Vanishing Sons - Tember Sapphire
679 Words
In a kingdom nestled in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, where laughter once rang and happiness was at the forefront, a peculiar and unsettling phenomenon had begun to cast a shadow over the land. Soufriere, a town once famous for its beautiful landscape and jovial people, encountered a perplexing and ominous mystery. Young men, irrespective of their race or class, were inexplicably vanishing from the town.
It is believed that once they reached the age of eighteen it was like they ceased to exist. Some disappearing from their homes, others while simply walking the street. But this only happened at night and no one has survived to reveal the source of the years-long mystery.
Their disappearances could not be traced to kidnappings or conflicts, nor to any natural disaster or ailments. Instead, these young men vanished into thin air, leaving fading echoes of their presence behind. The phenomenon caused dread and bewilderment in the Kingdom of Iyanola as many feared that the plague would soon befall them and their towns.
Meanwhile, in Soufriere families cried for their missing sons, many fled their homes leaving everything behind, those more brave went in search of answers, but the cause remained a mystery. Soufriere, once a paradise of unbounded hope, was now a wasteland abandoned and burdened with uncertainty and despair.
The town had fallen eerily silent, the sun once a source of life and warmth, now scorched the ground ruthlessly. Its piercing rays casted lengthy, foreboding shadows that seemed to move on their own accord. The very land that once sustained the town and the kingdom by extension seemed tainted, with no one to care for it, the vines and rivers reclaimed the land making it their own.
The families who remained were little more than shells of their former selves, their features carved with sorrow and the horrors they had experienced. They walked the wasteland like ghosts, looking for food, drink, and a ray of hope.
In order to protect the rest of the kingdom, the royal family cordoned off the town forbidding anyone from going in. The town now deserted mirrored that of a land after war. The citizens of Iyanola stayed clear, afraid that they too might fall victim to the calamity.
Rumours and whispers quickly circulated throughout the kingdom, planting seeds of fear and distrust. Some blamed it on malevolent magic that the townspeople once dabbled in, while others blamed it on a long-forgotten curse buried deep within the town’s history. They believed that the stories were not merely folk tales or urban legends but were the cause of the town’s troubles.
The citizens on the outskirts of Soufriere believed it to be the work of the ‘La Diablesse or Ladjablès’ (the devil woman), an enslaved African woman who made a deal with the devil in exchange for eternal beauty. Legend has it that she roamed the boundaries of the forests of Iyanola in search of her next victim specifically targeting Soufriere where her bargain was made. In her feat to seek revenge for being tricked by the devil she lures men into the forest where death awaits them.
Her figure in her all white ensemble makes her seem beautiful but her hideous face is hidden by a large brimmed hat. Her dress is often long enough to hide the fact that one of her legs ends in a cow hoof. She smells strongly of beautiful perfume and lethal rot. However, all of this was only speculation with no proof to verify the claims.
So, as the missing men’s stories faded into legend and their faces fell into obscurity, hope seemed to diminish. The Kingdom of Iyanola stood on the verge of a conundrum, a puzzle whose solution remained cloaked in ambiguity. It is within this kingdom of intricacy, where folklore and mystery intertwine, that our story unfolds - a story of a people in search of answers, and the existence of urban legends.
Pen Name: Tember Sapphire
Author Works: She’s A Keeper, She’s A Grinder (Ream, Am.a.zon)
Author Groups: Tember’s Heartthrob Hangout
- Writer
