Bygone Waters

Bygone Waters

By Daniela Silva

The Post-Mortem Biographer

It's 6 am and the alarm clock rings. Monah looks up at the ceiling that has a dream catcher, and wonders why the artifact failed to catch one of her recurring nightmares once again. In the dream in question, she is invited by a voice to enter the sea blindfolded, until she is completely floored. At the bottom of the ocean, her blindfold is removed with the force of the water, and she comes across a submerged city. The townspeople beckon to her, asking for her help, as they have their lips sewn shut. When trying to scream for help, her body is squirted from the bottom up to the shore of the beach, and then she is awakened by the clock.
- I think I need a dream specialist because this one is killing me - thought the young girl.
Monah was a simple, deep-eyed, and melancholy teenager, in her fourteen´s. She works alongside her parents who have a small but lucrative postmortem bio-writing business.
The publishing house, which was located in a beach town where the family lived, had as a niche writing memorials about deceased people.
At the entrance of the establishment, it was possible to read the following words:
“Memento mori, si vis vitam, para mortem”
(Remember you're going to die. If you want to harden life, prepare for death).
The publishing house, whose name was "Liber Mortuorum" (that means the book of the dead), come from the desire of the locals themselves, who felt the need to record the deeds of their loved ones on the pages of a memoir.
The hardcover books were carefully written in nanquim ink on Bible paper texture. This way the memoir was seen as a kind of sacred book, written and reserved only for the families of the deceased.
The memory records were carefully collected and listened to by Monah, who transcribed them with grace, beauty, and soul. The most incredible thing is that everyone who received the memoir did not feel mourning for their loved ones, as they remained alive on each page of the biography. Thus, the teen writer was considered an excellent post-mortem biographer for everyone in the town, which frustrated her (in part), because despite writing so well about everyone, Monah wasn´t writing anything about herself.
For the Publisher, of course, this made sense. After all, Monah was alive, and the family business was dedicated to writing the dead. But the young girl always wondered why people´s worth was only measured after they died, and never while they were alive.
Is it necessary for a tragedy to occur, for people to have their shine revealed? - Thought Monah, while eating breakfast.
In addition to the recurring nightmare, this issue also bothered her so much, that from time to time, she thought about taking her own life to have her true value revealed.
I'm just an instrument that gives life to death, through the biographies I write - said she to herself, as she left home to work.
At Liber Mortuorum, a young lady waits to be served. She was a businesswoman in her 30s who had just lost her mother.
- Good morning, how can I help you? - said Monah, a slight smile on her face.
- My day is not so good (to be a good morning). My mother died three months ago due to heart disease, and since then I can barely eat, or even go back to work. I come from another city, for I have heard that your post-mortem writings have healing and restorative power. I can't stand to live in this situation anymore, so I need to get out what I'm feeling or I'll succumb - pleaded the young woman with a trembling voice.
- My dear, I'm sorry for your loss. What's your name?" asked Monah.
- Emily - replied the businesswoman, bursting into tears.
Emily, I am honored to have come all this way to seek our services, but you need to know that the biography is not about you, but about your mother's life story while she was alive- Monah replied, touching gently Emily's hands.
-Whatever it takes to take this pain out of me will be a balm. At this moment, the words don't matter, but what I feel inside me. I'll tell you whatever it takes about my beloved mother so that both she and I can go in peace,” Emily whispered as she wiped away her tears.
And so, the young women went to a private room, and amid an environment that resembled a therapy room, with a divan and two cozy armchairs, they began to talk about Kayla’s life (Emily's mother).
- Mommy has always been a very dedicated person to the family. She worked for years as a secretary in a hospital, but when she married Dad and found out she was pregnant, she decided to quit her job to dedicate herself fully to the house, her husband, and their newborn daughter.
She was such a devoted mother that she decided to teach me at home. Everything I know, I learned by doing, because Mom always taught me outdoors, in contact with nature. Until the day she decided to teach me how to swim. Yes, Ms. Kayla was an accomplished swimmer, entitled to several trophies and medals in her youth. One afternoon we went to the lake, and I decided to go swimming with her. However, there was an urban legend in our city, which said that inside the lagoon there was quicksand. Thus, several inhabitants who tried to swim across there sank and never had their bodies found. I, of course, found it all very curious, which made me want to explore the mysterious lake even more.
In view of this, mommy made a deal with me: we would only swim on the perimeter near the shore of the lagoon. But When I was able to swim well, she would take me to a water park with artificial waves and we would spend the entire afternoon swimming and "testing our limits."
And so it happened!
I remember it like it was today!
That memorable day doesn't get out of my head. I looked like the little mermaid in the middle of all that water! I felt so confident and secure; I even went diving with my eyes closed. Can you believe it! - exclaimed Emily, with a twinkle in her eye.
At that moment, while taking note of Emily's report, Monah has an intermittent fit of coughing that makes her interrupt the session with the client to get some air.
- I'm sorry, darling. I do not feel well. Can we finish another time? Do you mind rescheduling an appointment with the secretary? – said Monah, her eyes red and her hands wrapped around her neck.
- My God, but of course, I don't care! I will do better! I will send my report in an audio document. Could it be? As I come from another city, it would be better for me,” Emily replied with a wary eye.
Mona nodded, and as soon as she closed the door behind Emily, felt sudden nausea that made her vomit. She grabbed the trash can from her office and only felt a strong taste of salt water coming out of her throat. There was so much water coming out of her that for a moment she thought she was going to dehydrate.
How strange, I don't remember eating anything spoiled. Where does this malaise come from? - She thought.
"I think I better go home and get some rest. Tomorrow is another day."
And rising calmly, she left the office and went home.

Dream Paralysis
When she arrives home, exhausted and confused by her malaise, Monah calls out to her parents to have dinner together but gets no response.
"How strange, where did they go? They didn't tell me anything that they had to leave; they didn't even leave a message at the Publisher. How strange!"- She thought.
When opening the fridge, another surprise. There was nothing to prepare or to eat.
"Wow, what's wrong with my parents? Always so zealous and careful with me, and no dinner ready! Looks like today is about to surprise me"- Monah thought aloud.
- So, I'm going to sleep. It's the best I can do,” Monah said, scratching her head.
In the middle of the night, Monah is awakened by voices. The noise was so deafening that the impression she had was that they were coming from inside her head. With eyes open and belly up, the girl tries to get up to go to the kitchen to get a headache pill. But she can't. Her body appears immobile, being only able to move her eyelids.
Monah looked up at the ceiling and saw what looked like a black slime stain. The more she blinked her eyes, the more she saw the stain take on gigantic proportions (from top to bottom) as if the black slime was going to completely envelop it.
She wanted to scream, but she wasn't able to move her lips. The young woman's room was filled with a strong smell of sea sand, and when trying to breathe, Monah felt suffocated, as if she were drowning. As her breathing became more and more labored, the auditory noises became louder and louder, like the sound of many voices, which gradually became muffled until they disappeared completely.
Suddenly, the teenager felt her body light, so light that she had the impression of floating. Floating on the waters! That's when she realized that she wasn't actually in her room but in the middle of the sea.
Desperate, Monah began to struggle, scared and not understanding how she ended up in the salty waters of the beach. That's when she came across the sweet and gentle look of a young lady, who caressing the girl's hair, said:
- Come, my dear, as you called by my name, I will help you!
- Did I call you? What do you mean? What is your name? -replied the girl, being rescued by the Lady, while she settled in her lifeboat.
- Many people avoid saying my name, but you can call me Thana.
And when they disembarked at the edge of the sea, as soon as Monah put her feet in the soft sand and turned to thank the Mrs., she was already gone.

To Be continued…