Translucent but luminescent despite the night, the water quietly poured downward from its origin somewhere in the river above the hills. Sitting upon a slab of earth coated with moss, the lady clad in silvery raiment sat in perfect tranquility under the moonlight. Withdrawing a chalice carved of lustrous gold and silver from a pocket of water under the waterfall, she brought it to her lips, drinking in solemn.

The nearby agitation of a creature rustling through the underbrush did little to disturb her time of peace, until it revealed itself as otherwise. Bursting out from the bushes, the small, unknown figure fell the ground. With little more than a glance, the lady continued to drink from her chalice.

Slowly the figure raised its head, revealing a child that could be no more than eight years of age. Pale, even by the full moon of the night, his sunken eyes traveled upward until they settled upon the radiance of the lady that glowed abnormally by human regard.

“P…please.” Croaked the young child, his vocal chords sounding more ravaged than a dying boar. Dipping the chalice once more in the water, the lady tilted her head upward toward the young boy,

“I wasn’t expecting company, tonight.” Her words, reverberating off the water in the most heavenly tone the boy had ever heard, immediately put him within a relaxed trance. Staring at her blankly, he had lost his sense of purpose that had previously urged him forward in the moments before. The glow emitting from her, was so bright that it almost felt like he was burning on fire.

Raising a hand that shined with the divine, the lady only spoke one word that made all of the troubles the boy felt simply vanish.

“Speak.”

On his knees, the boy was slightly thankful that the darkness of the night shrouded his entire body that shook almost as if he was falling apart.

“My home…I need help…We…”

Despite the clarity within his head, the boy could not understand why he wasn’t able to explain the wild sense of danger that he suddenly felt or even why he was here. All of his memories were disappearing, except for one. In his mind, he could see the vague image of his home but everything was rapidly fading away.

“Why?! Why cannot I remember, anything?” The boy screamed, despite the immense pain he felt within his chest. His body convulsed widely as if he was possessed. Lifting his hand towards the light, his eyes widened in fear. His skin was deteriorating, exposing the flesh underneath.

Screaming into the wind, the boy raised what was left of his right arm towards the lady in silver, pointing at her with utter hate.

“What have you done to me?!”

Lowering her chalice, the lady stared at him in silence with a mark of resolution in her eyes.

“Demon!” Screamed the child.

“Perhaps, you should look into the water and see your own reflection.” The lady whispered.

Little more than flesh and bones, the boy snarled in guttural speech and peered down at the crystal depths. Seeing a flash of his normal face suddenly degenerate into the butchered monstrosity of the present broke his mind. Falling to his knees, he slowly lifted his head up toward the coming rays of dawn.

“I remember.”

Memories poured through his mind like a raging torrent. His father, his mother, his sister; their smiling faces brought him back to his last moments. Jealous of his new baby sister, angry at his parents, he plotted his revenge.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” The boy smashed the remnants of his left arm against the rock, the bones cracking from the blow.

It was to be a simple joke, a small ploy for attention. At the time, his young mind did not know any better.

“Don’t leave the candles on at night while we sleep! It’s dangerous!” His mother had always reminded him.

That night with his family sleeping peacefully, the boy snuck around and about the house, lighting each candle carefully.

“I’ll show them!” He smirked as he crawled back into bed. Casting a glare at his baby sister beside him, he growled.

“I won’t lose to you.”

The sensation of pain first awoke him, followed by his own screams as he sprung from his burning bed and onto the floor. Blinded by the fire that raged around him, he attempted to shield his body but realized that he could not escape the flames. His doorway blocked by the increasing inferno, he retreated and felt his back hit the cradle of his sister.

Turning towards her, and seeing the innocence in her eyes made his heart weep at what he had done. Holding her close to his chest, touching her for the first time; he barely felt the smoldering rage of the inferno take him away…

Lying on his back, the incinerated husk of the boy stared at the morning sky, his convictions extinguished as the sun slowly began to rise. Tears poured from his eyes, as he raised what was once his arms toward the sky.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” He cried towards anyone or anything that could hear him. Just as the sun rises and falls and night fades into day, the boy had completed his own cycle.

Piece by piece, the boy’s body slowly crumbled away, the ashes drifting away into the sky until finally there was nothing left.

Lowering her head in contemplation, the lady reflected upon the child with a hint of sadness.

“Those that do not find solace in their deaths, cannot pass on into the afterlife until they have completed their own circle of reparation that heals the soul.”

Into the forest, and disappearing like a ghost among the trees, the lady vanished.

Underneath the waterfall, the chalice remained faithfully in its duty. Its contents never spilling nor emptying, it served as a reminder to the fragile balance that humans attempt to hold over their state of mind.