The Curse of Water

Chapter 1- The Child of Water

Part I

Chapter One – The Child of Water

A great lake and a familiar silhouette of a man in the distance. The sad slow chiming of bells invites the ripples of the water for a dance, their dull song bidding farewell to the man's shadow as he approaches the shore. This wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Hundreds go to the water to die every year, some of their own volition, some because of a judgement brought upon them by a higher power. That's what the lake is, the beginning of the end. It is the final destination for anyone unfit or unwilling to be a part of our society. I've seen the death march to the water often but I have never witnessed such confident and determined steps as the ones that carried the man in my vision.

His name is called, though the sound is drowned out by the pealing of the bells. I can't recall them ever being this loud. He turns to answer the call, reigning my sightline along with his towards a woman and a small child running up to meet him. Now it all makes sense. He had no reason to dread his own end. It is just the quick and painful discarding routine nearly all households in our world have to face. The new world adapted many rituals from history and pieced it together like a giant mosaic which glorified hedonism and the insufferable worship of power and beauty. This particular tradition was borrowed from the golden years of ancient Sparta where the undesirables who were born with any mental or physical defects were cast into oblivion. Or in our case into the ocean deep pool at the centre of the world commonly referred to as "the well". For both their own good and for the betterment of society, or so everyone is lead to believe. Doesn't that sound a bit sketchy? Not that it matters, it's not like human rights will ever replace the "Top Ten Lipstick Shades to Match Your Luscious Summer Lemonades" on our current trends list. It's just how it's been done for as long as I've been alive in the city-state of Urbanwell, and it is beyond unwise to question the king's decisions.

I probably should will myself to wake, the discarding of a child is never a pretty sight, but a queer curiosity compels me to take a closer look. There is a magnetic element about the man and the child. Something is so familiar...it feels like I've been a part of this exchange before. Of course Marcus, you've been a bystander to scenes like this almost every time you visited the well. It's just a regular nightmare you're starting to glorify with annoyingly descriptive language. But then they start to argue and I can't help but feed my imagination a few more theories to munch on. Perhaps the guy doesn't want the kid thrown in the lake...okay, maybe I'll just sleep for five more minutes. I will my dream self closer to the action and thankfully they don't notice me. It's a dream idiot, why would they?

"I cannot take him, you must understand!" The man declares while his hands desperately search for something to occupy them in their frustration.

Take him where? Maybe to work? Okay Marcus, what did you have to drink before you went to sleep? Standing at the edge of hell this has to be a more important conversation than a "take your kid to work" day debate. Maybe he meant to a doctor...I've heard of people getting second chances if their doctor is skilled enough with a knife, but these two don't look like they can afford that kind of surgery and the child seems to be under the permissible age for operations in any case. And while I'm busy with my stupid internal monologue I am left out of the loop and forced to rejoin the discussion at a much more confusing point.

"He should be enough to tie you to me! He is your son, of that I'm certain!" The woman pleads.

Ooh, now we're getting somewhere. They're not married, or else why on earth are they separating? Maybe this is a secret affair and the kid is the evidence to be destroyed...oh, or maybe she's had a string of affairs and it's an "either he goes or I go" type of situation.