The girl with the flute

The girl with the flute

In the 18^th century, there was a wealthy gentleman who knew well how to steal the hearts of all sorts of ladies. Even the ones who knew well how to resist handsome, rich men, could not do so with Mr. Van Dort. His lips were inviting. His eyes were insinuating. His hands were tempting. You just wanted him.

                But everyone who wanted him, ended up dead.

Katie felt precisely for those inviting lips. She was a pretty maid working at the Harriet mansion; and when the family invited Mr. Van Dort for dinner one night due business, she could not resist admitting to herself that the gentleman was the most handsome 24 year old man that she had ever seen. He offered taking her home in his carriage that night. That’s the last time that the Harriet family ever saw Katie, for her blood had fed Van Dort.

Mr. Van Dort then went to a near forest to bury her body. When it was done, he heard music. It came from the lake.

It was magical, that sweet sound coming from a flute. It was inviting, mysterious, that melody…

He followed it.

The was a girl sitting on a rock. Blonde hair, flowers on her head, flowing dress. He just stared at her.

                Next couple of months resumed on their love. To him, Anabelle was particulay strange. She seemed like hiding many things, but he loved her more than anything. He knew she was Mr. Harriet’s daughter who had recently gotten married to a wealthy gentleman that couldn’t care less for her. Few times a week she escaped to the forest to play the flute. Van Dort accompanied her; listened to the songs she composed herself and gave his positives feedbacks. He felt in love with her soul as much as he felt in love with the music she played.

Several months passed since he had fed. So he went to a society party to take a few ladies home. When he arrived the slaughter started. He left the best for last, Mrs. Charlotte Robinson. Her skin seemed very creamy, and her red lips reminded him so much of blood. He was enjoying himself so much feeding, that he didn’t notice that Anabelle’s blue eyes where peaking through the window the whole time. He saw then her horrified face, before running away as fast as she could with her enormous dress making it hard for her to get far.

“No! Anabelle come back!” he pleaded running after her.

She entered an abandoned building near the area and went up the spiral stairs. They were very long, and at the end there was a cliff. She looked down, took a breath and faced him.

“You’re sick,  you’re a monster”.

“Anabelle please, come here”.

“Don’t get near me!” she took a step back. There was so much fear in her eyes.

“Anabelle, come here. Be careful, you’ll fall”.

“Who do you even know who those women where?”

“Ana…”

“Charlotte was my sister!”

Van Dort gasped. He was not expecting that. Maybe that was the reason why he felt so much desire for Charlotte’s blood. He hid his face with his hands for a moment, then he gathered his thoughts and held his hand to her.

“Anabelle. Come.”

“No…” she stepped back and slipped falling from the building.

“ANABELLE!” he tried to hold her arms but it was too late. She had died.

To be continued…

Awkward Age Blues

            Marivi really didn’t feel like waiting a whole hour again for her mom to pick her up; she wanted to go home already. There was nothing to do meanwhile: there was no chemistry between her and the classmates who also stayed late, and her friends always left shortly after the dismissal bell. That is, if she could still call them friends. Right now, in the sixth grade, her life seemed to be upside down. Everything was so different, so glum…the classes were hard and boring, and she was sick of them all, seeing so many red marks on her corrected tests. She felt she didn’t have friends at all…those she had shared so many childhood memories with had slowly changed, they didn’t get along or conversed as easily as they used to. She didn’t have any more friends outside of school either...her family was practically the only one with young kids in her neighborhood. To top it off, her wonderful school had a structure similar to a prison: square, grey, with an interior basketball court surrounded by three floors of hallways and classrooms, and barred windows (why in the world would there be barred windows in an elementary school? Are the school directors that resolute to depress kids? ). Homework didn’t give her any time to have fun, either…no time to play (she still liked to play with her beloved toys), no time to read books, no time to sit back and drink in the beautiful, sunny days… This was all totally unfair. A kid’s life shouldn’t be as dull as this, how could it? And yet, it was happening. There seemed to be nothing to do but suck it all in, this cheerless reality. When would it all end? Will things ever become brighter? She slumped down on the floor next to her heavy back pack, sulking as she looked at the sky wistfully, hoping her mom would arrive soon.

Free Theme: Chickened Out

I’m a real chicken when it comes to horror movies or scary stories. I avoid them whenever possible, because then I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, trying to push away all those scary thoughts or images. However, not so long ago I went to the movies and this trailer for a horror film came up between the commercials and FREAKED ME OUT.  It was supposedly based on a true event, in which a team of professionals studied a girl who was possessed by a demon. Technical advances in special effects nowadays allow filmmakers to produce images as scary as they want, even more for a trailer, so these super frightening sequences came up. But what made it all scarier was that I, being Catholic, believe--I KNOW--that sometimes demons possess people; I’ve heard of different cases from around the world, only they’re not as common as, say, street accidents or maybe those survival stories that are told in “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” episodes. SO I was all, “no, this is just cruel, how can you guys make a movie about this? Now no one’s gonna sleep”. I’ve always reasoned that as long as you’re close to God, you don’t have to fear facing such a situation. But this doesn’t stop the whole idea from being frightening and unsightly. I guess that it’s because of the logic behind it: beauty stems from what is good and harmonious, embodied in God, while foulness stems from the opposite, which is evil, embodied in demons, who oppose God. On the whole, I got real creeped out because it's a really dark concept. I felt that the filmmakers were exploring a raw source of evil.

            I suddenly remembered how in the Gospels, there are many occasions in which possessed people showed up. I've read the New Testament a couple of times already, and when I’d come to those parts, I’d say “Oh, look, another demon case. Yeah, that was normal in those times”, and keep on reading.  Since there are no details or specific descriptions in the writing, you don’t get to realize what’s really happening, unless you pause to think of it well, using your imagination.  Now I realize how creepy those events might have been. How could people LIVE, SLEEP in those times, when it was common to find demons haunting anybody? I don’t think one could get so easily accustomed to it, even if it were a usual happening.

            There’s this passage that I used to like a lot because I thought it was chilling and interesting, but now I won’t look at it the same way. The narrator introduces this possessed guy that spent his time screeching in a graveyard—this image is scary enough--and there was no way anyone could chain him or tie him up. One day Jesus shows up and the guy goes to him begging to be left alone. Jesus asks the demon its name, and it answers “Legion, because we’re a lot”. Okay. A whole bunch of demons inside a single human. I don’t know how I’d carry on having been possessed like that in the past. So, since Jesus was insisting on their leaving their host, they ask permission to possess a pig herd nearby, and Jesus’s like, yeah, yeah, now go! The demons then enter the herd, and the pigs go nuts! They go running like crazy until they commit suicide jumping off a cliff and drowning in the lake at the bottom! Man, that’s crazy! But it must’ve been a terrible sight because the herdsmen freak out and run to tell it to the village, and the entire village freaks out, too, and they go to Jesus and send him away (I didn't understand exactly why).

            All I can think now is that I should be grateful that extraordinary events like these aren't so common nowadays. By this time, the movie trailer’s effect on me has faded with the passing months, and I’m thankful for that, too. But when I chance upon such events in the Gospels again, I won’t forget the discovery I made.