Eyes on the Ground

There was a woman that walked through town every Saturday morning. While she walked the rest of the town, stayed indoors. No one dared to open their shutters. Or peep through the peephole of their doors. If you were already outdoors while she was on her walk, you were encouraged to stare at the ground. Keep your eyes on the ground. Nowhere else but the ground.

You could not advert your eyes from your feet.

That wasn’t something that anyone had ever told you. But you knew from how people fled from brief sights of her. Every single time that she appeared in town, everyone turned their gaze away. Hid indoors or stared into someone else’s eyes to avoid looking at her. Despite all of this you were so curious about her. Curious as to why everyone looked away while she was walking through town. If it wasn’t really a rule then there would be no harm in looking at the woman directly, right?

That’s what you kept telling yourself as you realized she was coming. As you spotted your neighbors adverting their gazes. Staring deeply into someone else’s eyes. Running into their homes. A man that lived next to you bolting over his hedge to get to his home in order to avoid her. That normally would have made you laugh. If it weren’t for the fact that the woman was someone everyone seemed so…so afraid of. Your eyes immediately dropped to the ground as you slowly turned to avoid seeing her. Trying to make it seem natural and not draw attention to yourself. As you didn’t want to offend the strange woman. She walked past you as she softly sang to herself. Her perfume wafting into your nose as you listened to her voice. There was something oddly familiar about the song. But you weren’t entirely sure of what it was. All you did know is that it was one of the most beautiful sounds that you’d ever heard in your life.

“All the mermaids have sharp teeth~”,she sang. It was difficult to resist the urge to look towards the woman. That melodic voice calling to you as you kept your eyes to the ground. Nearly intoxicated by her beautiful scent. So familiar but at the same time not. Her voice felt like a pull as you stood there. As if it were dragging you through town with her. Despite your feet not leaving the ground. She continued,”Razor blades all in your feet~”

The way she dragged it that last word squeezed something inside of you. Like she was singing it just for you. You almost hear music following the words to her song. But that was impossible. There was no way that you could hear that. And you didn’t dare glance up as you heard her continue to sing. Something that you weren’t entirely able to clearly make out anymore. She was moving too fast for you to properly hear her as you stood in place. All you could hear was her voice.

Feeling that pull that you had felt only a few minutes before. Your heart felt like it was aching as you resisted the urge to follow her. Follow that strange woman to understand who she was. What she was. When you couldn’t hear her voice anymore, you dared to look up. All you saw was the top of that strange woman’s head as she slowly vanished out of your sight. Slowly, you let out a sigh. Feeling so strangely…empty inside. Almost like you wished you had looked up. Or joined her as she continued her walk throughout the whole town.

Maybe next time.