The whispering village
“This stranger should not have come here. What is he doing here? Doesn’t he know we are not allowed to…?”
“Excuse me, could you help me with some direct…”
“WHY would he approach us? Cannot, CANNOT. Can’t touch us, shouldn’t hear us. Move away. We gotta move away. The whisper cannot stop, and cannot be heard.”
“He will learn.”
“He must.”
“He won’t know.”
“Why would he come here? He wanted direction. What direction? Leading where? He cannot find. Did he hear about her?”
“He cannot find her.”
“Why would he want her?”
“How did he find out about her? Send the whispers to everyone. He cannot. She must be concealed.”
“He is asking others. What should we do? Can we touch him? How far can we go to stop him? How far will he go to find her? Whispers are getting louder. Tell everyone to be mindful. He is making faces. He doesn’t like it here. Haha. Hehehe.”
“He suspicious.”
“Or weirded out.”
“Possible, possible.”
“Not the first stranger, but not many before him. None can find her. Not allowed. But how do they hear about this place? How do they know about her?”
“Perchance that paddler.”
“Must be the one spreading the word.”
“To the outside world.”
“He shouldn’t tell. He shouldn’t be allowed to bring strangers here. We should tell her. Someone should whisper to her. No she would be mad.”
“She cannot be mad.”
“Ney ney ney.”
“Dangerous. Whisperer missing.”
“New bones appear in village. Hanging as reminders, or decoration? Gives us strange comfort. We can only guess. She is ruler of village. We owe our life to her. She keep us alive. She feeds us. New stranger. Could be delicious. We not allow to touch. If she gives him to us we can taste. Where did he go? Cannot see.”
“Must move. Everyone. Everything must flow. Whisper cannot stop. Hoodie must cover head. Stranger best not look. Go everyone, listen to what he is up to. Search, follow.”
“What about the paddler?”
“Paddler cannot be touched. We hear back first. Hope she won’t be mad.”
“Village sometimes has new whisperer.”
“We cannot see other whisperers’ faces.”
“We keep whispers constant.”
“Where is he? Oh he found the only path HOW?”
“Shhh, whisper should be silent.”
“Emotion cannot grow louder than whisper.”
“Follow him, follow him, but don’t get too close. Cannot touch, cannot touch. Oh he’s going deep, brave man. Brave young man. The poor soul. So exciting. Keep your distance, everyone, just silently, whispering after him. He cannot hear. He’s looking back at us worryingly. Hehehehe. Little gathering, like guidance. Let’s hope she will gift him to us. Juicy, hungry, flesh.”
“A SCREAM!”
“A whisperer. Fool! Why would you scream? Now you are done. She will come for you.”
“Cannot scream.”
“Not allowed.”
“All crows fly scared now.”
“He jumped too, hehehe.”
“Oh he has a nice dagger. Is that why the fool screamed? He’s scared too, and he is after her. She must know by now that he is coming.”
“Stop whispering! I cannot make out what you are saying! And stop following! God, I cannot concentrate! You people give me the creeps!”
“He nervous.”
“He speaks so loud, snowy mountain echo.”
“I like echo.”
“We cannot have echo.”
“She must have heard him. How does he know the way? Do we herd him? He’s shaking. Perchance the cold. It is cold. Very cold. He’s a brave man. I hope he is delicious. We hungry. So many follow him. It has been a while we fed. He speaks again.”
“Fool fool man.”
“But brave.”
“But fool, he doesn’t know he has no chance.”
“Where are you, you witch? Why don’t you send your minions away and come out to greet me? I brought a deal.”
“Deal, he said!”
“What deal.”
“What did he say? No deal allowed.”
“He is meat.”
“She lives long. No fool can trick her. She powerful. I hope she lives. No, I cannot hope she die. She must hear our hopes. She must know about our thoughts. She make us whisper with no stop to it. Some say she collects.”
“Collect what?”
“Collect thoughts.”
“Nonsense. Thoughts are spoken through whisper, therefore she hears it. Some don’t believe it. Don’t matter. Some are dead.”
“Hehehehe.”
“He swung at us.”
“Turned around in agitation and swung with the dagger.”
“Too far to reach.”
“Only wanted to deter.”
“He anxious.”
“Good. Hehehe.”
“Fool.”
“Back with all of you!”
“He speaks again.”
“Getting closer.”
“Pain!”
“In our heads!”
“Her angry scream.”
“Blowing up in our head causing jump-scare.”
“We came too far from our village. We must remain.”
“Can’t escape.”
“We are cattle.”
“Must do our turns and walks around village like ants. He didn’t get scared. He doesn’t hear her. He must think he scared us with his sways.”
“Fool. She lets him into her lair. Even worse.”
“We’ll wait for his body.”
“If she’s kind enough.”
“Come everyone. Get back.”
“People in dark cloaks. Hoodies.”
“Moving like sheep.”
“Little creek next to path. Coming from the mountain cave.”
“Sometime turn red.”
“Dark red.”
“Make us thirsty. Can’t resist when it’s red. Strong urge, perchance coming from her. A gift! But creek isn’t red yet. Hehehehe. Wait and see. Wait and see..”
“He is making his way up there.”
“Cannot follow.”
“But what is that?”
“Farewell, young man!”
“Something in the grass.”
“He must have lost it.”
“Fallen out of pocket. He did have a few pockets. Fancy clothing. Must be high places. This thing is white. A piece of paper. I fetch. No one else saw it? Sheep. Whispering to themselves. Just like me. It’s a letter. How my? Have not seen long time. Exciting. Peek into life. Perhaps. Peek into outside world. World we cannot have anymore. No one cares about this little village. No one cares about these people. One man isn’t enough. Ergh. Cannot speak ill. Cannot think ill. As long as we are fed. We can remain here. Unfolding the letter. Has a nice touch. Beautiful handwriting. Pass to one can read.”
Dear stranger,
In the unfortunate event of failing to complete my task, you should find this letter with my dead body. Considering the arsenal I am bringing to hunt down that infamous creature that people merely call a witch, this letter should never come to light in any hand but my own.
Nevertheless, I wish to ensure that my family, and everyone who wished me luck and trained me for this mission, which many begged me not to undertake, shall at least learn my fate. They spoke of me as a foolish boy for venturing alone into savage lands after dangerous things, but in truth I had simply lost interest in the most mundane things of life, which have always been handed to me. As many know, I have always felt a strong attraction towards uncovering the darker sides of life. My body and mind are at their prime, so I shall set out for something challenging, worthy, interesting and adventurous. I shall uncover the devil’s work and clear this world of it, if God finds me worthy!
If I die, which I greatly doubt, considering that I could gather only rumours and legends wrapped in superstition about that place, then I shall die with integrity. If I die, that will mean not only that the witch is real, but that she is every bit as powerful as the rumours tried to make me believe. If I die, I shall have failed to be God’s dagger. I shall have failed to be the man who would sell all his possessions just to seek more journeys and challenges like this. Were it possible, I would make this my profession! I feel alive again at last!
However, I shall finish this letter now. The weather has turned quite foggy and even colder, and the paddler informs me that we are nearing the village, which bears the peculiar name of Ominsvåg, though most folk know it by its nickname:
The whispering village
1889,
Baron Gerhard von Deutschmann