pulling the hooks of her dress one by one.

"NO!" She yelled and suddenly her eyes started to blur and slowly darkness was invading her. "No... st-s-top" She whispered in the haze of fainting and just as the conscious complete left her, she felt the evil man's body was lifted from her.

She could see a dark figure looming above her from her state of partial consciousness but couldn't figure out who the person was. She tried to open her eyes complete and see the person that must've helped her however the last bit of her awareness slipped and she was embraced by peaceful oblivious and the last thing she hallucinated was hearing a soft whisper, 'You are safe, love'.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How are you feeling now, dear?" Ella heard a soft voice and groaned lowly as she opened her eyes. Fluttering her eyes, she slowly opened them. As soon as she opened her eyes, she found herself in the old carriage that she rode that noon.

She looked around confused as to how she was in the carriage and slowly all that happened in the market hit her like a tornado. Tears rolled from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around her as if to protect herself.

"You are safe, dear." Ella looked at the source and found the kind old driver, Dale, smiling down at her warmly.

"How am I here? That... t-that man – He was... he tried to –. Thank you for saving me." She stuttered trying to frame a sentence in her scared condition.

"You are safe. And I'm not your savior. Your savior is someone else who would not allow any threat near to you again." Dale's words confused Ella to a great extent.

What does he mean by that?

Why would someone save her willingly? she was untouchable and a bad luck?

What does he mean by not allowing threat near her?

Why does she feel that somehow there is a connection between this and the feeling of her being watched?

Did her life really started to change like Dale said?

Only time can reveal all the mysteries of her life.