[Short Story] The Witch and the Shining Moon Candy #CreativeAward2024
There was once the world's greatest witch.
She had never studied a day in her life.
From the moment she was born,
she possessed immense magical power, beauty, and good taste,
and could perform any magic with ease.
Powerful people and billionaires from all over the world
worshipped and praised the witch,
and they all piled up money and knelt before her.
The witch used her magic to
grant whatever wishes people desired.
To the witch,
magic was nothing special.
Every day, she used her magic calmly and routinely.
When she used magic,
people would thank her on their own,
and money would come in on its own.
Glittering jewels,
luxurious meals,
magnificent castles,
and rare items that were the only ones of their kind in the world—
she could get anything.
She could do anything.
Before long,
there was nothing she wanted,
nothing she wanted to eat,
and nothing she wanted to do.
No, from the very beginning,
there was nothing she wanted,
nothing she wanted to fulfill,
and nothing she wanted to do.
Since the day she was born,
the witch had never
laughed,
cried,
or felt anger.
One day, suddenly,
the witch became unable to use magic.
People who had gathered from all over the world shouted one after another:
"I'll pay you anything, so just do something with your magic. You want money, right?"
"You're just pretending you can't use it, aren't you?"
"Why won't you help us!"
"You useless thing! Traitor!"
"A witch who can't use magic is meaningless!"
"I never liked you anyway! You're creepy with that expressionless face!"
"It's a witch hunt! Go die!"
The people who had come to her on their own
said what they wanted,
got angry on their own,
and left on their own.
The witch built a small hut
deep in the mountains far from human settlements,
and began to live quietly,
without even knowing the meaning of life.
Then one day,
a young man came to visit.
"Ah, I finally found you! Um, I have a request."
The witch, trembling, squeezed out the words:
"I can no longer use magic. I am just a human with no value..."
After looking surprised, the young man said in a gentle voice:
"I have been searching for you for a long time and traveled for many days to get here."
"I'm sorry. But I can't do anything..."
The young man shook his head.
"My wish is for you to eat this candy."
Saying that, he handed her a moon-shaped candy that sparkled when held up to the light.
"It is a candy called 'Shining Moon Candy.' Would you please eat it?"
The witch hesitantly put the Shining Moon Candy into her mouth.
When she bit into it, it made a crisp sound,
and just as she thought a refreshing nectar had overflowed from inside,
it finally popped and crackled.
The witch was surprised,
it was delicious,
and she was moved,
so she couldn't quite organize her feelings.
"How is it...?"
When she saw the young man's worried face,
her heart softened.
"Hehe. It's a very mysterious candy. It's just like magic. It's the best candy I've ever eaten."
That was the honest opinion of the witch who had eaten everything in the world until now.
"Yes!"
The young man raised both arms high and expressed his joy with his whole body.
***
That was a story from when the young man was still a boy—
The boy was born without a right arm.
Born as the heir to a long-standing line of confectioners,
having only one arm was a fatal blow.
His family did not have expectations for him.
He was looked at with disgust for not having an arm and was bullied.
Even so, he did not give up on becoming a confectioner.
He decided that he would complete the 'Phantom Candy' that his grandfather had died while developing.
He researched day after day.
Although he had no money, no things, and no people,
the boy threw away the few things he had and dedicated them to the development.
But there was a limit.
With only one arm, he just couldn't make candy well.
When only one unfinished candy sample left by his grandfather remained,
the boy was finally about to give up on his dream.
At that moment, the boy and the witch met by chance.
The witch cast a spell on the boy's arm.
To the witch, it was just a whim that meant nothing.
She just felt sorry for the boy without an arm and cast the spell.
The boy, who could not believe that both his arms were now moving,
stared blankly at his right arm,
but after opening and closing his right hand and rotating his right arm around,
he let out a roar filled with joy.
When the witch looked on in surprise,
the boy turned to the witch with a pale face.
"Witch, thank you for my arm. ...But I have no money, and I have nothing. I can't pay you anything... What should I do..."
"I don't need anything."
When the witch was about to leave,
the boy handed the witch his last candy sample.
"This is the most important thing to me right now. Won't you eat it?"
The witch ate it as she was told.
"Not bad."
"This is still unfinished. I will use this arm to complete the best candy in the world. When it's finished, I want you to be the first to eat it. —What is your name?"
***
The witch had long since forgotten about the boy and the promise.
The boy, now a young man, had finally perfected the legendary confection,
and relying on the little information he had, he traveled from afar
to have the witch taste it.
“Thanks to you, I was able to achieve both my grandfather’s dream and my own long-cherished wish. I cannot thank you enough.”
Saying this, he bowed his head deeply.
“This confection could not have existed without you. That is why I named it after you. Moon-Glow Candy. After your name, ‘Luna (Moon).’”
Upon hearing this, the witch shed tears, one after another.
***
“——What is your name?”
“Name? Why would you ask such a thing? No one has ever asked me that before. Everyone calls me this: ‘faceless witch.’”
“But... you must have a name, right? Tell me.”
“My name is... Luna.”
***
The witch was neither emotionless nor expressionless.
She had been using magic so much that she had no time to express her emotions.
She was so packed with it that she had no time to reveal her heart,
so packed that she had no one to confide her feelings to.
She had lived without knowing who she was,
what kind of emotions she held,
what she wanted to do, or what she desired.
It wasn’t that she was ‘faceless’;
she had lost it.
******
“Moon-Glow Candy”
It is the best confection in the world.
A confection that people all over the world clamor to have.
No matter how much money you offer, those with poor hearts cannot eat it.
If they try to eat it, it vanishes.
A mysterious, world-class confection
made by the arms of the boy the witch had cast a spell upon.
I wonder, can you eat it?
Even today, in a small mountain hut,
swaying in a rocking chair,
the witch who was once the best in the world
is eating the best confection in the world
with a smile.
[The End]
[The Witch and the Moon-Glow Candy: Reading Version]
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