This is a story I wrote a few months ago & posted it on my DA page. I guess I'll share it here as well. 
Enjoy!
Whether you've heard about me or not, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Emilia Devos and I'm a journalist. Above all, I like to report on unique people and share their life stories with everyone. After all what's the point of having an exceptional life if no one knows what's so special about it?
A few days ago, fate blessed me with a rather unusual encounter. I was taking a stroll through the woods when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worst and rain started pouring down like crazy. My car being parked relatively far I searched for a safe place where I could remain relatively dry. That's when I noticed an old apparently abandoned cabin. I made a run for it and entered.
I shook myself more or less dry and looked around me. The outer appearance of this hut mislead me, this place was definitively occupied, although clearly by someone in much financial need. There was a table, 2 chairs. A few basic cooking utensils, a cupboard with a few water bottles and unappetizing looking food, a wooden bathtub and an old bed. Next to the bed was a broken closet, containing a few miserable dresses. No sign of electricity or running water. A fireplace was there with a cooking pot, but no fire was burning.
I heard the door open behind me, and someone shrieking.
"Hiiiiiiii! Who are you?"
I turned around and found myself face to face with the owner of this place, a woman of about 25. She was drenched by the rain, unsurprisingly. Her clothes looked simple and used, a dead rabbit hanging on her waist, most likely tonight's dinner she just caught. She could have been a fine looking woman, but her current look destroyed any kind of beauty she once might have had. Yet, I couldn't help but feeling I've met this woman before... More urgently she pointed her hunting knife at me. I raised my hands, apologetically.
"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know someone lived here. You see the rain caught me off guard. I'll leave immediately."
She seemed to calm down a bit and lowered her weapon.
"Ah, I see. Yeah the weather is kinda shitty today ain't it? Well it's all right, you may stay here until it calms down a bit. Although, I apologize but I can't really offer anything to a guest, apart from some water."
She closed the door behind her, put her rabbit in a corner and served 2 glasses of water. It was really touching how this woman who had almost nothing, was willing to share what little she had with a total stranger. I did feel obligated to compensate her and took out a 10 $ bill from my wallet. I could never have predicated what happened after that.
At the sight of the bill she jumped back in fear and screamed : "NO!!! Please, put that accursed green paper away! I don't want her to come back!" She was trembling and about to burst in tears, so I quickly put the bill back in my wallet, confused.
"Are you all right miss...?"
"Maria. Yes I'll be ok, just don't show me money, I beg you..."
"As you wish. I'm Emilia, by the way. Emilia Devos. Is there anything that I can do for you?"
"Emilia...Devos" she repeated slowly, thinking. Then I could suddenly imagine a light-bulb above her head.
"Ooh I remember you, you interviewed my former boss, Horace Weathon."
"Yes that's correct, that was 3 years ago." Horace Weathon is the CEO of a local brewery. I interviewed him while I was still a student as an assignment. Now I remember, this girl was his secretary, I took the appointment via her.
"Ha, small world, seems like a lifetime ago..." she mumbled.
Now that peaked my curiosity, what's this woman who had an apparently decent position doing in the middle of nowhere. I had to ask.
"If you don't mind Maria... what exactly happened to you?"
"I lost my mind. That's the official story at least."
"And the unofficial one?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me. I meet people with unbelievable life stories almost every week."
She looked uncomfortable, and looked at the rain outside and sighted.
"Well it doesn't look like the rain is gonna calm down anytime soon. Might as well tell you to kill time."
"I'm all ears."
By reflex, I took out my Dictaphone.
"You don't mind if I record it?"
"He, why not, it's not like you'll get a story out of it."
Boy was she wrong on that!
"Anyway Emilia, do you believe in curses?"
"No."
"Neither did I, and I hope for you, you'll never have an encounter that will change your mind."
"So you lost all your money due to a curse?" that's what a lot of losers in the stock market probably think.
She shook her head, "Quite the opposite actually, but allow to start from the beginning.
Actually it all started a few weeks after you did your interview with Horace. I was on my way home from work when I spotted a wallet on the ground. I picked it up and examined it's content. First thing I noticed it's that it was full of money, about 10 000 $ worth of cash was in it. The only other item it contained was a picture of a pretty blond woman in a blue dress. I looked around but there was no one on the street, and since no ID was in it, well I decided to keep the wallet. The worst mistake I made in my life.
That night I had my first dream. I found myself sitting in a sofa of a place I had never been before. In front of me was the woman in blue.
She smiled gently and told me : " I see you like my little gift. Don't worry you may keep it. It will help you become the richest woman on the planet."
She stood up and walked towards me. I wanted to stand but couldn't. She gave me a quick rib tickle and kissed my cheek.
"Don't worry, just enjoy your life from now on."
I was scared, I somehow knew it was a dream but she still scared me. "What do you want from me?"
"Oh not much, we'll just have some fun from time to time."
I woke up the following morning and thought I had dreamed this due to guilt of taking all that money. Nevertheless I quickly shook it off and started spending by modernizing my house. A few days later while I was at work I received a call from my neighbors, telling me that my house was on fire. I urged by home to find out the fireman had it under control, but a lot of damage had been done to the building. Nevertheless the insurance company paid me back swiftly and I got over a hundred thousand back from it.
That's when I had her second visit at night.
That time I awoke on a bed unable to move, the woman in Blue was sitting right next to me.
"Don't worry about the fire my dear, as you've seen you've been adequately compensated. And there is much more to come. As for me, it's time for my reward."
She giggled like a schoolgirl and approached me, mischievously.
"It won't take long just a few minutes", she assured me.
Then she started to tickle my underarms.
I burst out laughing, it might have been a dream but it felt so real. I tried to speak out but couldn't, only laughter came out of my mouth.
"You're adorable, we're going to have soooo much fun in the future together."
After what I guess was five minutes, she stopped.
"See you next time!" she waved at me and I woke up.
Afterwards, a series of strange incidents happened in a relative short amount of time, I accidentally invented a cooking recipe which I patented and earned a lot with , I won the lottery, a foreign relative I've never heard about passed away and left me some land. Said land was revealed to inhabit a petroleum oil and I sold it for a fortune. Basically no matter what I got richer and richer. And every time that happened, the woman in blue would come visit me in my dreams and have some ticklish "fun" with me. The issue is, her visits became more and more frequent, and her "sessions" became longer and longer. She was doing her best to be creative, every time we met the setup was different. She appeared to me as a hospital nurse claiming to cure me from sadness, a nun trying to absolve my sins, a gang leader trying to extract info from me... She was really enjoying torturing me, and there was nothing I could do.
I was honestly freaked out by that point. In a few months I had become a billionaire, I lived in a luxurious house and had maids & butlers but none of it felt deserved.
I installed a hidden camera in my room to try and see her, but the only thing I saw was myself laughing in my sleep, my body trembling like crazy.
As my fortune kept growing, her visits ultimately reached a daily status. She would be there every time I want to sleep, waiting to torture me until morning came.
I begged her to stop, told her I had enough money, that she didn't need to make me any more rich but to no avail.
Ultimately I didn't dare to sleep anymore. I installed tons of alarm clocks in my room to ring every 10 minutes. I also kept drinking coffee over and over out of sheer fear.
That didn't please her at all.
When I finally collapsed of exhaustion after staying up for nearly 50 hours she was furious. She said I would have to pay back with interest all the fun we missed.
I don't want to remember what happened afterwards, but I'll just say this : I was in a coma for a whole week. I got transported to a hospital, while laughing in my sleep, no matter what the doctors tried no one managed to wake me up.
When I finally rejoined the land of the living, I heard doctors talking. They thought I was crazy, and they were probably considering locking me up in observation. If that happened I would have no way out anymore, I had to act.
I ran away from the hospital. I arrived at my mansion and told every staff member to leave, they were all fired. She kept saying her actions were payment for all the money she gave me, I had to get rid of it all. I sprayed gasoline around the house and burned it to the ground.
I gave all my money away to charity, every last cent.
While my fortune started to lessen, her visits became shorter and less frequent again. When I finally had nothing left she appeared one last time and she promised me she'll make me rich again. She said she loved me too much for that.
That's how I ended up in these woods, I never want to see another dollar in my life.
You may think I'm crazy but it's all true."
As Maria finished her story, the rain had finally calmed down. I didn't know what to make out of it. She seemed sincere, and I don't think she was lying to me but every inch of logic that was in my brain told me she had lost her mind.
I wished the poor woman farewell and headed back to my car before it started raining again. I got back in town and stepped out of the car in front of my apartment block.
I couldn't believe my eyes, but there it lied on the ground, in front of me, a wallet.
I picked it up, no ID.
But two items were in it : The first a good amount of money, the second a picture of a woman in a blue dress.
Needless to say I turned the wallet in at the nearby police station.
A good night of sleep is priceless after all.
-------------------
Also my buddy TheHunter1338 made an illustration based on this.
Enjoy!
Whether you've heard about me or not, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Emilia Devos and I'm a journalist. Above all, I like to report on unique people and share their life stories with everyone. After all what's the point of having an exceptional life if no one knows what's so special about it?
A few days ago, fate blessed me with a rather unusual encounter. I was taking a stroll through the woods when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worst and rain started pouring down like crazy. My car being parked relatively far I searched for a safe place where I could remain relatively dry. That's when I noticed an old apparently abandoned cabin. I made a run for it and entered.
I shook myself more or less dry and looked around me. The outer appearance of this hut mislead me, this place was definitively occupied, although clearly by someone in much financial need. There was a table, 2 chairs. A few basic cooking utensils, a cupboard with a few water bottles and unappetizing looking food, a wooden bathtub and an old bed. Next to the bed was a broken closet, containing a few miserable dresses. No sign of electricity or running water. A fireplace was there with a cooking pot, but no fire was burning.
I heard the door open behind me, and someone shrieking.
"Hiiiiiiii! Who are you?"
I turned around and found myself face to face with the owner of this place, a woman of about 25. She was drenched by the rain, unsurprisingly. Her clothes looked simple and used, a dead rabbit hanging on her waist, most likely tonight's dinner she just caught. She could have been a fine looking woman, but her current look destroyed any kind of beauty she once might have had. Yet, I couldn't help but feeling I've met this woman before... More urgently she pointed her hunting knife at me. I raised my hands, apologetically.
"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know someone lived here. You see the rain caught me off guard. I'll leave immediately."
She seemed to calm down a bit and lowered her weapon.
"Ah, I see. Yeah the weather is kinda shitty today ain't it? Well it's all right, you may stay here until it calms down a bit. Although, I apologize but I can't really offer anything to a guest, apart from some water."
She closed the door behind her, put her rabbit in a corner and served 2 glasses of water. It was really touching how this woman who had almost nothing, was willing to share what little she had with a total stranger. I did feel obligated to compensate her and took out a 10 $ bill from my wallet. I could never have predicated what happened after that.
At the sight of the bill she jumped back in fear and screamed : "NO!!! Please, put that accursed green paper away! I don't want her to come back!" She was trembling and about to burst in tears, so I quickly put the bill back in my wallet, confused.
"Are you all right miss...?"
"Maria. Yes I'll be ok, just don't show me money, I beg you..."
"As you wish. I'm Emilia, by the way. Emilia Devos. Is there anything that I can do for you?"
"Emilia...Devos" she repeated slowly, thinking. Then I could suddenly imagine a light-bulb above her head.
"Ooh I remember you, you interviewed my former boss, Horace Weathon."
"Yes that's correct, that was 3 years ago." Horace Weathon is the CEO of a local brewery. I interviewed him while I was still a student as an assignment. Now I remember, this girl was his secretary, I took the appointment via her.
"Ha, small world, seems like a lifetime ago..." she mumbled.
Now that peaked my curiosity, what's this woman who had an apparently decent position doing in the middle of nowhere. I had to ask.
"If you don't mind Maria... what exactly happened to you?"
"I lost my mind. That's the official story at least."
"And the unofficial one?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me. I meet people with unbelievable life stories almost every week."
She looked uncomfortable, and looked at the rain outside and sighted.
"Well it doesn't look like the rain is gonna calm down anytime soon. Might as well tell you to kill time."
"I'm all ears."
By reflex, I took out my Dictaphone.
"You don't mind if I record it?"
"He, why not, it's not like you'll get a story out of it."
Boy was she wrong on that!
"Anyway Emilia, do you believe in curses?"
"No."
"Neither did I, and I hope for you, you'll never have an encounter that will change your mind."
"So you lost all your money due to a curse?" that's what a lot of losers in the stock market probably think.
She shook her head, "Quite the opposite actually, but allow to start from the beginning.
Actually it all started a few weeks after you did your interview with Horace. I was on my way home from work when I spotted a wallet on the ground. I picked it up and examined it's content. First thing I noticed it's that it was full of money, about 10 000 $ worth of cash was in it. The only other item it contained was a picture of a pretty blond woman in a blue dress. I looked around but there was no one on the street, and since no ID was in it, well I decided to keep the wallet. The worst mistake I made in my life.
That night I had my first dream. I found myself sitting in a sofa of a place I had never been before. In front of me was the woman in blue.
She smiled gently and told me : " I see you like my little gift. Don't worry you may keep it. It will help you become the richest woman on the planet."
She stood up and walked towards me. I wanted to stand but couldn't. She gave me a quick rib tickle and kissed my cheek.
"Don't worry, just enjoy your life from now on."
I was scared, I somehow knew it was a dream but she still scared me. "What do you want from me?"
"Oh not much, we'll just have some fun from time to time."
I woke up the following morning and thought I had dreamed this due to guilt of taking all that money. Nevertheless I quickly shook it off and started spending by modernizing my house. A few days later while I was at work I received a call from my neighbors, telling me that my house was on fire. I urged by home to find out the fireman had it under control, but a lot of damage had been done to the building. Nevertheless the insurance company paid me back swiftly and I got over a hundred thousand back from it.
That's when I had her second visit at night.
That time I awoke on a bed unable to move, the woman in Blue was sitting right next to me.
"Don't worry about the fire my dear, as you've seen you've been adequately compensated. And there is much more to come. As for me, it's time for my reward."
She giggled like a schoolgirl and approached me, mischievously.
"It won't take long just a few minutes", she assured me.
Then she started to tickle my underarms.
I burst out laughing, it might have been a dream but it felt so real. I tried to speak out but couldn't, only laughter came out of my mouth.
"You're adorable, we're going to have soooo much fun in the future together."
After what I guess was five minutes, she stopped.
"See you next time!" she waved at me and I woke up.
Afterwards, a series of strange incidents happened in a relative short amount of time, I accidentally invented a cooking recipe which I patented and earned a lot with , I won the lottery, a foreign relative I've never heard about passed away and left me some land. Said land was revealed to inhabit a petroleum oil and I sold it for a fortune. Basically no matter what I got richer and richer. And every time that happened, the woman in blue would come visit me in my dreams and have some ticklish "fun" with me. The issue is, her visits became more and more frequent, and her "sessions" became longer and longer. She was doing her best to be creative, every time we met the setup was different. She appeared to me as a hospital nurse claiming to cure me from sadness, a nun trying to absolve my sins, a gang leader trying to extract info from me... She was really enjoying torturing me, and there was nothing I could do.
I was honestly freaked out by that point. In a few months I had become a billionaire, I lived in a luxurious house and had maids & butlers but none of it felt deserved.
I installed a hidden camera in my room to try and see her, but the only thing I saw was myself laughing in my sleep, my body trembling like crazy.
As my fortune kept growing, her visits ultimately reached a daily status. She would be there every time I want to sleep, waiting to torture me until morning came.
I begged her to stop, told her I had enough money, that she didn't need to make me any more rich but to no avail.
Ultimately I didn't dare to sleep anymore. I installed tons of alarm clocks in my room to ring every 10 minutes. I also kept drinking coffee over and over out of sheer fear.
That didn't please her at all.
When I finally collapsed of exhaustion after staying up for nearly 50 hours she was furious. She said I would have to pay back with interest all the fun we missed.
I don't want to remember what happened afterwards, but I'll just say this : I was in a coma for a whole week. I got transported to a hospital, while laughing in my sleep, no matter what the doctors tried no one managed to wake me up.
When I finally rejoined the land of the living, I heard doctors talking. They thought I was crazy, and they were probably considering locking me up in observation. If that happened I would have no way out anymore, I had to act.
I ran away from the hospital. I arrived at my mansion and told every staff member to leave, they were all fired. She kept saying her actions were payment for all the money she gave me, I had to get rid of it all. I sprayed gasoline around the house and burned it to the ground.
I gave all my money away to charity, every last cent.
While my fortune started to lessen, her visits became shorter and less frequent again. When I finally had nothing left she appeared one last time and she promised me she'll make me rich again. She said she loved me too much for that.
That's how I ended up in these woods, I never want to see another dollar in my life.
You may think I'm crazy but it's all true."
As Maria finished her story, the rain had finally calmed down. I didn't know what to make out of it. She seemed sincere, and I don't think she was lying to me but every inch of logic that was in my brain told me she had lost her mind.
I wished the poor woman farewell and headed back to my car before it started raining again. I got back in town and stepped out of the car in front of my apartment block.
I couldn't believe my eyes, but there it lied on the ground, in front of me, a wallet.
I picked it up, no ID.
But two items were in it : The first a good amount of money, the second a picture of a woman in a blue dress.
Needless to say I turned the wallet in at the nearby police station.
A good night of sleep is priceless after all.
-------------------
Also my buddy TheHunter1338 made an illustration based on this.
