Ring Around the Rosie

It was a meadow. The grass was thick, deep green, and soft to the touch. The tree’s were tall, and guarded a small pond. Branches swayed in the soft breeze. The air smelled sweet. The light pushed it’s way through the trees and danced over top the pond, and made it sparkle. It was quiet here. Except for the wind singing sweetly. It was the kind of place you could sit, and swear you were the last person on Earth.

Suddenly, laughter came cutting through the air. A little girl’s giggle; bubbly, and happy. She came bouncing up to the pond, her little feet bare and dirty. Her white dress somehow not dirty at all. Her pale skin seemed to glow as she peered at her reflection in the small pond. She got on her knee’s to get a closer look. Little tendrils of her dark hair fell forward and lightly touched the water. She giggled. She reached her tiny hand out for her mirrored image, a small mysterious smirk on her angelic face. She moved so slowly, it was as if you were witnessing a moment captured in time. A beautiful painting. Then suddenly she slammed her hand into the water violently and splashed and squealed. The noise and the movement did not belong in this place; this quiet, peaceful place. She giggled again as she stood up and looked around her. She slowly scanned her surroundings, almost like she were looking for something. She sighed, as if she were bored, or disappointed. She began to walk around the pond, humming to herself, carefully placing one foot in front of the other.  She stopped and looked at the pond again. There was that smirk again. As if she knew the punch line of some untold joke.

She started for the pond, not walking as slowly this time. It was steady, and purposeful. Her tiny feet hit the water and she hesitated. The water was probably cool, and fresh. She closed her eyes and breathed in. Another smirk. She continued to walk into the pond. Farther and farther. The water was above her knees now. Her precious white dress soaked and clinging to her thighs. She kept on. The expression on her face was so serious, as if she were making a difficult decision, as the water hit her waist. But she did not hesitate as the water got higher and higher on her small body. As the water got to her shoulders, she stopped. She looked down at her reflection again. The only thing visible was her face. And she stared down at her reflection in a daring way. Her soft brown eyes were full of fire, it was so out of place in that child’s face. Whose eyes were they? Slowly she began to raise her gaze up, soaking in everything in that moment. The water, the light, the trees, the dust dancing in the rays of sun, the chirping of the crickets, that soft breeze making her dark hair tickle her face. As she looked up at the sky, her face pulled up as high as it would go, her hair falling back into the water, her neck pulled tight, her eyes seemed to lock onto something. She held her gaze for moments, an eternity.

“I hate you,” she whispered, there was that smirk again.

She flung her head into the water. Her body was completely submerged. She swam underneath the water, touching the slippery plants that grew underneath the water. Grabbing a handful of the mud. Looking at the pond from the meadow, the surface was like glass, and everything was back to it’s peaceful self. You would never guess that there was a little girl swimming around underneath.

How long had she been down there? Suddenly the quiet was broken again by splashing, and thrashing from the pond. Her body was jolting and jerking, like she was having seizures. But her head remained underneath the water. Her hands and feet splashing and flailing. If she would just come up, she would be okay. Why won’t she come up for air? Suddenly, the water stilled. Bubbles rose to the surface, and then all was quiet. The meadow was no longer peaceful, there was a dark, dangerous feel to this meadow now.

Her small body rose to the surface, face down. Her white dress floating all around her. Her dark hair reached out into the water, moving in the water as if it had a life of it’s own.

Minutes went by….

Minutes turned into an hour. Her body had floated closer to the edge of the pond. Everything about that once beautiful pond, now seemed tainted. As if it were just a part of an ugly picture now. It’s life was taken from it, and now it was just a surrounding for her life. Her death.

Her little hand brushed against the dirt surrounding the pond.

Her body bent forward, and now she was sitting on her knees. Her torso rose up so that the top half of her body was not in the water any longer. Her arms hung at her sides, and her hands were still in the water holding herself up. Her hair fell in front of her face like a long black curtain. She reached up and parted her hair to see. Her lashes wet, and clumpy; her face splotchy and her lips a deep red against her pale skin. She used her hands to prop herself up onto her feet. She slowly stood up, and stepped out of the water. Her dress clung desperately to her body. She grabbed the hem and tried to ring it out. She shook her head back and forth like a wet dog, shooting water from her wet hair. She rubbed her arms to warm herself. She took a deep breath and let out a giggle. She looked up and smirked. That same mysterious smirk. She began to skip out of the meadow, singing “…ashes ashes…we all fall down..”