You're So Cute, Popuri
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Popuri Aberlen had always loved fairy tales. For as long as she could remember, she reveled in the imaginative storytelling, her mind woven with legends of slumbering princesses, lake spirits, mermaids, and forest witches. The tales came from near and far, and she drank every single one in like a tall glass of soda, letting them carry her into her dreams.
Her favorite, however, was by far the tale of the Harvest Goddess and her Rainbow Sprites. A kind and beautiful woman, the Harvest Goddess was said to dwell in the waterfall at Mother's Hill, granting wishes to those who sent her offerings. Her sprites were said to assist with farm work to whomever could find and befriend them.
Popuri, of course, had latched onto this tale tightly since she was a child, despite never meeting the Goddess face-to-face. Every single day, without fail, she would offer something and make a wish: A flower for her father back; an egg for her mother's health; a berry for true love; a bamboo shoot for happiness. Though she knew deep down that her efforts were in vain, she never gave up trying.
It was on a fine autumn evening that Popuri felt something - a stir in the crisp, fresh air that told her something was nearby. She had finished sending another offering to the Goddess - this time, a mushroom, for the happiness of her family and friends.
"As I offer the bounties of nature to you, I send with them my undying devotion. May I someday be blessed to gaze upon your divine form," she whispered, hands clasped, once again reciting the prayer that Pastor Carter had taught her as a child.
That was when she heard it behind her... the faintest rustle, a ghost of a giggle.
"Who... who's there?!" she cried, spinning around in shock and almost losing her footing. No answer came. "Hello? He... hello!"
"You're so pretty," a childish voice called from behind her.
Popuri gasped and spun around... nobody, nothing, was there. "I... please, stop it! You're scaring me!"
"You're so pretty, Popuri," a high voice whispered in her ear. She shrieked and fell backwards, landing hard on her rear with a cry of pain.
"Stop it!" Popuri shrieked. "Please!"
"Very pretty..."
Popuri clambered to her feet clumsily and trembled, looking all around her... it had become very dark. She couldn't even see Gotz's cabin, or Claire's farm... it wasn't that late...
Looking up, she gasped. The sky had become pitch black. The trees surrounding her were dead and bare, their skeletal branches looming high above her like deadly, clawed fingers, ready to impale her soft skin...
"You're so cute, Popuri," one of the voices hissed, directly into her mind. "So cute when you're scared... so beautiful..."
"Help!" Popuri screamed, suddenly breaking into a run. "Please, somebody - HELP! Help me! HELP ME!"
She ran down the path leading from the spring, tearing blindly toward Claire's farm. The path seemed to go on forever - she huffed, panted, gasped, a stitch forming in her side, but she never seemed to get any further. Fog rolled in, and more grasping trees loomed up around her. Almost as if they'd come out of nowhere...
"You're beautiful," the voices breathed again. "Yours so that she may have hers... your youth for hers... your beauty for hers..."
Popuri collapsed, sobbing. "Leave me ALONE! Rick! Mama! MAMA! Where are you?!"
"You always believed," the voices hissed, circling around her. "She'll see you now... she always was so happy when you came..."
A horrible, loud clanking and thumping noise began to sound from all around Popuri. Unearthly moans, wails, and hisses darted among them, and the fog grew thicker, thicker... it was choking her...
"Ma..." Popuri squeaked out one final time. Excruciating pain wracked her body, and a terrible, unholy scream ripped through the air...
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Popuri Aberlen had always loved the tale of the Harvest Goddess and her Rainbow Sprites. Every single day, without fail, she would offer something and make a wish: A flower for her father back; an egg for her mother's health; a berry for true love; a bamboo shoot for happiness. Though she knew deep down that her efforts were in vain, she never gave up trying.
When Gotz Hark found her limp, lifeless body facedown the next morning, looking as if it had been clawing at the dirt before dying, Mineral Town was shaken to its very core. Her mother and brother had gone into hysterics and had to be sedated. Nobody was allowed to see the body once Gotz, Mayor Thomas, and Carter had examined it...
Popuri's face was almost entirely gone. The nose, the eyes, the ears - everything simply vanished, the flesh sunken inward and twisted, flour-white, the mouth frozen into an agonized scream, her tongue seemingly torn out. Her body was shriveled and gnarled, the skin clinging tightly to her bones. Nobody could even begin to guess what had done this to her. All they knew was that they felt a strong, sudden urge to begin praying to the Harvest Goddess for protection and peace...
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I don't have anything against Popuri, she just seemed like the most likely person to get sucked into something like this. You can thank the Silent Hill series for the inspiration, as well as The Meaning of the Word by Moonlit Dreaming. Feel free to leave a review, if you'd like.