Unheeded

There was a little boy who loved walking down the river at night. His parents both told him it was horribly dangerous for him to do that because the river’s current was so strong and swift, but the boy always snuck out at night and did it anyways.

One night, the boy saw a shimmering by the side of the river from his window and decided to go and investigate. When he got to the riverside, he saw the shape of a beautiful woman form above the water of the river, about ten feet from the side. The woman beckoned him with a hand, her face so peaceful that the boy had no doubt that the water would hold his weight if he walked to the woman. As he stepped out over the water, his eyes were locked onto the shining face of this angelic being, so awe-stricken by her beauty and serene he was. Their hands met and the world seemed to melt away as the boy was overcome with a feeling of peace.

The parents of the boy and a large group of their friends managed to find the boy’s body a few days later, one hundred yards downstream and stuck under a fallen log, the flesh already peeling away from his body. He had drowned and the police did not suspect any foul play.