"I hear her soul is so unclean, pure water can melt her…"
It had been like any other day - routine wise: waking up, breakfast, and then chores. The only difference for the past month and a half was the weather. For a month and a half the heavens had opened, unleashing the full inundation of the sky. It was as though all of the angels' tears for humanity had been cried out. The earth was so full that miniature lakes formed on flat ground and each step caused the soil to squelch in protest. The rivers, however, seemed the worst. 'So full,' people said, 'that one more drop could mean the end of us!' She didn't think much of it though. She laughed at the worries of the other townsfolk. To her nothing could burst the banks of the rivers that had stood so firm her entire life. Never. That was when they would all drown in river water: never.
She couldn't go outside that day. 'Too wet!' her mother argued. 'Too dangerous!' This she laughed at: 'Nothing will happen, Mother! Nothing ever does here.'
Nothing could have been more wrong.
That afternoon it seemed to rain more than usual. If you looked out a window, you looked into a sheet of pure water, mutilating the view outside. Through the blur, she thought she saw Brunell running through the torrent. Next thing, there was a tremendous knocking at the door. "Out!" the voice hollered, "Out, get out! The river's burst! Get out or drown!" Then the sodden messenger ran back the way he came. Her parents started rushing around, gathering what they could carry. "Quickly! Help child! Help and flee!"
"Brunell's lying!" she called back, having not turned from the window. "Nothing's happening."
She heard the door slam. Her mother and siblings had left the house. Her father now grabbed her from behind, dragging her away. She screamed and kicked, insisting nothing was the matter. Somehow, he managed to drag her outside, pulling her along to the safest place in the village: Master Coid's house. Her mother hit the doors repeatedly, shouting to be let in. But the answer from the pompous snob was simple: no.
In despair they made their way back to their house. They attempted the roof. By now the water had reached chest height. Her father placed her on the roof. She curled up in a tantrum, peeking through the gaps in her dark, saturated hair.
Suddenly a huge torrent swelled behind her father, who was helping her child-laden mother up. Before she could scream, the leviathan of water swept up and swallowed her parents and siblings into its asphyxiating maw. And then it was over. In a matter of a second she had been cruelly orphaned of the only family she had left.
She stared at where they had been moments before. She stared and something began to boil inside of her. A creature of red darkness bloomed into a raging monster of hatred. Her parents were gone. Her parents were gone and she had one, and only one in her mind to blame. Coid. She shook from head to heel, darkness filling her veins with new life, new purpose. She stood up, slowly, embracing her newfound power. And screamed.
After her throat was red raw, she marched on the house that had denied her family safety, that had denied her family life, and in turn had doomed them all – to either death or imprisoning solitude.
People filed out of the gates of the manor, reeling at the sight of death and destruction that lay before them. They didn't notice the little girl who walked, stern-faced towards their 'ark'. That was, until they got in her way.
An old farmer was the first to bare her blows. He stepped too close, and through her fury, a mass of purple, dark energy ripped through the air like lightening, striking the offender down. The screaming and fleeing started with people either running away or being cut down by her tendrils of energy. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run or hide from the dark little girl. Coid appeared at the gate; unbeknown to him was the imminent danger that pressed down on him like a smothering pillow.
The child stopped a few metres from the man. Fear widened his eyes as he saw what she'd done. Terror raced through his veins as death flowed through hers. Coid's wife joined the scene, with two children. Upon seeing what was about to enfold she screamed her beloved's name – sealing her fate. Lightening flew towards her at a violent velocity. Coid screamed out as though he was the one being wounded. His children and wife dissolved into smoke. Coid screamed so fiercely, blood welled around his thin, pale lips. He collapsed to his knees. The girl remained silent but the detestation in her eyes said everything.
Screams of thunder rolled in the sky as the last of the rain fell.
The little girl ran away
From the scenes of death that day
And through the blood
And abhorring mud
The cries and screams can still be heard
Of the victims of that once sweet bird
Water brought her darkness to the light, and only water may snuff it out.
