Intersection: V

The first legend introduced to a child in Naash is that of The Man On The Intersection. It goes as follows.

One random evening, an unsuspecting victim is chosen. This poor soul, whoever he may be, will experience nightfall far quicker than the rest of the villagers. That is his sign that things are about to get extremely difficult for him. In this case, the victim is supposed to rush to the safety of his own home.

All the buildings in Naash are protected – all but two. For the victim, however, only his home is his saving grace. On his way there, he must be on high alert. Any intersections he must cross, must not be crossed from the middle. If he does it right, he will be home in no time, and the rapidly darkening sky will not affect him outside of giving him a mild scare. However, if he fails to skirt around the edges of all the intersections in his path, his situation will get far worse.

He will then run into a regular, unimpressive man. It will only be this man and no one else. This man will ask him for a lift, requesting a ride to one of the only two buildings in Naash that hold horrors inside them – horrors far darker than any that roam outside. With a set list of responses, the victim must accept the request and act as the stranger’s guide for this journey.

A prayer on the victim’s lips and a fire in his hand must always be present. The lack of either can lead to disaster. During the journey, the victim will always run into one intersection that will either take him to his home or the requested location. If in his right senses, the victim must turn towards home.

A few accidental words would have been okay so far, but anything uttered by the victim after this turn is fatal. As long as the rules are followed correctly, the victim will find safety, and the stranger will leave him alone. It’s not entirely known by the village folk what happens if things go wrong. All they can say is that hellfire is a better fate than what’s coming for the victim. So always follow the rules. No matter how scared one may be, follow the rules.

So goes the story in Naash – the village where legends never change.

Of course, you know it’s far from the truth. Not even these legends are impervious to change. The only difference is that when a legend changes here, nobody hears about it. Nobody, that is, except you.

Only you remember the old lady standing by the intersection. Only you remember what she asked. Only you remember her eyes. All the other villagers, as they move on without you, whisper only of the doomed young man, standing in wait, hoping to doom others.