Page 26 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

Abandonment

On the third day of sitting on the banks

I began to think all was lost

and that I had been cast aside

and forgotten.

That now that my mother had left

no one else would ever speak to me.

And talking to the dead was pointless

because what could they even say to help?

I was a lost child.

Perhaps I belonged

nowhere now. Not even here.

Perhaps that was why it happened.

Why the spirit-filled water

of the river began to beckon me.

It asked me to come closer,

for it had a tale I would like to hear.

The whispers filled the cave,

persistent, soft, like invisible hands

pulling me towards the edge.

And I covered my ears

but their voices still filtered in.

If you touch the water,

if you drink from it,

we can tell you where your mother is.

As the voices grew louder,

so did my misery.

My very bones felt tired,

and my head felt heavy.

I wanted to lie down,

to rest a little.

But the coarse earth

of the riverbank

and the chilly darkness

of the Underworld

was no match for my warm, soft bed

made of goose feathers at home.

So instead, I stood up, hesitant,

telling myself it was just a peek.

A small look into the river

to see who was calling to me.

As I approached the river water,

the voices rose in an excited crescendo.

I knelt inches away from it

and saw nothing but my own reflection.

My hand rose from my side

and reached for the water,

but before the river could grasp me

my whole body was dragged away

from the edge.