That was how the nightmare started. The two girls knew how to play the game. So Lei and I sat opposite by the dining table. We crossed our fingers, leaving a small hole by the thumb and index finger. Then we inserted a pen through the opening and held it tight. The point of the pen touched a paper we prepared.
“What now?” I wasn’t aware misfortunate was about to fall on us. I was still laughing. Furthermore, we turned off the lights in order to scare the girls. There was a candle on each corner of the dining table.
“You lightly chant: Pen fairy, pen fairy please come. Pen fairy, pen fairy please come… until the pen fairy comes. Once it did, the pen will draw a circle on the paper by itself.”
“What do we do if the pen fairy comes?”
“You can then ask it questions. If the answer is yes, the pen will draw a circle on the paper. The more perfect the circle is, the potent the fairy is… and also more evil!” Li’s voice was trembling. I glanced at her with a laugh.
She held onto Yuan’s hand.
Yuan added. “Don’t forget to ask the pen fairy to leave afterward.”
“How do you ask?”
“Say: Thank you pen fairy, please take care.”
In the beginning, Lei and I held the pen so tight that it wouldn’t even inch on the paper. However, as time went by, we were both tired. Our hands lost balance. The pen began to move. It wavered at every direction, leaving a irregular line on the paper. Lei and I didn’t feel anything weird. We continued to repeat. “Pen fairy, pen fairy please come…” There was still no trace of any pen fairy. Though our hands were shaking from being tired.
Suddenly, I felt Lei’s hand stopped shaking. He pushed my hand calmly with an unstoppable force. It seemed as though he wanted to force a circle on the paper.
I immediately stopped repeating the line. I raised my head to see Lei staring at me with a surprised look.
A puff of wind blew across from the outside and rattled the house. I could faintly hear a different noise within the wind. I listened closely. “Meow—Meow—“ It was the cry of a cat! The cry seemingly came from far away, from the mountain to the back. It sounded wretched.
I was suddenly scared. A chill erupted from the bottom of my feet and rose to the tip of my head along my skin. I felt goosebumps all over the body. I turned my head to look at the girls. They cuddled together frightened. Their eyes fixed on the pen in my hand.
The pen! I instantly moved my gaze back. It had drawn a circle on the paper. A perfectly round circle.
I heard the girls’ shaking voice. “Here. It’s here.”
Lei was more calm. He asked. “Are you a pen fairy?”
The pen began to move slowly to the side of the first circle. It drew a second circle the exact same size as the first one!
I was still suspicious though. I asked a question to test it. “Am I a woman?”
The pen scribbled with no trace of drawing anything legible. I asked again. “Was that the cry of a cat?”
The pen slid to my left. I felt Lei relaxed his hand. Yet, it was still guiding my hand to draw a circle. Somehow, I got the idea to stop our cooperation. Perhaps I was scared.
I intentionally let go of my hand. Actually, we both let go of our hands at the same time. Pah! Tat! The pen fell on that unfinished circle.
Lei and I each lit a cigarette. I looked at him with suspicion because I was sure it was him guiding and pushing my hand to draw the circles. However, he stared at the paper on the table. The two perfectly round circles were extremely conspicuous under bright light. The four of us fell to a silence.
After a long pause, Lei finally said to me. “What do you think?”
I looked at him, not answering. I didn’t know how to answer. I was scared to speak my suspicion.
Lei said. “Were you thinking that I was pushing your hand to draw the circles? Or was it that I relaxed my hand to let you push me to draw the circles?”
He flicked the cigarette. There was a sneer by his mouth.
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