A long and cold evening at Portland, Withervalle, everybody was excited about Christmas, but it wasn’t at all about Christmas too, the thrill, it was the spirit of thrill everyone got their souls and heads around at that time of the year. A small town in Portland, what to expect? Rather than some maybe candied pecans children would crave, that their parents never allowed them to eat. Down the street at the corner, there was this little bakery smelling like the arms of god clamouring all around sending you up to heaven for a second. Christians, at that time of the year, loved or recurred their religion more and more trying to bring up some solidarity. I would fall in love with that smell if I had ever gone to that street, but who knows maybe I have been on that street which is a reasonable explanation for why I felt that into my veins, soul, heart, and the part I didn’t know that appeared. Johnson State, however, felt that too on that cold December day passing across the street to see some friends: at least that was what he told his mother. He didn’t have any friends to meet. He was just strolling around because he loved the weather. It sounds sorrowful and sad but not having friends and being able to be realized by people can sound like something utopic. Indeed, it wasn’t. People don’t make an effort extra care for others but themselves, and it wasn’t about the unlikeability Johnson had. He was self-conscious and social because his mind was deficit into caring, loving and sharing with one rule that’s to never waste himself for others he knew that he never would. Back at the bakery, this boy entered the store and bought some Christmas Chex Mixes. Walking home calmly, he saw Mr. Bennet, his science teacher coming back from work. Mr. Bennet was so sad for no reason that Johnson asked if he was alright and told him that his dad died last evening and that he had a funeral tomorrow. His dad had tuberculosis; it was an expected death.
One day later, at school, he heard a story about a Christmas tale each year that happened and was a curse of the town, whatever he took the mickey out of the subject as a laughingstock with his friends at the lunch break. Rumour has it that every year 4 people died in the town and when the year which had 5 deaths would be the end of the town. Johnson never cared or thought about it until his grandmother died mysteriously. Yes, his grandmother was an old lady, but despite her age, she even never had arthritis or basic hypotension in her life. She was as sound as a roach, and he never believed she could have died from some disease. Doctors couldn’t name something for her death at the autopsy but declared it was probably accumulated body deformation.
One week later when he went back to school, his friend Ariel came to him saying how she was sorry for the loss. Johnson said, “Do you remember the tale they told us that if ever 5 people died in a year row then the town will come to an end?” Ariel laughed saying “Yes I do, but it is silly, isn’t it? To say with the full conceit of a farfetched crap and sell it. Do you know the person who came with this and what it wanted?” Johnson replied, “No, why?” Ariel said “Well, the person who told the tale wanted some cash to break the spell upon the town, so it is obvious your grandma can’t be a victim of the so-called curse and also, this town is small but is not as small as to have 4 deaths in a year. What are we, an obstetric clinic?” Johnson laughed but still wasn’t convinced, so he went to the population register department and actually sneaked in because the last time after his grandma died he tried to ask the employees and get information about the deaths and births but for some reason, they wouldn’t tell him. This time he was in the act of being very attentive, having no luxury to make mistakes because every glitch he had would be every step getting closer to being dumped on a slammer. He got the documents and took a look at them, but his skin went cold, his pupils were mydriasis and his reflexes stunned. The deaths were exactly the number 4 each year.
Johnson didn’t stop until he found something giving evidence back attributing to the issue, but he couldn’t find any. He was so close to giving up until in some encyclopedia he read the name Clark Norton, Edward Norton’s brother’s 4th grandchildren. He found his address and knocked on the door to talk to him. Clark opened the door and invited him to the living room asking if he wanted anything like a drink or snack. Johnson said, no, thank you and asked him how everything was going on then jumped into the topic but his facial expressions were so calming that Clark never felt as if he was being investigated. Clark blissfully started narrating the story.
There was a rich man a long, long time ago living in the opposite town from the Withervalle. Edward Norton lived once in Portland and he was good friends with the Benson Family who were the ministers of the Withervalle. They were so close that even Edward was invited to the family dinners. However, the head of the family, Richard Benson, never loved Edward because he was jealous of him. Edward was known to have the ropes in his hands and was a pretty good coordinator, which Richard never could have been because his worth was all family inheritance and Edward was a self-made businessman. One day Richard invited Ed to the house and told him that he was going to say something really private and that he shouldn’t tell this to nobody. When Ed finally came, he told him that he had killed someone. Ed got shocked and tried to run away. He was flabbergasted. He tried to run away, but Richard told him that if he accepted the guilt, maybe he would find some way to get them both out of the situation. Ed unpliably denied saying he would never want to see or hear about him from now on. Richard was death to him. But somehow the story spread out in the streets calling Ed a sinner. Richard never told anyone about anything but the rumour was already spread, and there was no abnegation. Edward was expelled from every assignment he was on. But the worst of all was seeing people in the street leering at you as if you were a betrayer. Ed couldn’t contain himself from living with tediousness, so he attempted suicide, but someone glad-fully saved him. The man who saved him said that “If you are that much peeved at someone then why don’t you curse him?” Ed told him laughing ”Curse him? What am I, a four-year-old kid? I don’t curse people, I am in full love with god, and I would never do something to rebel against him or desecrate his name.” But later on, he changed his idea and went to a witch to curse the town in return of his life. The witch accepted it, but the spell had one provision which was to activate the curse until someone died from the known Clarkson family without the intervention of health issues or natural death, concluding at one point which is to have someone killed at the Benson family. Only if it did, then the town would be taken down with the people inside.
Johnson thought about it a lot and found out that maybe the 5th death was meant to be someone in the Clarkson family. Who were they? Clarkson family… This name was familiar from somewhere, but he couldn’t get it out, so he asked his mom whether she knew someone with the surname Clarkson. His mom said, of course; how could you not remember your classmate Cherry… Cherry Clarkson! Yeah, I remember her, Johnson said. His mom said, yeah, her dad was my college friend; we were at the same delegacy. I miss those days. The next day Johnson went to class and sit next to cherry to ask her about her past. She said her family was not very close to Benson’s family, but as much as she knew, they weren’t apart too. Benson’s maiden name was full of Clarkson, but they were known to fob off the Clarkson family for some time, so Cherry also didn’t like them. Johnson also couldn’t understand, why would Ed want someone to be dead who never liked the Bensons? But according to Johnson, Ed only wanted to end the Benson family, and if someone killed the only kid belonging to the Bensons to circulate the inheritance, then Ed would get what he wanted, and the curse would blow off. He didn’t want to kill someone yet if it was the only way out, then he had to. He contemplated the killing plan even though he had some guilt doing it. But he stifled himself thinking he was going to save a lot of lives and take revenge on Ed. He planned to commit suicide when John Benson’s child Martha Benson was taking golf lessons. It would be easy because the golf range didn’t have any cameras and Martha’s golf teacher went to the cottage once in a while during lessons. He planned it on Tuesday and hid behind the bushes tailing. When the golf teacher got inside the cottage, he took off his knife aiming at Martha. The sharpness of the knife was felt by Martha in her flesh. When he was just going to stab her, something drew him back and caused a flux and reflux that he saw a flashback where non of them were real. Instead, he heard Edward and Richard saying: Don’t… don’t budge an inch! Johnson dropped his knife, deeming at Kerry Clarkson approaching the scene and stabbing himself.