You wake up in a haze. You realize you are lying on cool grass. Your hair is feeling moist from the wetness of the dewy lush green grasses. You have no idea why you are here but you know something does not feel right. After all you woke up in a swamp! You get up to dust off your clothes. It is muddy and wet and you decide it is no use trying to clean it. You start walking to see if you if you can find someone that can help you because you don't know the way back to the road.
Your head is throbbing as you walk. It is beginning to get dark. You feel light-headed as you struggle to keep your pace. The sound of a million tiny grasshoppers is deafening to you. As you traipse the swamps, you feel a droplet on your head. Then another one, then another until you feel the splatter of the cruel rain on your aching body. "Fuck this day!" you say out loud. Your vision begins to blur. In the near-distance you see what looks like a shack. You want to believe what you're seeing is real. No, you tell yourself, "I must be dreaming". You begin to walk as fast as your two legs could carry you, which isn't fast at all. You walk up to the wooden pathway which leads to the front door. You knock twice and wait. You haven't prayed in a long time but you realize you're silently hoping and praying that someone was home. By now you're seeing in doubles but what you could make out is a blonde woman dressed in a short red dress who answers the door. That is the last thing you remember.
All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised to you heaven?
You open your eyes and you hear music being played very softly. You are confused about where you are. Suddenly you remember the woman you saw and that you came to her home. You turn your head to see her sitting on a chair over you. She is dipping a sponge in a bucket of water. Your grey jersey is off and you are lying on her shamrock-coloured couch. You observe her every move as she squeezes the sponge releasing water into the bucket and bring it to your neck. She has a pitiful look on her face as she soothingly glides the sponge over your neck and chest. You are first to break the silence.
"T…thank you. You are very kind."
Her wintry blue eyes look directly into yours as she rubs the sponge on your torso. "Oh ya don't have to thank me," she says humbly in a thick Cajun accent.
"What happened? I remember I came here after I woke up in the swamp."
She shoots you a soft smile. "That's for you to tell me. You knocked on my door. Just when I opened the door you passed out on duh porch. You were bleedin. You look like you've been rode hard and put up wet. My daddy used to say that. Don't worry I fixed it up but ya still should see a doctor about dat." Her gaze shifts to your head. You put your hand on your head and you feel a cloth around it. Apparently she had cleaned and bandaged your wound. You didn't even know you had one. All you remember is that you were having the worst headache in your life.
"You helped me. I do not know how to thank you enough. If it weren't for you I would have probably died or remained in the swamp until someone came looking for me."
"Tell me sumthin child. What were you doin in the swamp all by yourself? You don't seem to be from 'round here."
"That's the thing. Ugh. I don't even remember how I got here. All I remember is that I had awaken in the swamp. I was lying on the floor but I can't seem to remember how I got there."
"Shh. Hush now. Here drink this." She hands you a cup and a blue t shirt.
"What is this?" you ask her.
She replies quickly. "Oh just the finest of my garden herbs."
"Thank you." You quickly drink the concoction and handed her the cup. You stand up to put on the t shirt she had given you. "I best get going. It is already dark. Thank you. You are too kind. If I had anything to repay you with"
She cuts you off. "Nonsense. Aren't ya gonna stay for dinner? I'm makin my best spaghetti."
You notice the woman has an incredibly doleful expression on her face. You begin to think she likes your company or maybe she's just a kind soul.
"Well I guess dinner wouldn't hurt. I am feeling kinda hungry."
Her face lights up and you could see her halo-white teeth. She dashes off to the kitchen. You follow her.
"Could I help you with dinner?"
"Oh no. You are my guest. I hardly have any or I should say, none at all. Take a seat, will you? I forgot my manners. I didn't get your name."
"(y/n)" you say with a smile.
"Misty Day. You can call me Misty."
"Well nice and convenient to meet you Misty."
You take a seat on one of the straw chairs in the corner of her cozy shack. She goes over to the record player in the corner and changes the record. You can't recall the last time you ever saw someone use it the way she does. If you did see one, the person probably had it along with other collectibles.
'Who sings this?"
"Who sings this? Fleetwood Mac! Stevie Nicks is my hero." She begins to hum to the tune. "Listen to the lyrics. This song was her anthem... doesn't it just penetrate your soul and tell the truth about everything you've ever felt in your whole life?"
"Totally."
"Oops dinner must be ready."
You thank her for dinner.
"You can borrow this blanket in case you feel cold."
"I could stay the night?"
"No you should go wandering the swamps at night alone… Well of course you are staying the night silly. Tomorrow I will take you into town."
"Oh Misty. You're an angel."
You go back to the couch that you were on earlier and thanked your lucky stars for finding this woman. You are still confused about how you ended up being lost. Before you know it you are drifting off into a deep sleep.
"He… he hit… HE HIT ME! BASTARDS! mmmm"
"Shush shhh child. I got you."
You open your heavy eyelids. You are breathing loudly… No you are hyperventilating. It dawned on you like an epiphany. You remember how you got lost.
"You were just havin a bad dream (y/n)"
Misty Day cradles your head in her arms and strokes your hair to get you to calm down. Her velvet hands felt like what could only be described as an angel's touch to you. By now your face glistened.
"It's alright. Shhhhhhh."
Her shall is wet with your tears. She takes her right thumb and wipes the salty droplets as they come pouring down wildly on your face.
"Come now. Don't spoil your face with agony child. Life is too short for that."
She keeps you in her warm embrace. You begin to feel insecure and very vulnerable crying on a stranger's shoulder. Although Misty was kind to you, she was still a stranger. But you couldn't help it. You needed someone.
After a while you start to speak. "Misty I know how I got here. I remember. It sounds crazy but my dream made me remember. I was biking on the road. My school is not very far from here and I bike to and from school every day. Some mean kids followed me home and I remember one of them got out of the car they were in and I think he hit my head with a piece of wood and I must have fallen from my bike. They probably stole my bike. Maybe I woke up on the road and wandered into the swamp looking for help since it would be impossible to walk home. The road is so damn lonely I can't hitchhike. Maybe I passed out when I went into the swamp."
She looks distressed. You are too. "I'm sorry about those assholes. I barely know ya but I know enough to know that ya didn't deserve that." She uses both of her hands to cup my hand and pitifully smiles at me.
The next morning Misty keeps her promise to you. Right after breakfast she takes you to the hospital in town. The doctors replace the bandage Misty had put on with a fresh one. They gave you ointment and an injection. You are terrified of needles but Misty Day hugs you as the nurse delivers the medication in your system.
Before you return to your apartment you thank Misty for all she had done for you. "I wish I could make it up somehow."
"Well ya know, I hardly have company. Would love if you could stop by when ya have the chance."
"Of course Misty Day. Of course."
It has been nearly three weeks since the kind swamp woman nursed you to health. You keep your word by visiting her every other day and days when you don't have classes. For a college student, you can barely afford anything for yourself but you buy her that Fleetwood Mac poster. You hold it in your hand as you knock on the door. "SURPRISE!" Her eyes widen as she opens the door and sees what you got in your hand. She hugs you and put the poster up on the wall. You and she have dinner and you dance and sing along to the entire Bella Donna album. The day those kids beat you up and stole your bike was probably one of the best days in your life. It was destiny for you to meet her.