Diminishing Happiness by xiong wei
My best friend, my teddy bear, my chocolates, my smile, my childhood, all my happiness….Gone...Freezing in cold water…Sinking downwards…Help! Help. Help……
Slowly, the door opened. A beam of light crept into the black room, and a shadow was standing behind the squeaking door hinges.
Closing the door carefully, Jan tiptoed into her brother--John’s bedroom. There was no one else in the house; the only sound she could hear was her own breathing and footsteps. Scanning the deserted room, she was shocked by the gloomy atmosphere there. The windows were tightly shut. There was no sign of life, the curtains fluttered in the occasional breeze. There was nothing else except the basic furniture. The silence, the emptiness of the bedroom was so uncomfortable, almost taunting.
Suddenly, Jan turned her head back. Nothing stirred. But she still had the unsettling feeling of being watched. Unconsciously, Jan furrowed her eyebrows and sighed. Ignoring her rapidly thumping heart, she took slow, deliberate steps around the room, trying to find anything suspicious. “Nothing special…” she murmured, a bit disappointed.
Abruptly, she spotted the corner of a black notebook under the pillow. She inched towards the bed, looking guiltily around her before pulling out the notebook from under the pillow. It was a nice notebook with simple patterns on the cover. On the right corner of it, there was a skull labeled by a kind of strange language. She stared at the notebook, wondering if it was the secret that John was trying to hide from her.
John has changed a lot since last month. It was odd that John, the usual social butterfly, had become a lone wolf. He darkened his fair hair and began to wear black T-shirt and black jeans. He refused to talk to anybody, and he always locked himself in his bedroom. He rarely went out and Jan has not seen him smile for the whole month. It seems quite clear that John was keeping a secret, a secret that affected him so much to the extent of almost being destroyed. Being his only kin, Jan thought she had the responsibility to find out the secret and try to help John. That was the purpose of being in John’s room.
Holding the black notebook, Jan was so overwhelmed with excitement and curiosity that her hands began to tremble. “Is this John’s diary that he confides in? Or is it just a normal notebook? “Jan asked herself. After hesitating for a few minutes, she licked her parched lips nervously and opened the notebook with her guilty hands.
As soon as Jan opened the notebook, something black, something enormous, something smoky, erupted from it. Within an instant, the black fog engulfed the entire bedroom. It suddenly became very cold as if someone has turned on the air-conditioner. No, it was worse. The cold air around Jan did not make her feel cool at all. In stead, she felt a cold air flowing down her spine and she was gripped with visceral fear. Her stomach contract, as if a bucketful of ice has cascaded there, as if the cold was inside her chest and her very heart, as if the thick black was swirling inside her…
Standing in the very heart of the immense black fog, illuminated by the dim moonlight outside of the windows, was a massive figure floating on the air.
Jan had no clue what it was. It was like a massive black boar with hard bony long face, shaped like that of a horse. A pair of blazing eyes, bright as a burning flame, glowed in the darkness. The entire body was rough and blackened with grease. Its tail swished idly from side to side as if it was bored. The thing drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it was trying to suck something more than the air and the fog from its surroundings.
“So, you are the next greedy child?” the strange creature gave Jan a mocking smile.
Jan did not reply; she was breathless with fear. She just stood frozen there, paralyzed. At long last, she opened her mouth and muttered”Who…are y…you?”
A hideous grin parted the creature’s thick lips. His probing eyes stared at Jan, ” I am the secret that you want to find out. So, who am I? I am the notebook-monster, the one who eats your brother’s happiness.”
Trying to be calm, she held on to her breath, “Why?”
“Why? It’s a deal! Your brother feeds me his happiness. In return, I give him power—power to run fast, power to think fast and power to attract girls…any powers…” Again, the notebook-monster gave Jan a menacing grin.
Jan swallowed, as though the fact had brought a lump to her throat. All her fear and insecurities stuck in her throat, choking her words. A ghostly silence fell upon the room, and the monster was just staring at Jan, with his sickeningly sweet and terrifying smile.
The seconds felt like an eternity, the monster’s words sliced through the horrible silence, “Come on, which power do you want? And how many happiness can you feed me? I am already starving…”
Hearing those words, Jan’s throat raw, from the raspy breathing could only croak one word,”No!”
No, I do not want any power, I do not want to lose my happiness, I do not want to make a deal with the monster...I…I need to run away…Jan murmured under her breath, shaking her head madly and cupping her mouth to stop herself from screaming. She inched backwards, trying to reach the door without the monster’s notice.
“Trying to escape, is it?” the monster asked with a tone which was just too smooth. While asking, he followed Jan and studied her like a lurking eagle. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. His eyes chilled Jan, causing her to feel faint with fear. The last sound she heard was the monster’s menacing laugh, and nothing else. Horrible visions swam across her closing eyes, and then disappeared. The thin light began to diminish and all Jan could see and feel was just sinking BLACKNESS…
