The Dragon King’s Daughter

This piece was commissioned by The Ghost Project, as part of their 100 Monogatari Project. It has been translated into Japanese and Korean.

—

I was at the supermarket when it happened. A white plastic tub of yoghurt in each hand. Calculating the merits of each brand with scientific rigour; caloric density, grams of protein, carbohydrates, and whether the few pennies between them would make a difference towards a bus, train or plane ticket should I ever need it. How much is in my savings right now?

They said that you had gone somewhere gentler than here, and wrapped your body in white cloth and gold light. But your skinny, fragile frame, drowning in tattered clothing, lies slumped over the dinner table in my mind. For three days you complained of stomach pains. Why didn’t you go to the hospital? Why didn’t your husband take you to the hospital? You couldn’t drive.

Fear crawled onto my shoulder and whispered in my ear; “You share the same curse, you and her.”

“I’m cursed. I’m cursed. I’m cursed.” my eyes spill with tears, forehead to the mirror. Not me. It will never happen to me. I don’t need a contingency of gold jewellery that’s been passed down for generations. My holy talismans are black and silver, metal and plastic. I book a flight immediately.

-

“Due to misfortunes in my past lives, I have been reborn as a woman” reads the artist's statement. The Golden Lotus Sutra, gold ink on dark blue paper. Byung San-do, 1337. Metres of intricate, hand-written calligraphy as recompense. Permanent collection at the Leeum Museum, Seoul. Even on the other side of the world I can't escape it. I think of your body again.

The fear waits back at my apartment. At least it’s my apartment. The toll that I pay is my credit card bills, and the sum of my misfortunes hasn't killed me yet. Is it the fear, or your hand, on my shoulder? I'm blessed. I'm blessed. I'm blessed.