I was walking to my apartment and talking with my friend on the phone:
ME: …oh, the Family’s Little Princess…
ASHLEY: She convinced your father..
ME: WHAT? Again? Yes, my dear sister, of course… who can be else?… She always has to be THE ONE. The smartest, the most successful, the MOST BEAUTIFUL… I’m so tired of it, I don’t even want to hear her name anymore.
ASHLEY: Honey, you shouldn’t…
ME: Wait, wait… Do you know what I did for this Christmas?
ASHLEY: What?
ME: I wrote a letter about her and put it in the blackest sock I could find, then hung it on the wall.
ASHLEY: It’s not like you, baby..
ME: I know, it’s childish…
ASHLEY: I think its dangerous.
ME: No, it’s just superstition, of course. I just hate her “PERFECTION”…
-——At this moment, suddenly, a body and glass shards fell at my feet—–
Ashley was asking me if something was wrong. What happened here? I was frozen with sudden fear…
The snowflakes piled up on the sidewalk, like white feathers, suddenly lifted and mingled with those falling from the sky. White smoke covered the fallen object. I was breathing rapidly on the phone, trying to shake off the sudden fear that gripped me.
As the white smoke dissipated, the “dark red” stain that covered the sidewalk became more pronounced. Blood… It had tainted all the innocent white on the ground. Warm blood… As it flowed like small streams, it evaporated the snow and filled the air with mist.
When I started to recognize familiar patterns in the shallow mist, my phone had already fallen and shattered on the ground. My hand was trembling, and the shocking effect of what I had just witnessed was slowly taking over my entire body. I couldn’t move…
As the mist cleared, I noticed the body on the ground, and the pattern on the pajamas was all too familiar. It was my husband… No, it couldn’t be… The impact had shattered his body, scattering it on the sidewalk. Perhaps it wasn’t him, maybe it was someone else wearing the same pajamas… I struggled to lift my eyes and then my head upwards. I gazed at the little, chaotic nest I had lived in for years. I counted the floors one after another to be sure. 17… 18… 19… 19th floor. That was the floor where my husband and I lived…
The windows of the apartment were broken, and the curtains were dancing with the cold wind outside. I couldn’t believe it… I gathered myself and, with a burst of energy, ran towards the building. I couldn’t wait for the elevator. I rushed to the stairs. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. No, it couldn’t be my husband…
With every step, the memories of the past three years replayed in my mind. I thought of the unhappy home and the loving man. The echoes of the fights at home resonated in my ears with each step. The fact that I had buried the love of a good man in darkness with my own hands echoed through me with every heartbeat. My beloved husband… It couldn’t be him…
Overwhelmed by regrets pouring out of my body and with tears in my eyes, I reached the door of my home…
I shivered as I turned the key and pushed the door open. The cold air hit my face like a slap…
The inside of the house was dark and cold. The broken glass shards on the floor reflected the flickering colorful lights on the ornate Christmas tree in the corner. The curtains swayed in the wind through the broken windows. I clung to the door, breathless. My silent tears turned into deep sobs. Was it really him lying on the pavement? My beloved husband…
I took crooked steps towards the broken window. I wanted to turn back time and hold him in my arms. But it was too late…
When I reached the middle of the room, all the colorful lights suddenly went out. The faint light of a small red bulb at the bottom of the tree started to flicker. I slowly turned my head. Under the bulb, I noticed a box made of twigs. I headed towards the tree…
I picked up the box. It had a dirty piece of paper attached to it. “For my dear jealous cake…”
I collapsed onto the couch. My body was still trembling. A whisper of darkness rose from the corner. “OPEN IT, IT’S FOR YOU!”.. I froze…
My heart felt like it was about to burst. My eyes were rapidly moving, trying to find who was speaking. Suddenly, in the corner, behind the darkened tree, a pair of red eyes appeared and repeated, “OPEN IT!”
I involuntarily dropped the box with great fear. The thing inside the box fell onto the rug. I slowly turned my gaze from the terrifying red eyes to that thing. I struggled to swallow. I felt like I might faint… A mask… No, a face… My sister… The thing that clung to the rug was my sister’s face…
The red eyes began to whisper again…
“Yes, my jealous cake… This is for you… What you’ve always wanted… What you’ve desired… WHAT YOU’VE ENVIED!”
“Your dear… Beloved… Successful… Sister’s beauty… All yours… Only yours… I took it and brought it to you, just as you wanted…”
“My dear jealous cake… Don’t be afraid… Take it…”
“TAKE IT FROM THE GROUND!”
I found myself reaching for the rug and my sister’s face without even knowing what I was doing. I had to take it. This gift… This horrifying and terrifying gift… I trembled, struggling to hold it. I looked at my sister in my hands…
“I hope you liked my gift… Just as you wrote in your letter… ‘I can’t stand her success and beauty anymore.’ ‘I wish all of this had been given to me.’ Just as you wanted… Your sister’s beauty has been given to you. Of course, gifts are not given without something in return, my jealous cake… In return for your desire, I took something from you…”
From the dark corner, behind the tree, a hand reached towards the light coming through the window. Covered in hair, filthy and long fingers… It held a beating heart…
“Your dear husband…”
“Come, the others are waiting…”
The last thing I heard was the sound of wet footsteps, and the last thing I saw was the disgusting cloth that covered me…