The Waterfall's Nymph
Chapter 2 – Meeting the Paradise
Sulfus stayed there, with the water by his knees, staring at the place where that golden haired girl once had been…always with the same questions wandering around his head…
Who was she?
Why did she run away from him?
Was she the one who saved him from drowning?
He knew he hadn't been dragged by the steam, a branch was holding his leg back in that moment that had been one of the reasons he couldn't keep himself in the surface, and he had lost his consciousness when he stayed too much time under the water PLUS the branch kept pulling him down…but if it had been that girl saving his life…why would she run away from him like that as if he was a monster?
He held his head, it still hurt…plus he still had to find a way to return home…he had to know if his friends were safe and alright, if they had managed to get on land safely…
He looked around; he was between trees, probably in the deepest part of the forest! Which mean…the so called labyrinth…
"Great…I just needed this, how am I supposed to find a way back home if I'm STUCK in this labyrinth!" he complained, the forest was so empty that his voice echoed through the air, he sighed and walked out the river, back to land…
Wait…the river! That's it! Maybe if he followed the river he could find his way back home!
Sulfus looked at the direction the river was taking…it run towards the right…which mean that he had to walk to the left, because when they were in that trip, the boat was floating with the steam and not against it. The young teenager started climbing up the hill, always following the contrary direction of the river; he climbed and climbed until he finally got at the top of the biggest hill, he turned around, seeing the view from up there…all he could see in front of his eyes were trees and more trees, big trees, a true forest standing in front of him…
He sighed again and shook his head, it wasn't the right time to stay there watching beautiful sights, soon it would be night and he didn't know nor did he wanted to know what could happen if he was still in the forest when that moment arrived…he had heard lots of rumors that lately wolves have been wandering around the forest at night…he shivered a little, he didn't want to be eye to eye with the wolves! He had to get back home as soon as he could…
He keep following the river until he came face to face with the place where the accident had happened…and the boat was still there, attached to the land, a bit destroyed. As fast as he could, the boy run up towards the ship and jumped inside it
"Gas! Cabiria! Kabale!" he yelled, calling for his friends but there was no sight of them, the ship wasn't that big that he couldn't see them if they were in there…he still looked inside the cabin but knew nobody was there, the cabin was too small for the three of them to be in there and he would have noticed them if they were unconscious…having walked that whole way through the river, Sulfus didn't see anyone in the river so he believed that his friends had been able to come back home safely…
He jumped out the ship and started walking again, he knew it would take a while to get home but at last he was already away enough from that labyrinth. He keep following the river until he finally saw the place where he and his friends had been before beginning the boat trip, he sighed relieved. From there on Sulfus run, following now the familiar path that would lead him to his home.
When was close enough to his home, the boy could now see figures not too far away from him, familiar figures…three of them belonged to two girls and a boy, in front of them stood three other figures, one was of a tall man, the second of a woman who reached the man's shoulder and the third was a little girl who was holding the woman's skirt.
Those people were no other than his three friends, parents and little sister! Happy to see them again and to find out his friends were fine, the boy run up to them, calling them
"Everyone!" he called, he had called so loud that his voice caught the attention of everyone, they all turned their faces in his direction and the depressed expressions in all those faces disappeared, being immediately replaced by a happy and relieved one
"Sulfus!" yelled the woman as she run to him, as soon as she got near him she hugged him really tightly but it was nothing that the seventeen year old boy couldn't handle, he too hugged his mother as she cried of happiness "Oh my dear son, I'm so relieved! I thought I had lost you, you don't know how worried I was when your friends told me that you fell in the river and the steam took you away!"
The boy caressed the long dark hair, which were the same color as his, of his mothers, trying to calm her down "Calm down mom, I'm alright and here now" he murmured, Seraph let him go still with tears in her orange red eyes but smiled happily as she touched her son's face, she was so relieved he was alright
"Big brother!" yelled the family's youngest one as she jumped in her older brother's arms, he smiled and hugged her too, she was crying out of fear but also happiness…she was extremely close to her brother and was really scared that she wouldn't see him again
The ones who also hugged him as soon as Elisabeth let him go were his friends and girlfriend, the last one covered his face with tons of kisses, so many that he had to pull her away
"Ok, ok Kabale, I know you were very worried but you can let me go now, alright?" he said, she pouted
"But I was so worried!"
"I know you were but I'm here now, all I need is to rest a bit" he said, his friends nodded immediately, understanding the situation
"But…how were you able to save yourself? We saw you disappearing in the middle of the waters!" exclaimed Cabiria
"I.." he was about to say that he had been saved by a mysterious girl but…what if she had been a fruit of his imagination…? And plus nobody would believe that someone would be in the deepest part of the forest without getting lost! "I'm not really sure…I just remember waking up safely on land and nothing else. Probably I was dragged away by the steam…"
"I see" said his father "Well, we better leave him to rest, just like he said it was a very long day" they all nodded, Sulfus' friends said goodbye and went home while the young boy and his family went home.
Sulfus sighed as he entered in his room, he closed the door behind him and walked up to his bed where he immediately jumped to and laid down…that girl was still wandering in his mind…wherever he looked at she was there…her long blonde hair, her blue eyes, her tan skin, her lips…everything
"Aaaaahhhh I'm driving crazy!" he screamed suddenly as he put his hands on his head and shook it, he was now sitting up on the bed "Get a grip on yourself Sulfus Zolfanello, you have got a girlfriend and a life ahead of you, you are not going to stay here thinking about some other girl that run away scared from you!" he let his body fall heavily on the bed, then he turned around and closed his eyes, having decided to have a good rest after that long day…
It was in the middle of the night when Sulfus woke up sweating, a bit startled…again he dream of her…it was the third time on that night! It was always the same dream! Always the same girl who danced around in the waters of a waterfall, dressed in a beautiful white dress with a white rose on her long golden hair that danced around gracefully together with her movements and it would always end up with the girl reaching out her hand towards him…
"This has got to end…tomorrow I'm going there, I must find out if she is real or not…" with that he laid down again…trying to go back to sleep…
On the next morning Sulfus woke up early, which surprised both his parents because the young teenager was a boy who enjoyed sleeping till late
"And may we know where are you going in such a rush?" asked Edan
"I'm going to take a walk around there but I'm not sure when I will be back" he answered, his mother frowned a bit, worried
"Be careful with what you are going to put yourself into, Sulfus…wasn't what happened yesterday enough for you?"
"Relax mom, I promise I won't get myself in trouble or that I won't come back home with my clothes all thorn up"
"Sulfus!" scolded Seraph "Don't you play with serious things!"
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry, geez…" he stood up from the table and grabbed the small backpack that he had got ready with some food since he didn't know how long he would take until he found that girl again, with that he walked out the door, leaving his parents behind with a questionable look but also worried
"What is that boy planning…" murmured his mother
Sulfus walked through the same path that he had followed yesterday when he was trying to find his way back home, it took him about an hour until he reached the place where he found himself at once he had woken up after the accident…seeing he was reaching that zone, he started walking silently as possible…if she was really there, he didn't want to scare her before he had time enough to approach her…
He hid behind a tree and looked at the river…everything seemed calm…he waited a couple of minutes and nothing seemed to happen…he sighed disappointed as he let his body fall on the grass while his back rested against the tree's trunk
"Who am I kidding…she isn't real, I'm sure it was just a simple-"he was interrupted when he heard the same murmur he had heard yesterday, the splashing on the water…
Immediately he turned around and got on his knees, not taking his eyes from the river…and that's when he saw the same he had seen on the previous day, the same white figure with long blonde hair emerging from the deepest waters of the river, he watched carefully her expression…she looked…so happy, relaxed…as if swimming was the reason of her happiness…he decided to not make any movement for now, he wanted to watch her for a while…
The girl swam towards the opposite riverside and stepped out of the water, obviously she was completely wet, again with her white dress glued to her tan skin and with her long golden hair dripping water, giving it a wavy look…
As the girl moved, Sulfus would change from tree to tree, always being careful to see where his feet touched so he wouldn't step on anything that snapped and startled her…he knew that if called her like he had done yesterday she would get scared and would run away once again…so he decided to not do it this time, he wanted to approach her enough…
The girl swirled around a couple of times as if she was dancing while her bare feet would touch the fresh grass of the forest…when he less excepted, Sulfus found himself completely fascinated by such beauty…he was completely enchanted with her…he had to admit…he had never seen such a beautiful girl like that one…not even Kabale or Cabiria had such beauty…
He decided to approach a bit more, again trying to be the most silently he could be only this time, when he was near enough her, his tennis accidentally stepped on a small branch that was on the grass, snapping it in two, which made the sound echo…he saw the girl stop dancing and turn around in his direction, he saw all that happiness and relax in her sapphire blue eyes turning into fear, the smile on her face also disappeared as she started taking a few steps back…
Seeing this, Sulfus knew he had to react fast or he would lose her like he did yesterday "No, wait, I'm not going to hurt" but the girl didn't listen to him and started running towards the same direction she had taken yesterday…"Oh no, you won't escape this time!" he exclaimed as he started running after her
The girl didn't look back but she could feel, through his steps, that he was following her very fast, she tried to run faster but she had already reached her limit, sometimes she would trip on her own feet, losing her balance, but it wasn't enough for him to be able to catch her
When Sulfus noticed, he was already in another deepest part of the forest but this didn't made him stop…then he saw the girl entering inside of what seemed to be a cavern whose half of the entrance was blocked by a huge rock, the boy had to shrink himself a little bit so he could enter inside the cavern and with some difficulty he managed to do it
Hoping he hadn't lose her again, the boy run through the cavern, it was really big…he run and run until he finally saw a light at the end…the light became more intense and bright as he approached even more the end of the cavern, when Sulfus stepped out he had to cover his eyes with his arm due to the sun
As soon as he got used to the light, he uncovered his eyes and what he saw made him widen his eyes
"By God…what…what is this…?" he murmured as he looked around him…it was beautiful…that was the Paradise…everything was full of life, even more life than the forest itself! The sun shined intensely, the grass was lively, green and shining, birds, butterflies flew freely between the huge trees but what fascinated him even more was what was standing right before his eyes…the waterfall! It was beautiful, falling graciously onto the blue river, huge, strong and shiny…
And that's when he remembered the girl again, he took his eyes away from the view of the Paradise he had just found and started looking for her, he saw her figure running between the bushes…he started running after her, trying to find a shortcut to catch her but he didn't know this place quietly well and so he didn't know what kind of surprises could be hidden behind all that beauty…
That is when he had an idea…he stopped running and hide behind one of the biggest trees whose trunk was extremely large. He saw the girl disappearing between some bushes and crouching down…he smiled, his plan was going to work…a couple of minutes passed and he made no movement that showed the girl that he was in that place…but he keep looking at her…and he finally saw her sigh and stepping out of the bushes…
The girl looked around still with that fearful look in her eyes…her hand was upon her chest as the girl keep looking around herself, making sure the boy wasn't really there…without noticing she walked by the tree where Sulfus was hidden and luckily she didn't see him…he chuckled and followed her silently…
And when the girl less excepted…
He jumped at her!
He and the girl fell on the grass, she immediately turned around staying now face to face with the young teenager boy, he had her arms pinned down to her sides, so she wouldn't move…the teenager girl looked at him with full fear in her eyes which made Sulfus flinch a little, her eyes were shining with fear! Did he scare her that much?
"Easy…easy…I'm not nor I want to hurt you, ok?" the girl shook her head in fear "Look at me, look at me in the eyes and tell me if I'm lying to you"
The girl calmed down a little and looked Sulfus in the eyes…golden with sapphire…sun and sea…the young girl seemed to be lost in those pools of golden…but then she broke the contact and looked away
"So? Do you think I am lying to you?" she didn't answer…"Why won't you answer me?" she shook her head "Do you think I'm lying to you?" again she shook her head "Then what is it? Why you don't answer me?"
She slowly looked back at him…and slowly she managed to free one arm from his hands, she placed her hand upon her throat and slowly shook her head again. Sulfus' golden eyes widened in shock and realization as he finally understood what she meant with that gesture…
"You…are…mute…?"
TBC…