IN THE ISLANDS THAT ONLY DARKNESS AND NIGHT TOUCH, LIVES A GIRL NAMED RIVER RUE.
SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD, SHE HAD HEARD ABOUT THEIR ORIGIN TALES FROM THE ELDERS IN HER VILLAGE. SHE NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AS DIFFICULT AND STRANGE AS IT WAS, AS THE T...
The bunkhouse was lit with a lantern. The foggy night with dark lumps in the darkened skies is a sign of rain. It seems the rainy season will hit them earlier this year. Esme and River are scooting closer to each other as they share the same bed. Their bunkhouse is a modest home for the three of them: two rooms with a kitchen, a dining table with a doily tablecloth, and a bare wooden floor that creaks loudly when it steps in, into the living area. Nothing much, but it's home.
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Esme and River are both in their early twenties. Both young and grown women love to hear some bedtime stories from their grandmothers. Living in Westwood with darkness 24 hours a day, 365 nights a year transformed Westwood into the realm of the dead.
Nanny Roe leaned back in her rocking chair. Cover half of her body with blankets and rock back and forth with her big, round old glasses. Fixing the end of the girl's mattress with her walk stick, she held her breath for a second before saying, "A long, long time ago...," starting yet another bedtime story.
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When the world is covered in ice. The icy unpaved road joined the far－off and nearby lands together. Divided into four major continents: the North, the South, the East, and the West. The world is freezing, and the wind howls like lamentations. Wheezing and whooshing with heavy, hazy white icy fog. There's no life, none.
Deep in the forest and caves, near the cliff, mountain slope, and ocean banks, you'll see life. From the smallest life to the old, gray, and frail one, laughing and goofing around in the freezing weather, this is their home and their life. Every day is an adventure and a struggle, but it's also full of happiness. When a family sticks together and lives through thick and thin together, even if it's a struggle, it's still a source of happiness.
This story does not begin in the East, South, or North, but rather in the West. The western side of the far West.
"This sounds like a dangerous land to me," Esme said in a low voice. She's almost whispering because she doesn't want to interrupt Nanny Roe's story.
Nanny Roe smiled before responding to the girls in a sweet tone. "Indeed, it's dangerous to the people on the West side. Because miracles start there," she said with a deep, big smile that showed the dimples deep in her face.
Hence, Westwood was founded. The far West land, over by the ocean, with mountains and forests nearby, and mangrove swamps filled with thousand fireflies. Day and night constantly changed, taking place when the timing was right for hundreds of thousands of years; it never failed. Even once! Not until, that one frosty winter......
Nanny Roe stops. Reminiscing that day as clearly as the moonlit in the darkened sky. River and Esme's exchange look.
"What happens in those frosty winters?" River asked. Nanny Roe shakes her head slowly.
"Of course, nothing bad happens. It's just... it changed Westwood to this day," Nanny Roe smiled. But the clear wrinkle in those faces cannot disguise the grief she felt.
She may look serene and warm, but she's actually intimidated, hurting, and wounded deep inside. She just doesn't talk about it. Doesn't want to think about it anymore. Because the life it brought is more valuable than revenge.
"You guys still remember your dad and mom?" Esme nodded, while River just sat there in silence. She didn't remember anything about her parents. Not even their looks. She had zero memories of them.
"Don't take it to heart, dear" Nanny Roe voiced, soothing River's broken heart.
"You're both young at that time. Esme was the mischievous one, while you, the calm and obedient," Nanny Roe took River's hand and held it dearly.
"You just don't remember them, not because you forget them. You were sick at that time, River. Very sick, it made your parents distressed and try everything to help you get better and they did. Just look at you now? Young and beautiful. Both of you...." Esme and River smile. Leaving a small chuckle on Nanny Roe's face.
"So what happens next?" Nanny Roe's mouth was slightly open. She almost forgot to tell the tale. She cleared her throat first before continuing the story again.
The Westwood is a small island located far west of the West Coast mainland. It is not mapped on a world map. Westwood is an island that does not exist in the real world, but it is there. Only cannot be seen with the naked eye. Over 100 years ago, when Nanny Roe's grandmother and great－grandmother lived, there was a young woman named Vanessa.
A tall and beautiful young woman with fair skin and crystal blue eyes. Stranded at the ocean banks near Westwood island. Vanessa is one year younger than Nanny Roe, according to human age. She's from the mainland and is the daughter of a wealthier family that comes from the military. Nothing much of Vanessa's life can be told, as she doesn't talk much about it.
Vanessa stayed for ten years and married a man in Westwood. Uri, Nanny Roe's older brother, married Vanessa, and together they had one son. As the Westwood－er man, Uri works as a carpenter and fisherman at the same time. Nanny Roe and Uri were close and loved to share their life story. There is no secret between Uri and Nanny Roe. Their family bonding was stronger than the ocean waves.
However, as the people of Westwood, some rules were never meant to be broken in the first place;
- Never married a mainland man or woman.
- Never cross the Monochrome borderline in the deep sea.
- Never brought life from the mainland.
- Never use a clear mirror unless you must.
A curse was cast by Nanny Roe, great－grandmother after Vanessa left the village with her son. Leaving the forlorn Uri alone. The devastated man, crying his heart out every single full moon at the top of the Westwood mountain. Grieving the loss of his wife and son. Uri died at the top of the Westwood mountain when full moonlight beaming around the islands.
"Is that why we don't cross the border, Nona?" Nanny Roe nodded. Her heart was torn in two by the sight of her granddaughter's face. Should or shouldn't she tell them the real story behind the Westwood curse? Would that make them feel better or shatter their family again?
"It's not a bedtime story, isn't it, Nona? The story was true, and we shouldn't forget what the curse may bring if we break the rule. But why did the great－great－grandmother make such a rule in the first place?" River asked as she slid farther down in the bed. Her eyes start to become heavy.
"Because she wants to save us all from harm! The harm that will destroy our island and the life on it. We're the last of the sea voyagers on earth. Westwood is our last port to hold. If we fail to protect it, our lives as sea voyagers will be gone forever," said Nanny Roe in a murmuring, slow voice.
Their bunkhouse becomes colder. The heavy rain is falling hard on the top of their thatched roof. Night and darkness have been with Westwood for almost a decade now. River was brought to the land when she was just six years old. Embedding her with the curse and constant, until it was remembered by the villagers as the mark day of their dark world.
P/S; The first image is from PINTEREST UNDER THE USERNAME/PAGE---- ✨💜Cindy C Crystal💜✨ and the second image is from THE USERNAME/PAGE--- Antarik Fox. The third image is from THE USERNAME/PAGE--- pimminag.com
