Tale #5: Switching Souls

Stepmothers are usually depicted as evil villains in fairytales and such, but Hyunseung knew that it wasn’t only in fairytales that stepmothers are hated upon. It was no different in real life. His stepmother was also a witch, just like the ones that Cinderella and Snow White had.


“Hey, you wanna hang out after school?” Hyunseung’s best friend, Dongwoon, invited him.


But Hyunseung could only shake his head. He had to rush home to do chores. His stepmother would throw a fit if he wasn’t home in time to help her out.


“Your stepmom again?”


“Yeah, I told you she’s a b*tch. Since she came into my life, she’s been treating me like her slave…” Hyunseung sighed and rubbed his temples.


He then bade Dongwoon farewell and left the school gates in a hurry.


As soon as he got home, he received a tight slap from the woman he calls ‘mother’. She started nagging at him, accusing him of purposely making her suffer doing the truckload of dirty laundry alone while being pregnant.


Hyunseung usually didn’t care. It was the same torture every single day. She would torment him by accusing him of ridiculous things and make him do chores that work him to his bone.


That day however, he has had enough of it and decides to run away.


His legs brought him somewhere far away from home and around the corner, finally stopping by a street called Chestnut Street.


It was a deserted street and not a single soul was seen. Only an old bookshop occupied the place and as if calling out to him, Hyunseung suddenly found himself entering the old bookshop.


Hyunseung didn’t want to go home, but at the same time, he loved his father too much to leave him alone with that hag.


Sometimes, he wished that his real mother was still alive and with them.


Despite not knowing his real mother, Hyunseung knew that his mother was a kind and gentle woman, unlike the one he’s forced to call ‘mother’ at home right now.


His father used to tell him wonderful things about his real mother, how she cradled him so lovingly, how she could light up the house with her heartwarming smile and especially how much she loved having a family.


But sadly, she couldn’t stay with them and was sent far away due to an unknown illness she had. A few years after she was sent away, she died and her body was buried in a grave on the outskirts of town.


“Can I help you find what you’re looking for?” A raspy old voice broke Hyunseung’s train of thoughts.


Hyunseung shook his head because he wasn’t really interested in books and tried to leave despite just entering the place. But before he could leave, a book, stacked between numerous other books in a shelf, caught his interest.


“Ah… the book of souls. It is an enchanted book owned by a powerful witch in the late 1800s. There are spells for switching souls… dead and alive… and many, many other powerful spells,” the shop owner came over and took the book out of its hiding.


Hyunseung reached out for it but the man quickly went back to the counter and hid it in a drawer. He then looked at Hyunseung apologetically and replied, “But I’m afraid… it’s not for sale.”


It disappointed Hyunseung a little, but even if it was for sale, he had no money to pay for it. Suddenly, something triggered in his brain and he asked the shop owner to find him an interesting book about crime and mystery.


As soon as the shop owner was out of sight, Hyunseung quickly went to the counter, opened the drawer where the book was hidden and took it.


He dashed towards the outskirts of town and stopped by a graveyard. There, he visited his mother and cried his heart out. He told her of his dilemma, his hopes and dreams for the bleak future and most of all, how he wished to have her back alive.


Remembering what the book could do, he opened to a page where it teaches one how to switch the souls of two individuals.


He chanted the first half of the spell on top of his mother’s grave, just like how the book indicated and went home to finish the rest.


That evening, his stepmother was being a pain and scolded him at the dinner table. She complained to her husband about how worthless having a son like Hyunseung and that she couldn’t wait to give birth to a wonderful child.


Keeping his plan in thought, Hyunseung endured the night away. On the of midnight, he took out the book and crept into his parents’ room. He muttered the spell as softly as he could but audible enough for the spirits to hear him.


If this works out perfectly, he would have his real mother in his stepmother’s body by morning and they would be a happy family again.


The next morning, Hyunseung was jolted awake by a terrifying scream. A surge of memories about the spell ran through his mind as he dashed towards his parents’ room… only to find a pool of blood and his father’s mangled corpse in the middle of the room.


Next to the dead body, was a woman with an uncanny resemblance to his stepmother, but with a hideous and flustered expression on her face. She held a butcher knife in hand and stared at him monstrously.


This woman that stood before him… was no longer the ‘evil’ stepmother he had known.


“You.” She pointed her trembling finger at him as he stayed rooted to the ground in intense shock.


“I tried to get rid of you at birth but he,” she glanced at the corpse beside her with disgust, “stopped me.”


A crooked and evil grin plastered on her face as the words rolled off her tongue, “but he won’t stop me now.”

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