A/N- This is a story i heard in Catalina. We hiked up a mountain and at the top was a lone chimney. Some of the kids asked about it and this is what one of the counselors said. I just switched it to first person and added a few of my own details. i hope you like it!
I was all alone. The only female on the whole island. My beloved husband, Albert, was the headmaster of the all boys boarding school down the mountain. We lived in a small house on one of the mountains, overlooking the sparkling ocean. It was only about a 30 minute hike from the academy. the house was small, we lived on a headmaster's salary for Pete's sake! Anyway, it was awful. Every day I roamed the house, lonely and sad. I needed company.
"Honey", we had just finished diner, his favorite, Tolopia, "We need to talk. "All righty" he replied. That's what i loved about Albert; he was always in a good mood and spoke cheerfully.
"I want a baby"
At first he looked shocked, then confused, why would his sweet Helen Mirkwater want a child? Then, he understood. Those days when I'd look in jealousy at the proud mothers, dropping their sons off at school. I needed company. "Huhhhh..." he sighed."Let's do it."
Before you knew it, nine months flew by and it was almost time, I desperately prayed for a girl, someone who would understand what its like to be the only one, a child on the island who did not look like he lived at the academy.
The day finally came. It was a boy. "Peter" I breathed with the last boost of energy I had, then, I collapsed.
A boy, We could only handle one child, and it was a boy. A part of me, the one that longed for a baby girl, died.
Everyone was overjoyed, especially Albert. His own son! Not just one of the students. Peter Mirkwater. I played along, and together we would raise him proudly and perfectly.
"Have a nice day at work honey" "Bye-Bye daddy!" Then he left for work. Just like any other morning. "Peter, go outside and play while Mommy cleans up breakfast" "Okay doky" Peter was so much like his father, five years old and already, he says the same thing as his father would. My darling Peter, almost as good as a girl. Almost.
BLOODY MURDER!!!!!!
Peter!
I ran outside and what I saw was worse than any sea monster. Peter was holding on to one of the Toyon trees, holding for dear life. Oh my god. What happened! I screamed, hearing the fear in my voice.
"I was chasing a butterfly and I tripped and fell. I'm going to die!," Peter sobbed.
"Don't worry dear, everythings going to be okay," I said, though I wsn't so sure. I started to pull him up.
Don't you want a girl? a voice in the back of my head said. It's so simple. "I do really want a girl, i agreed. I could tell them he fell.
I let him go. I will never forget the scream of terror and betrayal that came from my son as he fell towards his death. To this day, it haunts me. When Albert found out, he was heart broken. Wors than heart broken. Weeks passed, then months, he was no longer cheerful. When Peter died, a part of Albert died with him.
I was also miserable. I wallowed in regret for killing, no murdering my own son. He had done nothing, and I had cast him away like garbage. How could I live with myself? I almost couldn't.
Albert was now the one to say "I need a child." He eventually coaxed me to. Once again the months flew by and nervously awaiting for something to happen. It was a girl. The cutest girl you could ask for. Wavey red hair, small freckles on her little cheeks, and these deep blue eyes. She would soften anyone's heart. We named her Joyce. The only joy we had left, was through her.
She was about seven when it happened. Albert was, of course, downhill, working. I was cleaning the house, thinking about dear Peter. I heard a scream. Joyce's scream. She was in trouble.
I ran outside and there she was, hanging from the same tree Peter had been grasping before had had fallen.
Deja-vu
The first thought that came to me; I've got to save my child I ran to her and started to pull her up. No second thoughts, I wasn't going to let go. Not again.
When I had almost gotten her up I heard her say " are you going to drop me again?" in Peter's voice, as if he had possesed her. I was so shocked that I loosened my grip. joyce lost her balence and tumbled down into the ocean, screaming all the way. "Joyce no!" I screamed. But it was too late. No one could save her. She wasn't coming back. I had let death claim yet another child of mine. I had no other reason to live. I had killed both of my children, what was the point?
I confessed everything. I wrote it all out in a letter to Albert. Connfessing the first and stating the second deaths of our children. "Goodbye" I wispered, tears streaming down off my face, as I hid the note where Albert would find it.
I never saw his reaction to it. I locked myself in the nursery, started a fire, and burned the house down, with me inside. My life had ended.
A/N-The leter That Hellen wrote is in one of the museums on Catilina Island. This proves that this is a true story, minus the details. I just added onto the main idea. The ghosts of Peter and Joyce still haunt Toyon Bay. When no live kids are there, counselors can hear little children laughing in the empty cabins, Joyce's ghostly figure was also spotted on one of the more recent snorkeling activities.