Practice

Lady of the Water

Prompt: For this story I decided to do the same as the previous and use a picture and create a story about it.

"Gather round. Come, and listen," a scraggly old voice caught Anahita's attention. She spun around and found and old man beckoning children over his way. It was not in a way that would scare a mother, more that he was going to embrace them with joy. "I want to tell you a story," the man spoke again. Anahita walked close enough to hear the man, but far enough away that it didn't seem that she was eaves dropping.

Some children and their mothers were gathered around the old man. "It was long ago," the man began. "I was sailing with my brothers and my wife's brothers. We were fishing for big, plump fish to bring back to our wives. It was a quiet day. Not many bites. We were just about to head back to shore, when a violent storm suddenly found its way over us." The man used his arms and hands to tell the story.

"The waves crashed onto the boat. Many times I thought we would go under. That we would never see the rising sun again. Lightning struck the water around us, and thunder boomed above us! We were terrified. I grabbed the cross that hung around my neck and prayed to any god or goddess that would listen.
"It was in this moment that the biggest wave rose out of the water! It was taller than any building! More powerful than any explosion! It carried more than the weight of a mountain! But somehow, somehow... it didn't touch us or our boat. And the strange thing was, the wave only rose up. It didn't come crashing down like any other wave. Instead, it shifted, and changed. It shaped into something. 
"Some call my crazy, but I promise you, that wave transformed into the shape of a woman. Her figure was like an hourglass, and her arms were raised above her head in a mystical way. Her breasts were naturally plump, and her face was indescribable." Anahita was so entranced by the story that she didn't even realize that the man paused. 

"The Lady of the Water, as I like to call her, then bent down and looked at me. Not anyone else on the boat. Me, she looked at me, with her eyes the size of my head. She lifted one hand and water followed it into the air. She placed her hand as if she were blowing me a kiss. And it was almost like she did. She blew a big breath out and sent our boat gently rocking back to shore. We washed up with no scratches on either us or the boat.
"But we didn't realize that until the next morning when we woke up. Everyone on the boat said a different way of how we got there. And that any of them was just us dreaming it. But I know that I did not dream up the Lady of the Water. I know she was real. And that she still is. Sometimes, when I go out to the beach, I can still see the shape of her in the distance." After a moment of silence, the children clapped for the old man and then proceeded with their day. But Anahita stayed behind.

"Umm, sir?" Anahita called out.

"Yes, what can I do for you ma'am?" The old man looked up to her from his stool.

"How long ago did that story take place?" Anahita knelt on the ground, not daring to take her gaze away from the man.

"It was not a just a story young girl. It was the truth."

"I know, I'm sorry. How long ago did it take place?" Anahita asked again.

"Oh," the man scratched his chin and looked at the sky, "I'd say, about fifty years ago perhaps."

Anahita looked at the man, shocked.

"What is the matter?" The man asked after he noticed Anahita's widened eyes.

"My grandmother. She tells a similar story. Well, she told a similar story. She died about ten years ago. But she told of a Water Woman that rose from the ocean about the same time. She wanted us to believe she was a bystander, but the way she told the story it sounded as if she was the Water Woman." Anahita's eyes begged for answers to her long time question.

"Do you have a picture of your grandmother?" The man asked. Anahita nodded and grabbed for her purse which was slung around her shoulder. She unzipped it and pulled out her wallet. She grabbed the picture of her beloved grandmother that she always kept with her and handed it to the man. 

The man studied the picture for a moment before his eyes widened with excitement. "It- it is her! The Lady of the Water!" The man looked at Anahita. "I thought I would never see her again."

"I thought you said you sometimes see her when you go to the ocean." Anahita said questioningly. 

"It was about ten years ago that I stopped seeing her. I was deeply saddened." Sorrow filled the man's face. "She was the love of my life. I know in the story I said I was married, but I was not. I tell it that way so the parents will stick around and listen as well. They don't want to hear about a bachelor getting in a storm out at sea." Anahita nodded following along with the man's words.

"About five years after the incident, I met a woman who looked spectacularly like the Lady of the Water. We were together for some time. But when I wanted to take her out to sea one time, she disappeared. I never heard or saw of her again, except when I went out to the ocean." The man paused. "Was your grandmother ever married?" He asked.

"No, she wasn't, she got pregnant with my mother and there is no story of a father. Nobody's questioned it." Anahita stared at the ground in front of her, everything she's wondered but put to the back of her mind until later. "Wait, do you think you could be my grandfather?" Anahita asked excitedly.

"I suppose it's a possibility. What is your name dear?" 

"Anahita. The same as my grandmother's." 

"Yes, that was her name. A truly beautiful name." The man stared at Anahita. "Your name, it means 'water goddess.'" 

"Really?" Anahita exclaimed.

"Yes." The man and Anahita stood simultaneously. "You do, you look like her."

"Everyone always said I did." Anahita hugged the man. Finally, she had found some a connection to her grandmother.