1 Zigrr, the thirsty demon - 1

Seven year old Jo in a blue Sioni and a bun on his head was sitting with his thirty-two year old mother on the slope facing the east sea. The stone was just flat enough to make for a perfectly comfortable seat for the little bottom. Jo sat with his legs stretched lazily, while his mother sat with her legs folded and her back straight with the elegance of a member of the Fyun family. Jo would only show this side of his to his mother, who clearly loved him the most.

"You don't like the rituals, do you," Hana asked, with a knowing smile. Jo shook his head slightly. Hana nodded, gazed with eyes filled with love, and continued. "It's fine. You don't have to be a shaman. Even if you have the gift. Can mother make a request though? One day, can you show mother all of your power? I would be so proud knowing how amazing my little Jo is, even if I can't show off to anyone. I'll know, won't I? That's enough, isn't it?"

Jo didn't have an answer. Sometimes, no, many a times, he didn't understand his mother. Her eyes would be upon him but she would be seeing somewhere far away. Her voice would be here but the words came from somewhere else entirely. It wasn't really a mystery. Even his grandparents called his mother one of the most gifted seer ever witnessed in the family. And on those occasions when his mother fell into a trance, she was a true diviner. And that was a frightening prospect, because diviners were spoken of in legends. Jo didn't really understand what the hubbub was about. As far as he knew, which was more than anyone else because his mother told him so, his mother was the same always, whether in trance or outside of it. She was clearly a diviner. And she was very much real.

He nodded. And that was all the answer his mother needed. She pinched his cheeks lightly, and even that turned them pink, and burst out laughing.

"You're like a ripe tomato," she said. "A teeny squeeze and all the blood gushes out. If only you were a girl, you'd be the most beautiful, the most charming out of everyone."

"I can be the most beautiful and the most charming even if I'm a boy," he said, trying but failing to sound strong. His thin voice could never put on a show of strength.

"Of course you can," she immediately agreed. "Our little Jo can be anything he wants to be."

They fell silent, enjoying the slowly darkening sky. Jo slowly scooted over toward his mother, and she welcomed him without making it seem like she noticed. With him nestling in her arms, they were both smiling wider.

"Mother," Jo asked after a while. "Does Zigrr really live at the bottom of the ocean?"

When his mother wouldn't answer even after a whole minute, Jo turned toward her. But she wasn't there. She had vanished. And the moment he realized this, he could no longer feel her arm around him, he could no more feel her warmth. "Mother," he called out quietly, fearfully. His eyes went far in all directions but didn't find his mother. As he turned back toward the east, he saw no sea, just pitch blackness that swallowed up everything. There wasn't a sound. There wasn't anything at all. Not even time.

"Where am I," he asked no one. He only spoke out loud because the sound of his voice was the only thing he could reach for. "Where is everyone? Mother? I'm afraid, mother. Mother, please come back."

He was crying. The tears slid down his face in a stream that gathered into a pool under his feet. The pool rapidly grew in size, until before long it became the east sea. He was floating on the water in the middle of the sea. And as he looked down, he saw a pair of the bluest eyes staring back from the bottom of the sea. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He couldn't fight off the pull. He was slowly sinking into the sea, toward those blue eyes. As he drew closer, he saw an indescribably handsome face that was befitting of those blue eyes. A tall face, with a sharp nose and thin lips that were the redder than those of his family during the rituals. It was the kind of face his mother would call blinding, so much handsomer than cousin Vinnie's. And when he could clearly distinguish the lips, they parted, and from behind those lips came the sweetest voice.

"Yes," it said. "Zigrr is real. But Zigrr doesn't live at the bottom of the sea. All of the sea is Zigrr's home. And Zigrr has a new home too. On land. It has been so, so, so very long since anyone could see Zigrr. Zigrr is so very pleased. You are magnificent, aren't you? You know that, don't you?"

Jo nodded dumbly. It wasn't really a question. He didn't really have a choice. When he finally came to a stop, they were only a little more than a meter apart. The sea between them was like an impregnable wall, that he could see through. And what he saw was Zigrr, who looked so much like him, only handsomer.

"Come. Don't you want to see Zigrr's new home? Stretch you hand. Reach for mine. You want to. Just take my hand."

Just then, Jo remembered his mother. He was back in his room, lying on his bed, shivering, hurting, the warm cloth on his forehead feeling so comfortable, and his mother's smiling face sitting next to him making him happy.

"Shall I tell you a story," she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she began. "Zigrr was born from the sea's womb. Because it was winter and because the water was so cold, Zigrr was born with a heart so cold no one could come near. Anyone who dared to do so would feel their hearts freeze and turn into cold stones. And so, everyone stayed away from Zigrr. Poor Zigrr, felt abandoned, and turned into a demon. Until today, Zigrr swims the seas, thirsting for warm hearts, so that one day Zigrr could leave the sea and call the land home. That is why you must always be careful when you go to the sea, especially little children, for their little hearts are the warmest. The waves that roll in so gently but go back so vigorously are actually the calls of Zigrr. Anyone who gets trapped in those, would be swallowed up by Zigrr. But our little Jo is perfectly safe, isn't he? With mother standing guard in front of him, no Zigrr can get to our little Jo."

"Yes," Jo said, finding himself staring into the pitch blackness. "No one can get to little Jo. I only have to wait."

And so, wait he did.