Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Lindsay Jill was a lonely girl, coming from a poor house with an alcoholic father and a beaten up mother, her older brother was killed in a gang fight, her middle brother was a hopeless junkie and her twin brother, just 13-years-old, was already a dealer.
She didn't like to be home. All the arguing, the yelling, the screams, she hated all that. And her friends weren't an option either, not after the night her best friend had sold her to a guy who almost raped her. Too much for a joke, too much for friendship.
In fact she wanted to avoid people, all of them. She had three boyfriends; the first used to be nice, but she found his other 'special friends'; the second was violent, he beat her a couple of times and she escaped the relationship; the third had drug problems and used to tell her that if she ever leave him, he'd kill himself, she left him anyway and he was still alive and dancing the downward spiral.

In the outskirts of the neighborhood there was a bridge, the bridge connected the city with the industrial area, and under it a stream of black waters ran, producing a horrid stench that was enough to keep most people at bay.
Lindsay Jill used to visit the bridge daily and stand in the middle of it watching the stream below, making wishes from time to time as amusement. She had got used to the smell; she liked it more than the smell of alcohol anyway.

One especially bad day, she returned home at night to find that things had finally snapped there. Her mother had been shot by her father, who then committed suicide. Her two brothers were nowhere to be found and she stayed there, in shock, until the police arrived.
They asked questions she couldn't answer because the tears didn't let her, and was finally taken to a shelter and there she fell asleep.

She walked on the very same bridge that had served her as refuge, but now instead of the factories one could see a forest of golden colored leaves. The stream beneath the bridge was clear and even its looks were refreshing. The air was pure, and there was a peaceful feeling all around.
Then a figure appeared in front of her, tall and slim, all dressed in white robes.
"Hello, Lindsay Jill," the stranger greeted her, but she could say nothing more than an almost whispered "Hi."
"Do you know what day this is?" The stranger continued.
"Friday," said Lindsay Jill.
"No... I don't mean that... Today is one year and a day since you've been visiting me every day, making me company when everybody else, after what they did to me, feels repulsed by my presence."
"I don't understand..." The girl confessed.
"You don't understand, and still you passed hours just looking at me running full of poison under this bridge."
Lindsay Jill remained silent, afraid of saying something stupid since she still didn't understand what was happening. The stranger seemed to guess that and so he continued the talking.
"I'm the king and master of this river. I used to hold a lot of sacred power and was known as a weaver of miracles. People used to offer me gifts in exchange of favors. I could make their lives happy and lucky and they knew it, so they build their cities beside me, for me to protect them and take care of them." A smile had formed in the stranger's face, but it suddenly disappeared and the apparent happiness let a frown appear. "But one day they didn't come with gifts, they didn't asked for favors, and as soon as a handful of seasons passes, they forgot even my existence." The tone in his voice was bitter now. "And they started to poison me... they killed the life inside of me and even when I cast a curse over their lives and the lives of their sons and the sons of their sons, they didn't stop."
"You are the river," said Lindsay Jill, finally understanding everything.
"And you are my only friend now. You didn't know I was hearing your very thoughts, and still you passed your time with me sharing your most precious dreams for a year and a day with no fault." The stranger smiled. "So, now I'll give you my blessing, using the last of the power I was holding to sustain the curse I cast over those who hurt me."
"If it is the last of your power, what will happen to you? You'll have no more for yourself?" Lindsay Jill inquired, perceiving something in the voice of the stranger that made her feel sad without a reason.
"I'll finally fall asleep until I die or my waters get clear and alive once again. But don't worry, kid, my blessing will stay with you forever as long as you don't forget to come and visit me once a year. Will you do it?"
"I will."
"To grant your wishes, something very bad has already happened. I couldn't undo the bad in your parents, but now you'll get new parents, a couple who will love you and give you everything you need and want. You'll rise healthy and beautiful, and you'll find true love. Your kids shall share your blessings, and they'll be great sons and daughters. And in the end, you'll go, old and happy, during your sleep."
When the stranger finished, Lindsay Jill imagined all that promises and while she thought about them, the images in her mind seemed real, so real that it was like living them. And she was so happy that she forgot all the pain of her thirteen years lived. In her visions she didn't forget to visit the river every year and even taught her sons and daughters to do the same.
And then she reached a very old age and, as the river said, she died in her sleep after the most perfect life.

In the shelter, a dead girl was found to make the tragedy of her family bigger. The corpse had the most beautiful and happy smile one could imagine, and nobody could understand how death could bring so much happiness.