Euryale

Euryale. A curse befalls you causing you to be cursed with misfortune.

The last of Lucia's students had left, and she had to rush to make it to her Halloween party on time. She put the finishing touches on her costume and then stood before the wall-length mirror. Yes, it was perfect. What better costume for a ballet instructor than the Black Swan? It also didn't hurt that it showed off the body she worked so hard to keep toned, she was going to this party alone but she didn't intend to leave that way.

She did allow herself to deviate from a more traditional costume with one little luxury. She'd decided to swap ballet flats for stilettos. Harder to do pirouettes sure, but the extra height was a definite bonus, not to mention how they made her calves really pop. She gently put them on and admired herself once more before turning off the lights, locking the studio door, and heading out.

Her costume showed a lot of skin, which meant it wasn't the best for this cool autumn air. Thankfully it was a short walk from the studio to her friend's flat. She'd just have to hurry.

She was rushing so she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She nearly, oh so nearly, collided with a man on the side walk. She probably would have if not for a graceful spin on her toes around him. She giggled, "Oh sorry, I didn't see you."

Her playful laugh died as she stared into his...it's eyes. Deep pools of fire. "Wow...what a costume." She couldn't help but admire it. A lot of effort must have gone into making something so realistic. As someone who had worn lots of costumes for ballet over the years she could appreciate the craftsmanship, even if she'd never be caught dead wearing something like that.

The skeleton's face didn't move, but it began to speak, "Good evening. Off to a Halloween party?"

"Yes, and you?" She asked cheekily.

"No," It said flatly. Then it pulled a deck of cards out of it's jacket, "Here. Take a card. For good fortune, or bad."

She shrugged and plucked one and read it, "Euryale? What's that?"

She looked up, but he was gone.

She shrugged and moved quickly, she was going to be late now.

She'd only gone a few steps when, SNAP, one of her shoes failed and sent her tumbling to the ground. She slowly picked herself up and dusted herself off. She was fine. Surprisingly. But her shoe was toast. How could that have happened?

She had to take off the other shoe just to walk normally. No rushing now, the cold hard sidewalk was just a little too painful for that. By the time she made it to the flat the party was in full swing. She opened the door and stepped inside.

"Lucia!" Her friend Maggie ran up and gave her a hug, "Oh my God, you look hawt! Oh, barefoot? That's a choice."

"My shoes broke." Lucia complained.

"Damn, that sucks. Here let me," Maggie turned away from Lucia but in doing so accidently sloshed some liquid from her cup onto Lucia's chest. Lucia gasped and Maggie turned back and noticed, "Oh my God. I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine...I'll go clean up." Lucia hurried to the bathroom and started wiping herself off. The drink hadn't ruined her dress thankfully, but she had to pull it down a little to wash herself to get rid of the stench of fruit juice and ****.

She returned to the party and started to mingle. There were lots of cute guys here, but she quickly honed in on her target. Omar was exactly her type. Tall, dark and handsome. Oh and she'd heard from his ex that he was emotionally unavailable but had the largest dick she'd ever seen. Yes please.

Things were going well until that bitch Robin showed up. She had her eyes on Omar too and immediately tried to get between them, "Oh Omar, have you seen Black Swan? It's about lesbians, I think Lucia is trying to tell us something."

Lucia rolled her eyes, "Did you even watch it, or is that just what reddit told you? It's a complex film, but I guess you wouldn't get it. Besides, do you really think our costumes represent us? Are you trying to tell us your a slut?"

Robin gasped, "Maybe I'm just representing that I take care of people!" Lucia could pretty much guarantee the description on the package had said 'Slutty Nurse' and Robin had chosen it because it showed off her impressive cleavage.

"Ladies, please..." Omar started to get in between them.

Robin grabbed Omar's arm and hugged him tight, pushing her breasts into his side, "He's right. Can't we just get along?"

Lucia took a step forward to grab his other arm, but then was a loud ripping sound. Somehow, impossibly so, her entire costume was ripped off her body as she fell forward. Omar caught her, but then she immediately back up in shame. She was naked!

She screamed and tried to cover herself, "What the fuuuck?!"

She'd wanted Omar to see her naked, but not like this. She back into the corner in a panic.

Robin was laughing. Omar's jaw had hit the floor. The rest of the party guests were slowly stopping what they were doing as they noticed the nude woman in the corner.

She bent down and picked up her costume, but there was no saving it. She held the fabric against her chest and slid out of the room. She made a beeline for Maggie's room and then threw herself on the bed.

After a few minutes Maggie entered and helped her pick out some new clothes. She offered her an old costume, but Lucia was done. She just wanted to go home. She thank Maggie for the invite and, borrowing some shoes, headed back home.

Over the next few weeks it became clear to her that something had happened to her that night. She was a ballerina, or had been at least. She was graceful, elegant. She was used to mocking those that tripped over their own feet, but now she was one. Sometimes it just just minor, a quick stumble that didn't result in much of anything. But at other times her accidents left her totally and utterly humiliated.

It was actually a miracle that she had never been hurt during these events. She could trip falling down the stairs and end up at the bottom with both tits exposed but not so much as a scratch or bruise anywhere on her body. It was almost like a malevolent **** was stalking her and doing it's very best to ensure her physical health while destringing her mental health.

She took measures to protect herself. She wore two bras, tights under her pants, she stopped walking with liquids in her hands. It didn't matter. Somehow she'd end up on the ground, exposed, and covered in water. There was seemingly nothing she could do to avoid these accidents.

It was the worst at work. She prided herself on being a harsh teacher. It wasn't easy to make it in ballet, you needed to put in the effort. Students wouldn't do that if they were coddled. But it was alot easier to be strict when they saw Lucia as someone they wanted to be. When the kids looked up to her, when they saw how elegant and easy she made things look, then they were willing to suffer to try and match her.

Now? They laughed her at. All the time. She'd demonstrate a twirl and end up flat on her face. She'd lift her leg and fall on her ass. She'd go talk to their parents and trip and end up face first in some mom's cleavage. And the kids would laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

She became convinced that she was cursed. She started researching curses in all of her free time. Of course most of it was easily identifiable bullshit but eventually she found something. Someone claiming to have been cursed, just like she was. A woman who claimed she'd one day drawn a card from a skeleton and lots everything she owned. A skeleton with blue eyes.

Lucia tried to contact this woman, but she never posted again. From the original post she appeared to be homeless, so perhaps she just never made it back online. She kept trying though. Posting on the same forum, trying to find more information about curses.

Then one day she received a private message. Only a God can remove your curse.

A God? Before all this started she would have described herself as an atheist. But now?

She would try anything at this point. She started attending church. She didn't do any research, she just picked the one closest to where she lived.

At first she thought it was all bullshit, but the more she went, the more the message of the church resonated with her. It ended up being akin to therapy for her and she started to realize that her harsh method of teaching her students wasn't for their benefit at all. She had hated how her parents and teachers pushed her when she was young. She'd suffered their **** for years only to have a brilliant, but extremely short, career as a ballerina. Her resentment had festered and she now realized she was just continuing the cycle of ****.

She kept teaching, but she softened her methods. When she fell, she laughed with the kids. When they fell, she picked them back up again.

Enrollment rose. Kids brought their family, their friends, even their neighbours. One day she tripped and landed face first in the crotch of a single dad who's son was in her class. From that awkward moment to an even more awkward first date all the way to their wedding where she tripped and fell into the cake she was happy.

If there was a God, and if he could cure her curse, she never figured out. She kept going there, not hoping for a miracle, but in support of herself and her community. Over time the curse just blended into the background of her life. She was clumsy, so what? It didn't bother her husband, and it didn't bother her. In fact since it frequently resulted in her flashing him he would affectionally call them happy little accidents. She was stable when she needed to be, like when holding her babies, and that was all that mattered to her. Curse or not curse, she was happy.