Memories Of The Past.
Prologue
Narrator
Long ago...there was a little girl who urged her grandmother to tell her stories every night as they go to sleep. She had a unique request, she wanted her granny to narrate stories of the past people...those unable to cross over.
Little girl
Granny..granny what story are you going to tell me tonight?
Granny
I'm a bit tired tonight...let's have an early night.
Little girl
Ahh! no. I don't want to...I want to hear stories.
Granny
Okay okay...I'll tell you a short one.
Little girl
Okay! Granny you're the Best! I love you the most.
Granny
I also love you the most my dearest granddaughter.
Granny
Long, long ago there was a man who went for hunting at night.
Granny
And then he went farther and farther into the jungle till he lost his way back home.
Little girl
Then how is he going back?
Granny
This is the interesting part...listen well.
The hunter
Granny
As he was trying to find his way back home, he went on and on...till at some point he realized he has been going around a particular place for a very long time.
Little girl
Ah? How is that possible?
Granny
He must've lost his sense of direction.
Granny
Because, the jungle area he had gone to is rumored to be haunted and we are advised by our elders not to go to that part at night alone or without proper company.
Little girl
After that,what happens?
Granny
Then the man called out to the spirit of the place to let him go as he would give a sacrifice in return.
Little girl
What is a sacrifice?
Granny
A sacrifice is a living being or animals or possessions given to deities or spirits as offering. The spirits accept your offerings and lets you go If, they're satisfied.
Little girl
Then did the spirit accept his offering? Is he alive?
Granny
The spirit was not willing to let a very healthy looking and young man like him to get away easily.
Granny
But he was clever and offered a lot of his animals to make a sacrifice. But the spirit was bent on not letting him go.
Little girl
Then...what happened?
Granny
So he had to make a very hard decision. He offered that he would give his first born child to the spirit as soon as it is born.
Granny
Only then...did the spirit agreed to let him go.
Granny
Do you still want me to continue or are you asleep my dear?
Little girl
Granny...continue narrating I want to hear the end.
Granny
Okay then I'll tell you.
Granny
After the man striked the deal with the spirit, he was able to easily find his way back home.
Granny
Then early the next morning he went to the same place in the jungle, killed a goat and two healthy pigs to offer it to the spirit.
Granny
Then he went back home and never set foot into that part of the forest again.
Little girl
Then, did the spirit forget about the deal?
Granny
No...spirits never forget a deal they have made.
Granny
Even If you forget or purposely ignore to fulfill your part of the deal, they come to haunt you in your dreams, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, nightmares or just appear before you.
Little girl
Then what did the man do?
Granny
Yeah the man swore secretly never to get married so as not to give his first born child to the spirit.
Granny
Yes...quite clever.
Granny
Then, now let's take rest and sleep. I'm sleepy.
Little girl
Okay. Goodnight Granny
Narrator
Legend has it that the man never married because... even if he is able to successfully avoid giving his child to the spirit. The deal would be fulfilled naturally and become a generational curse.
Narrator
As in the case of a man who, had not fulfilled his part of the deal and also avoided offering his first born child. Before his death he became mad as he was driven crazy by nightmares and hallucinations.
Narrator
His generation starting from his Children's children (grandchildren) loses thier first born child. A continuing curse till the seventh generation ( Ancestral curse) losing thier first born child to the spirit. The first born child of every descent of the man dies within the first week of its birth.
Narrator
Truly a horrible generational curse that can be broken only by appeasing the spirit that has been angered. Only when you have made right what your ancestors failed to fulfill will you be left alone.
Narrator
Spirits are generally guardians that protects thier own territory and don't bother you at all. Unless we have broke into their territory and disturb their rest only then will they demand our lives as sacrifice. Thier realms are usually enchanted and protected by barriers that mortals are unable to get through, which lessens the chances of bumping into one.
Beneath the dark waters.
Little girl
Granny tell me the stories of mermaids.
Granny
Okay I'll tell you the most interesting one.
Granny
Long time ago...there was a deep lake where the clouds covered the water and our ancestors from generations back, have warned us not to get inside the water of that lake.
Little girl
Is it because of the mermaids?
Little girl
I thought they were good and helpful to humans.
Granny
Of course they are good, but there are also sinister ones who lured people into the deepest part of the Lake. Those who went in were never seen again.
Granny
So this lake was considered ominous and so almost no one went there.
Granny
But one year due to the severe drought, the water had dried up everywhere except in that particular lake.
Little girl
So magical !!!
Granny
Yes. So people started going to the lake to take water.
Granny
Initially no one went to the area which was heavily covered by the clouds. But as the drought prolonged, some went to collect water from that zone.
Little girl
Ah! Then what happened?
Granny
Then...they were never seen again.
Little girl
Then how do the mermaids look?
Granny
They were very pretty beings...much more beautiful than humans.
Granny
It is said that one man had seen them and was lured by thier song to go into the deep waters . Luckily his friends were quick to pull him back.
Granny
He went mad after hearing the song and kept on saying how beautiful the mermaids were.
Granny
Years passed but he's still mad & he seemed to have become more & more obsessed with the mermaids. His friends and family had to tie him so he couldn't go back to the deep waters.
Granny
But one day they were a bit reckless because he had been rather calm for some weeks and at night he ran away.
Granny
He was never seen again.
Little girl
Ahhh so scary!!!
Little girl
Granny then tell me about the story of the captured Mermaid.
Granny
Ok...I'll tell you.
Granny
There was once a group of fishermen who were experts. They had caught a Mermaid, half human and half fish. It had the body of a human girl yet the tail of a fish from waist downwards.
Granny
It was so pretty and ethereal, more beautiful than any creature.
Granny
At first, they thought they had captured a human so they took her out of the net.
Granny
But they saw the tail and thought it was a fish trying to swallow a human. They tried to separate the body and the tail but failed.
Granny
It was dark and they could barely see so they brought it home with them. It was only when daylight came that they realized they had caught a creature which wasn't a human at all.
Granny
By the time they brought it home it was dry like a fish out of water so they put it into a pond. The pond was knee deep and had clear water so they could see the creature.
Little girl
Oh wow I wanna see it too.
Granny
^^ Then at dawn many people had come to see the creature. Many had tried to shoot stones to let it move and see it better. Some had hurt it and it bled like the blood of a human.
Little girl
Ahhh so cruel!!!
Granny
Not long after many people from neighboring kingdoms and faraway places came to see the creature.
Granny
Bit then...something very bad began to happen.
Granny
For the whole time the creature was captured the wind blew so hard, the trees cracked and made howling sounds. The sky was covered with the clouds fully and there was no sight of the sun.
Granny
People began to get sick, drinking water would choke people and everyone had problems of accidents or injuries from water bodies.
Granny
At night there was the continuous howling sounds of animals, birds screeched and hovered around the whole place.
Granny
It seemed like the whole of nature was revolting against the ill-treatment and capture of the creature.
Granny
The situation became worse and people began to die after two weeks of the mermaid's capture.
Little girl
Ahhh!!! They should put it back.
Granny
And so they put the creature in a barrel of water and put it back into the lake.
Granny
Two days later the sun shone brightly and the harsh wind stopped blowing only a cool breeze greeted them.
Granny
People suffering from injuries gradually got healed and no more accidents of unknown reason happened to them.
Granny
That's all for today. I'll tell you another one tomorrow.
Little girl
Okay. Granny you're the best.
Narrator
Mermaids are guardians of the water bodies and yet there are some sinister ones that lured people into the deep waters, never to be seen again.
Narrator
There are some places which are better left alone. It is our recklessness and curiosity that often leads us to our death.
Narrator
"Be careful of what lies beneath the dark waters" The adults warned the young ones.
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