The End of the World

Giovanni 210110720 范吉宁

1

Once upon a time,

there was a little girl named Yogurt.

And this is a story that happened to her.

On a misty, drizzly morning,

she thought it would be just another ordinary day.

Knock, knock. Knock, knock.

Came a strangely polite knock at the door.

The girl wasn’t suspicious.

She slowly opened the door.

Standing outside was a tall man,

with a face hard to judge

good or bad,

wearing a refined and courteous smile.

He said:

“Good morning, Miss Yogurt.

You probably don’t know who I am.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am the Devil.

You may call me Mr. Devil.”

And this is the beginning of Miss Yogurt and Mr. Devil’s story.

2

“Good morning, Miss Yogurt.

Still looking for that place where I don’t exist?”

asked Mr. Devil.

“Yes,” said Miss Yogurt,

“I’m tired of someone always bothering my ears.”

“I am everywhere,” Mr. Devil replied. “How could there be a place without me?

I could be right behind you

like this!

Or suddenly appear at your door

like so!

Go on then, say good morning to me.

Because tomorrow will be the same.”

“Good morning, Mr. Devil,” said Miss Yogurt.

“But that place does exist.

I already know three people who know about it.

Goodbye, Mr. Devil.

I think it’s time I start my journey.”

“Oh oh oh,

look at you, so smug and proud.

Let’s see where this goes, shall we?

My dear Miss Yogurt,”

Mr. Devil gave a smile that was impossible to read.

“Go ahead, Miss.

I’ll be watching you.”

3

It had been a long time since the girl began her journey.

Spring turned to fall.

On a leafy autumn morning,

Knock knock!

The girl knocked on a witch’s door.

But the witch wasn’t old —

in fact, she was a beautiful young woman.

The girl was puzzled,

but still asked politely:

“Dear Witch Sister,

I heard you know about the place where the Devil cannot go.

Could you tell me where it is?”

The witch chuckled,

as if she’d heard the silliest thing.

“I too searched for the end of the world when I was young,” she said.

“Wait a second,” the girl interrupted.

“When you were young? You don’t look older than me!

What do you mean, ‘end of the world’?”

The witch replied,

“I don’t know where the end of the world is —

it must be far, far away,

a place even the Devil cannot reach.

As for my age —”

“You don’t know?” the girl cut in again.

“Then how can you say there’s such a place?”

The witch nodded just as she was about to explain her age —

BOOM.

“Hello, friends!

Or should I say, good morning?

Or maybe… good night?”

“Oh ho ho — ‘the end of the world’.

What a beautiful name.

I’ve always wanted to go there,

but even when this witch traded me her death,

I could only give her a third of the map.

How tragic.

How very tragic.”

Mr. Devil appeared again,

looking as if he’d been politely eavesdropping.

“Traded her death?” Miss Yogurt gasped.

“So you do know how to get there?

Why can’t you reach it?

And why on earth would someone trade their death?”

Her incredulous expression amused Mr. Devil.

“I don’t know,” he said,

“But a deal’s a deal.

She gave me death,

and I gave her one-third of the map.

So fair.

So reasonable.”

He put on a mock-serious face.

“Anything is possible — if you pay the price.

Now then, dear Miss Witch,

same question as always —

Would you like to trade back your death for this piece of map?”

His voice softened:

“Must be painful,

watching your loved ones die one by one,

knowing you’ve lingered in this forest for 300 years.

Wouldn’t ending it all be a relief?”

“Three hundred years?”

Miss Yogurt was stunned.

The witch ignored the Devil’s whispers.

She stepped forward and said:

“Yogurt — Miss Yogurt, right?

You are the first to reach my door.

That’s rare.

I’m willing to share the map with you.

But

come to find me again

after you reach that place.

Tell me what it’s like, won’t you?”

And with a blink,

Miss Yogurt found herself at the entrance of a narrow path.

A sign read:

To the Shrine.

4

Far from the town,

Miss Yogurt arrived at the shrine.

At the entrance, a sign read:

"For all people come here seeking their heart’s desire:

Drink from the spring from here will make you forget all things.

If you can remember your wish afterward,

you may enter the shrine."

Though there were no walls or gates,

Miss Yogurt could not take a single step forward

not until she drank the spring water.

With no other choice,

she took a sip.

…and woke up at home.

Just like before.

Chatting with Mr. Devil.

Enduring his endless chattering.

One full year passed.

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter again.

Then one misty, drizzly morning,

Miss Yogurt suddenly remembered her wish.

She jumped up, excited.

Her wish was:

To find a place where the Devil cannot go.

She burst out the door —

and there was Mr. Devil, waiting.

He said:

“Why must you keep searching for the world's end?

Even I’m tempted to give up.”

With a spring in her step, Miss Yogurt replied:

“So I can find the end of the world…

and break up with you forever!”

And off she went down the path to the shrine.

Far behind her,

Mr. Devil stood still.

And said:

“I will always be with you.”

Then slowly faded into the mist.

5

At the end of the shrine,

sat a shrine maiden with no expression on her face.

Miss Yogurt approached and asked about the world’s end.

The maiden nodded.

“I can tell you the way.

But I only know a third of the path.”

“A third again?” Miss Yogurt frowned.

“Miss Maiden, did you also trade with the Devil for this map?”

The maiden shook her head.

Still expressionless.

“No. I didn’t give him my death.”

BANG!

Right on cue.

“Hahahaha —

my dear Maiden,

how are you enjoying life post-trade?”

Mr. Devil appeared once more,

ever courteous, ever unsettling.

Turns out, the maiden had long loved one being,

a god.

But she could never hear the god’s voice.

So she made a deal with the Devil:

All her feelings

in exchange for the ability to speak with her beloved deity.

Now, she could talk to the god

but could feel nothing at all.

“Why?” Miss Yogurt shouted.

“How could you trade with the Devil?

Gods are good, devils are evil.

You really thought your god would love someone who traded with a devil?”

The shrine maiden didn’t flinch.

Didn’t blink.

“Regret… what does that feel like?”

She didn’t even understand the word.

The silence was broken by Mr. Devil,

who said cheerfully:

“That’s just mean.

Why am I the bad guy here?

Fair trades. Honest terms.

Isn’t that what good people do?”

Still, with the second piece of the map in hand,

Miss Yogurt walked silently toward her next destination.

6

Once upon a time,

a glorious kingdom fell from the sky to the earth.

People worshipped it like a divine miracle,

but its riches made them mad.

Raiders attacked the kingdom again and again.

To protect her homeland,

a knight made a deal with the Devil.

Miss Yogurt approached her.

“Miss Knight, you were once a being from the heavens.

Yet you traded with the Devil for your kingdom.

Do you regret it?”

Same question as before.

The knight put down her helmet.

“When the war ended,

I wanted to exile myself.

But the people forgave me.

It was their trust, their forgiveness

that stopped me from trading with the Devil again.”

Miss Yogurt sighed slightly and relieved her eyebrows.

“If it's for the people and things you love,” she thought,

“even trading with the Devil

might be worth it.”

Then she asked,

“Do you know how to get to the world’s end?”

The knight stood tall.

“Sorry, dear lady. I don’t know.

But the Great Fairy surely knows.”

And with that, Miss Yogurt said goodbye to the knight

and headed to the fairy’s garden.

7

“Who dares try to go to my garden?”

asked the Fairy,

her voice clear as water.

“It’s me,” said Miss Yogurt,

“I’m trying to find the world’s end.”

“World’s end?” the fairy touched her head.

“Yes!

A place even the Devil cannot reach.

People call it the end of the world!”

The fairy nodded slowly.

“I don’t know where that is,

but I do know a place the Devil cannot enter.

The Fairy’s home.

Perhaps that’s what you seek.

To get there, you need three things:

the will to never forget your wish,

the strength to guard that wish,

and lips that never leak the secret.”

Miss Yogurt’s eyes sparkled.

She had all of that.

“I have them!” she said joyfully.

The fairy sized her up carefully.

Then smiled.

“You are worthy to come with me to the Fairy Realm.”

Miss Yogurt nodded,

and made her promise.

8

The Fairy’s home was far,

so very far.

After countless days,

the fairy finally brought Miss Yogurt to that land.

They lived there happily for quite a while,

until one day

Miss Yogurt remembered a promise.

A secret promise.

She had promised the witch:

“I’ll come back and tell you what the world’s end looks like.”

So she went to the fairy and said,

“I must leave for a bit,

just to tell Witch Sister about the Fairy’s home.”

The fairy thought for a long while.

Then said:

“You can go,

but on one condition.

Let no one see you.

The Devil can occur everywhere

except here.

Anyone could be his eyes.

If you are seen,

this last place

will no longer be safe.

Do you understand?”

Miss Yogurt nodded solemnly.

“I understand.

I’ll avoid meeting everyone.”

So, once again,

she journeyed through storms and fog,

tiptoeing, dodging people,

never lingering.

She thought:

“I’ll just leave a note at the witch’s door

and go back to the Fairy’s home secretly.

Then everything will be perfect.”

She gently placed a paper at the door;

on it, the image of the Fairy Realm.

But witches are not ordinary folk.

Unlike the people Miss Yogurt avoided along the way,

the witch knew someone stood front at her door.

“Who’s there?”

she asked,

and used her magic to open the door.

Her eyes looked at Miss Yogurt.

In that moment,

time seemed to freeze.

Mr. Devil didn’t appear.

But Miss Yogurt knew

everything was ruined.

She rushed back to the Fairy’s home,

begging for forgiveness.

Like the knight who had once been forgiven,

she hoped the fairy would grant her grace.

But the fairy refused.

“You were seen.

That breaks our promise.

I cannot bring you back.”

Miss Yogurt was stunned.

“I kept my promise all the way here!”

she pleaded.

“I avoided every person.

I didn’t even visit my grandma!”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Still, the fairy shook her head.

As she turned to return to the Fairy Realm,

Mr. Devil appeared.

“Ho ho ho…

Miss Fairy,

I can finally see you.”

He smiled, ever so politely.

“Didn't you notice?

The moment she broke her promise,

there was no place that I couldn't reach.

I saw her.

And now

I can go anywhere.”

Mr. Devil looked delighted.

Not triumphant,

just… inevitable.

“This wasn’t chance,”

he said.

“I planned everything.

Carefully.”

Then,

with his usual gentlemanly calm,

he added:

“So the story ends here.

Miss Yogurt,

why not try spending the rest of your life with me?”

And from that day forward,

there was no such thing as the world’s end.

Only Mr. Devil’s daily greeting:

“Good morning.”