Chapter 5: Currents of Memory
The morning mist lingered on the river's surface, curling around her ankles as if it were alive. She stepped carefully, feeling the water's cool fingers brush against her skin. The river had always been there, but today it felt different as though it remembered her, calling her not just with whispers but with memories she had never lived.
She knelt beside the water, letting her hands skim the surface. Ripples spread outward, carrying visions.a child laughing among reeds, a shadow moving swiftly beneath the current, a face she almost recognized. Each image lingered too briefly, teasing her, urging her to reach further.
A sudden shiver ran through her. The river's voice rose, louder now, almost urgent. You have come, it seemed to say. But are you ready to see what lies beneath.
She swallowed hard, her heart drumming against her ribs. The water reflected not just her face, but something older, deeper her own reflection entwined with the river itself. For the first time, she felt a connection she could neither explain nor resist.
The river was waiting. And she knew, somehow, she would never be the same and deepen the river's mysterious pull
The current tugged at her feet as if trying to lead her forward. She resisted at first, fear prickling along her spine, but curiosity stronger than any hesitation won. Step by step, she moved into the shallow water, letting it swirl around her knees, then her want
There, partially hidden by hanging reeds, was a small hollow, carved smooth by centuries of flowing water. She crouched and peered inside. The hollow glimmered faintly, not with sunlight, but with something else something alive. A warmth radiated from it, comforting yet strangely foreign.
A soft whisper drifted over the water, almost like a lullaby. Do you remember? it asked. She shook her head, but the words lingered in her mind. She felt the pull of the river stronger now, a thread tugging at her very soul.
Her fingers brushed the glimmering surface of the hollow. Instantly, memorieshers. or the river's flooded her mind voices laughing in a long forgotten language, footsteps along a path she had never walked, hands reaching for hers and then vanishing into water.
Tears blurred her vision, but she could not turn away. She understood, with a certainty that scared her the river had waited not for anyone, but for her.
And now, it was time to follow up
The river's current pulled her gently but insistently toward the hollow. As she stepped closer, the water around her began to glow, pale blue at first, then brighter, illuminating shapes beneath the surface. She gasped figures moved just out of reach, human yet not, their features shimmering like liquid light.
A voice, deeper now, echoed from the hollow: You belong to this place. Have always belonged. She stumbled back, fear clashing with wonder. I don't understand,she whispered.
Do not fear what has waited, the river replied. The water surged around her, lifting her slightly, almost carrying her into the hollow itself. Her reflection fragmented, multiplying into countless versions is
And then she saw it a small, intricately carved stone at the bottom of the hollow, glowing softly. Her hand reached down instinctively. The moment her fingers brushed it, a warmth shot up her arm, and a flood of visions filled her mind the river's origin, the lives it had touched, the secrets it had kept. She saw herself as a child, standing by the river, though she had no memory of it. She saw a future she could not yet step into.
When she finally pulled her hand back, the river was calm again, as if nothing had happened. But she knew better. She was different now. Connected. Chosen.
And somewhere deep within, a voice whispered not from outside, but from inside hern
This is just the Benning