Farewell

This chapter is not quite finished , but I wold like some comments, good or bad.

 

 

To see a world in a grain of sand

And Heaven in a wildflower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in a hour.

 

-William Blake

 

 

                   Farewell

           CHAPTER ONE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eve Fallon sat quietly in her bedroom as she packed the last bit of clothes into her duffle bag, leaving out her favorite black tank top, a pair jean shorts , her flip flops, and her scrapbook. She smiled as she looked at the clothes she was going to be wearing tomorrow, a tribute to the south she thought to herself. She glanced around the room one more time to make sure nothing was being left behind, did one last check under the bed, and opened all the dresser drawers. Everything was packed..

She could hardly believe that this would be the last night she would be spending in the house that she called home for the past two years. Tomorrow would be the start of a new life and she was not looking forward to the transition , especially since she was going to be starting her junior year in high school in just a few weeks.. For once in her life she actually felt like she belonged , for once in her life she was the popular girl in school. Now it would be over , and everything that she had here would just be another memory added to her scrapbook.

Eve plopped down on her bed and opened her scrapbook. As she turned the pages she laughed quietly to herself. The memories she had here will always be with her now, right in this book. She closed her scrapbook and placed it in the side pocket of her duffle bag. Looking around the empty room she couldn’t help thinking that she would definitely miss this place. The misty green walls that were once adorned with countless photo’s of Eve and her friends were now bare and lifeless and only showed traces that pictures once hung there. There would soon be another family that would enjoy this house and make there own memories.

Eve walked to the window and opened it. Down below she could she her mother talking to the movers, who would be coming first thing in the morning to load up all the furniture. Eve half heartedly waved at her mother, who was staring at her as one of the two men was talking to her. Her mother did not wave back, and turned her head quickly to give her attention back to the young man in the blue shirt. Eve shook her head and peered down the street to see if her best friend Kelly was home yet. She looked down at her watch , 1:00 pm. Kelly was one of the first people she met when she first moved to Folly Beach, SC. Her driveway was still empty. “ Ugh…hurry up.” she protested. This was her last night and she was going out with a bang.

“Eve ?“ said a soft voice, with a strong Latino accent, from the other side of the door. ”Miss , is it ok if Rosa comes in.”

Eve turned and went to open the door. There stood the quirkiest little lady you had ever seen. Her grayish brown hair was wildly curly , and went off in all different directions half way down her back. She wore an array of vibrantly colored clothes , and her tiny fingers were embellished with huge antique rings, and her wrist with many, many bracelets.

’Rosa , how many times have I told you not to call me Miss, you make me feel so old…and I‘m only sixteen? ” Eve said smiling as she walked back over to the window. “Yes, yes of course, my dear, but not for long , in two weeks you will be seventeen.“ Rosa said as she looked over her glasses

“It’s hardly a birthday that I want to celebrate, this year.” Eve murmured .

Rosa walked over to Eve and placed something on the window sill. “ My I Pod……I was just looking for this last night. “ Eve said. “Yes I figured that’s what you were looking for…I picked it up for you in the kitchen, Miss Eve.“ Eve cut a look back at Rosa. “I’m sorry….Eve…..” Rosa sighed . “ Rosa , I swear I wouldn’t know what to do without you…thank you. “ Eve said as she gave Rosa a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and walked over to her duffle bag .

Eve watched Rosa as she walked to the other side of the room, her long skirt dragged behind her with every step . Eve smiled and shook her head as she put her I Pod in the side pocket of her bag, zipped everything back up and placed her bag beside the door. Rosa was the only person who could bring her to smile no matter what mood she was in.

“Eve, please come, Rosa , has something for you.“ As she patted the spot next to her. . She was sitting on the black leather loveseat in the corner of her bedroom , and motioned once again for Eve to join her.

“ Why do you always refer to yourself by your first name….it’s so funny!“ Eve said, letting out a little laugh.

Rosa frowned “ I don’t know, why? What should I call myself by? I am Rosa, this is the name my mother gave me ,this is who I will always be and have been for fifty years, so……..”

Eve starting laughing,” Ok , ok , I know …..but the proper way is to say me, or I.”

“ Ok then , you go and be a English teacher and Rosa will come and learn from you…. but enough about that I have something for you.” she said sarcastically.

Eve smiled at Rosa as she walked over to the couch. She could not help but wonder how a woman of her age was able to look so youthful.

She looked like an odd eclectic painting, and the black leather loveseat was her picture frame. She wore a shirt that was a brilliant shade of turquoise and blue, with a dizzying floral pattern, and a large shiny gold belt wrapped high around her waist, and a long pink skirt that was covered with beads and rhinestones She was a very eccentric woman and Eve loved everything about her !

Eve sat down beside her and grabbed her hand. “I really wish you were coming with us .“ Eve said sadly. “ I know, I know, I wish very much that I can come , but you know I can’t, not this time.“ Eve lowered her head and fiddled with Rosa’s gaudy rings.

“How is your mother doing?“

“ She is not so good, “ Rosa said as she looked down and shook her head. “She is back in the hospital, and her vision is getting worse, and the doctor says she will blind before long.” Rosa said pausing for a brief second before she continued .‘I must go to her, she has no one, I am all she has left … Eve, I hope you can understand?”. Rosa said looking back up at Eve.

“Yes, of course I do, Rosa .”

“But enough about that, I did not come here, to talk about me, I came here to give you your birthday present.” .

Eve looked at Rosa inquisitively , as she watched as she reached into her bag and pulled out a small rectangular box wrapped in shiny silver paper , and handed it over to her. Eve looked curiously at the box for a brief moment.

”Well, go on , open it.”

Eve unwrapped the paper from the box, threw it in the trash bin beside the loveseat, and pulled the top off . Eve gasped as she pulled out her present and held it in the air. It was a stunning gold necklace with a elegantly shaped amulet that dangled on the bottom. In the center of the amulet was two breathtaking teardrop shaped diamonds .

“ Do you like it?” Rosa asked.

“It ’s so beautiful .”Eve said admiringly. “ But Rosa it looks so expensive, how were you able--”

. ”Don’t be silly child , I did not pay for it…“ Rosa said as she gave a little laugh. “It has been in my family for many, many generations, and now I want you to have it.”

” Rosa, I don’t know if I can accept this, I can’t take something that has been in your family for so long “Eve floundered.

“ Nonsense!‘

Rosa grabbed the necklace from Eve and unclasped it, and reached around Eve’s neck to put it on her. Rosa sat back and smiled at Eve. The two diamonds on the amulet glistened in the sunlight that shined through her bedroom window.

“ Rosa…no one has ever given me a more perfect present than this. I really love it!’ Eve said as she let go of the necklace and leaned over and hugged Rosa tightly.

“ You truly are welcome. ..I really wanted you to have it.”

“ You know this necklace has a history“ Rosa grabbed the amulet and held it in the palm of her hand as she pointed to the emblem that rose from it. “Do you see this?”

“Yes, it’s an eagle? “

Rosa smiled. “ That my child is not an eagle, but a phoenix . “ Rosa paused for a brief moment . Eve studied the gold piece as Rosa continued.

“ This necklace has been in my family for over two hundred years, and it all started with a young woman named Esmeralda Marie Sanchez. Esmeralda had fallen intensely in love with a boy named Pierre Van Wyck, when she was about your age….maybe a little older. And oh my god , did he love her. ” Rosa began but was interrupted..”

“ Where was Pierre from? .” Eve asked, as she cocked her head sideways .

“ He was from France. His family had moved to Mexico in hopes of finding gold.”

“Was there any gold?”

“ Yes, but not enough for outsiders, to come and help themselves to it. You have to understand Eve, that where I grew up is very, very poor , and can you imagine how much worse it was over two hundred years ago. ?” Rosa said.

“Yes, I suppose.”

“ Anyway, Pierre and Esmeralda were so in love they spent every waking hour together. Pierre , being that he was from the land of love was very romantic. He even painted a picture of her….in the nude, I might add. Esmeralda’s father , was becoming very suspicious of the time that they were spending with each other. So he forbid Esmeralda from seeing him. Pierre had become so mad without her ,that he went straight to Esmeralda’s father and asked for his daughter ‘s hand in marriage. Esmeralda’s father was furious and starting yelling, Esmeralda was pleading with her father to see reason, as she exclaimed how deeply in love she and Pierre were. He would not hear of it. He started yelling at Esmeralda as he went to her room and came back with the painting , that he found by mistake, right before he forbid her from seeing him. He told her that she was dirty , not pure, and no one would have her now , and he slapped her in the face. Pierre ran to Esmeralda pushing her behind him , and warned her father not to lay his hands on her again. Esmeralda‘s father‘s friend , who was in the back of the house had come up front as soon as he heard Pierre threaten her father. The both of them threw him into the street and warned if he ever came back they would kill him. ”

“ Why wouldn’t he just let Esmeralda marry Pierre if he thought she had already given herself to him? Eve asked.

“Well first of all Pierre was French and not from our culture. Second of all they were not devout Catholics ,and many people of the community actually thought that they were into witchcraft , and there fore they were completely shunned. The only reason he let Esmeralda spend time with him is because he thought he could trust her judgment and he saw that she was finally smiling again. . “

.”Why , was she depressed about something?”

“ Well yes, I guess you could say that, but it was more like a long mourning period. Esmeralda’s mother had passed away when she was fourteen , and every since then she was not the same, always sad and never smiling. And then she met Pierre, she had never been happier, and her father could see that, and it made him happy to see his daughter finally smiling, and he did not want to take that away from her. He did not know it would get that far and when he found the painting it was a different story. ….. in Esmeralda fathers eyes she had disgraced him and …their family name !” Rosa added

“ That’s really sad” Eve said

“What is , my dear”

“To be so in love with someone and never be able to be with that person … I know exactly how Esmeralda feels.“ Eve said in a whispering tone, looking down.

“What’s that, honey?” Rosa asked

“ Oh nothing, I just said that , it ’s sad to be in love with someone, and never be able to be together .” Eve said speaking up.

“ Oh no child , that did not stop her from seeing him.” Rosa said as she grabbed Eve’s hands.

“Really! How did they do it, how did they kept it a secret , or not get noticed?” Eve said looking back up.

“Oh they managed, they kept there romance a secret for nearly two years.

“How?”

“Well , after Esmeralda’s father had denied Pierre of his daughters hand . He wound up sending Esmeralda to his sisters house about two hours north of them, thinking that the distance between them would stop them from being together. “

“ But it didn’t?” Eve mused.

“Not quite.”

“ So what does this have to do with the phoenix on the necklace?” Eve asked as she picked up the amulet and gazed at it . Rosa stared into Eve’ s eyes and smiled. Her innocence was very becoming to a girl her age, Rosa thought quietly to herself.

“ I was just getting to that.” Rosa said.

“ Esmeralda was returning home to see her father , she had only seen him a handful of times over the past two years and thought it would be nice to surprise him. And now that she was eighteen she was going to let it be known about her and Pierre. Well right before Esmeralda and Pierre made it to her father’s home she became gravely ill, and collapsed right there in front of him. All of a sudden it looked like all of her blood was draining from her skin, she was becoming very pale, and did not move. It appeared as though she was dead. Pierre picked her up in his arms and ran all the way to her house. He knew that their romance will now be discovered , not quite the way he wanted, but he did not care. He ran her straight into her house right past her father, and laid her gently on her bed. Pierre then ordered her father to fetch water and hot towels, and a few other things, but her father would not listen, and started to fight with Pierre . ”

Eve sat there completely enthralled by Rosa and her story . Her mouth gaped open slightly .She shifted a little bit in her seat , to face Rosa , crossed her legs Indian style , and folded her arms gently in her lap. She was now completely comfortable , and all ears.

“Well then what happened?” Eve asked with her jaws clinched in anticipation.

“The unthinkable…….“

Eve’s face dropped, “ What do you mean the unthinkable?“

“ Well , some of the locals heard the screaming and commotion coming from the house and decided to check it out. Five men entered the house , and came to Esmeralda‘s fathers aid. They put a good beating on Pierre but he did not back down. Esmeralda was his life, she was the air that he breathed. He was not going to let her die, or he would die himself to try to save her. But the six men really got the best of him, and was finally able to drag him out of the house. Though all the blood and cuts he still screamed and kicked the whole way out and pleaded with them to let him help her, and cried that they would kill her without his help…..” Rosa shook her head, you could see in her face that this story was hard for her to tell to people, almost shameful.

“ Rosa….” Eve asked. “Are you ok?”

“Yes…yes …of course….” Rosa said as her voice began to crack. She cleared her throat .

“Well , I don’t understand, wasn’t Esmeralda’s father concerned about his daughters condition?” Eve asked.

“Yes of course he was, but he did not want Pierre to be anywhere around her, since he thought she was this way because of him. I guess he really didn’t know what to do. I’m sure he was in total shock , by the surprise Esmeralda ‘s return , and returning to her home looking half dead. He asked Pierre what had happened to her , but all he could say was he did no know, one minute she was fine , and the next minute she was not. That did not satisfy Esmeralda’s father, so he wanted him out.”

“It just seems like her father would have wanted to listen to Pierre ,

“Well you would think so, but her father held too much pride, to take orders from the boy he despised”

“ Anyway after they removed Pierre from the house they tied him to a horse pole outside the house. Inside there were screams of pain, Esmeralda’s father and the other men tried with all their might to contain her. It looked like she was having a convulsion…but they did not know of such things, they assumed that Pierre and his family had possessed her with a demon, using their witchcraft.. It is said that her whole body rose from the bed and floated in mid -air. “

Eve’s mind wandered in confusion , and was consumed by thoughts of hope. Was something of this magnitude possible or was it just an old wives tale passed down from generation to generation, used as campfire stories. Eve was not so sure , but her mind was telling her that all things were possible.

“ Rosa, tell me everything, what happened next? Eve asked.

“ Well …..the five men were sure that Esmeralda’s body was consumed by evil spirits or a demon of some sort, and the only way to rid her of them was to cast them back by way of there birth. “ Rosa said as she stood up and walked wobbly back and forth, to get the blood flowing back through her legs that had gone numb .

“What do you mean , cast them back by way of their birth? “ Eve asked perplexedly.

Rosa sat back down beside Eve.” Well back then it was believed that the only way to rid someone of evil spirits , was by the fire that they came from, and I’m not talking about holding a candle under her palm, it was more like the Salem Witch trials.”

Eve gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “You mean to tell me that they burned her alive?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I mean.”

Eve eye’s became misty with tears, and shook her head in disbelief . “ What a horrible way to die.”

“Yes, it is, but the worse part is , is that they could never get her out of the house , they tried so hard to tie her down , so they could get her outside, but it was impossible. They eventually gave up in fear that she was going to hurt them. The five men had to drag her father out of the house, as he was screaming and crying, and by now there was an audience of people outside the house praying for Esmeralda’s spirit, as others took their turns spitting and cursing Pierre and his family, for what they thought they had done to Esmeralda.”

“ Please don’t tell me that they burned the whole house.” Eve said her voice a little shaken.

“Yes, that’s what they did.” Rosa and Eve both sat quietly and stared at each other for a brief moment. Eve’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach, as she thought of the atrocities, that Rosa revealed to her, and all significant to the two hundred year old necklace that she wore around her neck, and how horrible it must have been for Esmeralda’s father, and Pierre to watch the one you love die right in front of you, and not be able to do anything about it.

“What did Esmeralda’s father do to try to stop it?”

“ What could he do, practically the whole town was holding him down. So he had to just sit there and watch his only daughter die .”

“And Pierre…”

“Pierre had managed to break free of one of the ropes that held him to the pole, but when they saw that he had almost freed himself, they just brought more rope, there was no chance, especially when it is two against a whole town.”

They both sat quietly together on the loveseat just gazing at each other. A single tear fell down Eve’s cheek, and she slowly wiped it away with the back of her hand. Her heart sank as she grabbed the amulet with one hand and traced her fingers along the phoenix’s wings. It was beautiful.

“ All this time I’ve been telling you the story of Esmeralda and Pierre and you still don’t realize the significance of the necklace.” Rosa said as she lifted Eve’s chin .

“Your right , I almost forgot.” Eve said.

Rosa stood up one more time and walked over to the window that overlooked the driveway. “ Eve what time is it?”

“ Two- thirty.”

“ Oh good, we have plenty of time.” Rosa said as she sat walked back over to Eve at sat down .

“Anyway , after they burned the house down the , the town people stayed and watched until there was nothing left but ashes and smoke.”

Rosa continued.” But there was something else… something great! A miracle, by the grace of God!”

“What? What was it? Eve asked

“ After the smoke had cleared, there in the ashes… she stood! “

“How is that possible?” Eve questioned

“ God willing, my child….God willing.”

“Everyone just stood there with there mouths wide open in disbelief. She walked out from the ashes , as people made way to let her through, they fell to their knees and prayed and begged for forgiveness. You must know , that her appearance was different than before. Her clothes were no longer ragged and torn, her dress was now white…some say it was made of silk, but who knows. And when she walked from the burned rubble there was not one burn mark , and not one ounce of dirt on her skin. She was still beautiful of course, but now even more, a glow of white light surrounded her, she was pure. She was an Angel. As she made her way through the kneeling crowd she came to face her father. He was crying hysterically , she reached out and grabbed his hand and kissed it and pulled him in close, whispered something into his ear, he then turned and looked at Pierre and then collapsed to his knees and started to sob.”

Eve sat with her hand over her heart ,her breathing was shaky How can this be she thought to herself. Esmeralda was just about as old as she was when she was tortured by the people she thought she could trust. Her life was over, and for some strange reason Eve felt such a strong connection to Esmeralda, even though she had never met her or even seen her, there was an uncanny surge of energy that flowed through her veins that somehow linked the two of them together. She felt her pain!

“Eve, honey, are you ok.” Rosa asked

Eve shook her head yes. “ What did she say to her father that made him fall to the ground?”

“That part is a mystery, no one knows , and he never told anyone.”

“Oh.”

“Well then what?” Eve asked

“ Well then she made her way towards Pierre who was also crying. When she came face to face to him they say she placed one hand on the many ropes that held him to the pole, and they just fell to the ground. And when the ropes fell did so did Pierre grabbing her around her waist and hugging her tightly with his head pressed against her stomach.”

Eve took in a deep breath, as another teardrop fell down her cheek,” So he must have really loved her.”

“Oh yes, he loved her, very , very much.” Rosa said.

“ Eve , honey why are you crying?”

“I really don’t know, I guess, I feel for Esmeralda, it really is sad .”

Rosa continued,” I suppose it was one of the saddest days in the history of ---city in Mexico------ . This story is now legend.” Rosa began to look out the window that was behind the loveseat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[ShadowWolf]

A wonderful story! I certainly hope you will continue this one!

[Tiffany]

Wow, really interesting. I love to see more!