Lady on the Tanner Beach

“There it is!” cried Ariel, “There’s the cave that Nana was telling us about!”
Ariel and her two friends had come near the Tanner Beach. However, they were more interested in the rocky terrain that ran near it.

“Its not easy to make it out. The cave seems to be a part of the landscape,” pointed out Nisha, as they made their way towards it.

The rocks were at a higher level than that of the seashore, so the girls had to climb up over the rocks and through the tiny crevices between two rocks. When they finally reached it, Ariel ran into the cave enthusiastically, followed by Nisha. Their other friend was rather hesitant.
The cave was not very high. It was high enough for a man of average height to stand upright without bumping his head against the roof. The girls could not gauge its depth yet.

“Aren’t you coming, Laila?” asked Ariel.

“I don’t particularly want to upset the Spirit!” replied Laila.

“Aw, come one,” said Nisha, “We are just curious to know whether the half built sand castle is really there or not. It is not as if we are going to destroy it!”

“Yeah, but what if the Spirit takes us to be intruders of her personal space?”

“Don’t worry about that. Nana told me Ramona was a girl of soft temperament,” assured Ariel.

“Whatever! I have no wish to get spooked!”

“All right, all right. You can stay here at the entrance. We’ll go check it out, ok?” said Ariel.

“Ok,” said Laila, reluctantly, “Don’t be long”.

A few minutes later, her friends returned.

“No sign of the castle or even sand,” said Nisha.

“Good! Now, lets go back!” said Laila, jumping to her feet.

“No! We shall wait here!” said Ariel. She consulted her watch and said, “There is still an hour left for dusk…”

“Seriously, are you crazy? Do you want to be scared off your wits?”
They ignored her and sat down.
“And, it is during the twilight of every new moon day that this phenomena is said to happen”

“Yes, and tonight is a new moon night. You have picked the right time to come here, Ariel,” said Nisha.

“Of course!” said Ariel “I really want to know whether this is true….” She trailed off hearing Laila’s grumbles running in the background.

“Laila, you can go if you don’t want to be here,” she told her.

“I don’t want to be the sole victim of the ghost!” said Laila.

“Good, then be quiet and think of God,” said Ariel and turned to Nisha. “I suppose, you don’t know the detailed story about this beach. Nana told it to me a week ago and I was intrigued. Therefore, here I am with the two of you to investigate this mystery.”

“Ok, ok. Go ahead with the story!” said Nisha.

“Fine, huddle closer, kids. For now you will listen to the loveliest story of your lives…”

“Great! Now only a campfire is missing,” teased Laila, “Wouldn’t it be nice to sit around one, roasting your marshmallows and listening to a scary story? But oh, I forgot! We are at the doorstep of a ghost’s haunt, so why do we need a campfire?”

“That’s enough, Laila. You have been given the freedom to walk out of this adventure, so why don’t you?” said Nisha.

Laila huffed in answer but came closer to listen, nonetheless.

“This story happened almost seven or eight decades ago, when my Nana was still a young girl like us. There was a young woman by the name Ramona who lived in the heart of Bloggovia with her family. She was a pure soul, sweet by nature and beautiful in appearance. She was generous and always liked to help the needy.

She fell in love with a young man who lived near the coast. They would meet in secret at this cave at the Tanner beach once a week at dusk. They used to stay for an hour and hurry back before their absence was suspected.

They watched the moon rising together. The silent but eternal moon, the dynamic sea waves, the trade winds and the sands were the only witnesses of their love.
They would build castles in the sand, which they had to haul up to the cave...”

“That’s lame, isn’t it?” said Nisha, “Who would be crazy enough to want to build a sand castle by hauling the sand up till here?”

“Shushsh!” said Laila, “She might hear you!”

“Those castles were their dreams of their future. Though they had to destroy the castles before leaving, the castles stood for their immense love and their good life ahead…”

“Wow, that is so sweet!” cooed Laila.

“Shush!” hushed Nisha.

“After few months of their love, they solemnised their love. They pledged themselves to each other under the stars, with the Creation as the witness. Ramona presented him a ring, while he gave her a lovely little sea shell, painted with a pattern of black and blue, her favourite colours. Ramona wore it as a pendant ever since then.

A month after their sacred union, the day they planned to meet was a new moon night. Together they carried a few buckets of sand from the beach up to the rocky cave…”

Ariel went on, “ When they had enough sand, Ramona’s lover went to get a bucket of water for making the castle, leaving her behind in the cave. Ramona patiently waited for him, as she tried to make a castle out of the wet sand.
After a while, it started raining. She grew worried. To get the water, he had to go near the sea and the sea was not safe at that time. Soon, the rain became heavy, with signs of a storm brewing.
Ramona came down to the beach in search of her love. It was pouring then. There was no sign of him. She shouted his name as loudly as she could, but there was no sound other than that of the rain and the sea.
She suddenly saw a pail floating in the sea water. It was floating away from her, into the sea. Assuming her sweetheart was drowning, she waded into the water, in the direction of the pail. But the cruel sea swept her away into its bosom. Thus she died, thinking her beloved too had died in the sea.

People found her body the next day, washed up near the rocks. The seashell pendant was still around her neck”.

“What about her boyfriend? Did they find him?” asked Nisha.

“No, till date, nobody knows what happened to him. The cameras around the island were not able to pick up any solid evidence” said Ariel, “Thus, Ramona became the Lady on the Tanner Beach”.

“There have been a few reports that people who have almost drowned in the sea were saved by a vision of a beautiful young lady in white, wearing a glowing blue-black seashell around her neck,” said Laila, "Also there have been sightings of her on the cameras!"

“Yes, that is the Spirit of Ramona. My Nana says that Ramona helps people who drown in the sea of the Tanner Beach because she can understand the pain and suffering of the loss of a loved one.
In addition to this, every new moon night there appears a half built sand castle in this cave, which is why it is believed that Ramona still waits for her lover in this spot.”

“Oh, the poor dear,” said Laila, “Such a patient and pure soul. Even after so many years, she still does not grudge anyone for the disappearance of her beloved. Had there been any other woman in her place, this beach would have become hell!”

The others agreed and sat in silence for a while.

“Hey, its almost dusk,” said Nisha. They got up and turned towards the inside of the cave. For a while, they could not move. Their hearts were beating fast. They were scared and excited at the same time.

Ariel somehow mustered courage and began to advance slowly into the cave. It was dark as there was no moonlight outside. Nisha too tiptoed behind her. Laila sidled behind Nisha, less frightened now. They did not have a torch.
Ariel waited until her eyes were adjusted to the darkness and took another step forward. She could not make out where in the cave they were.

“Look behind!” Laila’s sibilant whisper startled her. The three girls immediately turned towards the entrance. The rocky floor at the entrance was covered with sand! Laila gasped. The girls clutched each other, rooted to the spot. The wind outside was blowing strongly, making that eerie sound. As they waited with bated breath, they witnessed a strange phenomena unfolding before them. The sand began to move. Soon, it arranged itself into the form of a small structure, at one side of the entrance. The girls could not understand what it was at first.

“the-the sand castle!” whispered Nisha, just barely voicing her thoughts.

Ariel, though her legs were wobbly now, started towards the castle.

“Ariel!” Laila wanted to shout, but her voice died in her throat.

Her friends watched motionless as Ariel reached the entrance of the cave and peered over the sand castle. When nothing happened, Nisha went over to Ariel’s side, with Laila tagging along.

“Did you notice? This castle is incomplete!” said Ariel.

“Yes! It is!” said Laila.

“Also the sand is not moving even though there’s a strong wind outside. Wow, this sure is unnatural,” said Nisha, “Come on, lets get out of here. We’ve satisfied our curiosity enough. I don’t want to stay here longer than necessary”

“You’re right, lets go!” said Ariel. The girls left the cave and made their way down the rocks, holding hands and fighting the harsh wind.

“Its so dark now. We should have brought along a torch!” said Nisha.

“Oh no, it is starting to rain!” wailed Laila, “I Don’t want to die so soon. I’m only 16!”

Nisha firmly held Laila’s hand and pulled her down towards her, as a manner of saying stop-all-that-dramatics.

Suddenly Ariel, who was leading the way, stopped. “We are near the sea!”

“I thought you were going back in the same path that we came!” said Nisha.

“I thought so too! But it is so dark and windy, I must have lost my way!”

A frightened sob escaped Laila, “Oh my God! We will be devoured by the waves!”

The girls sat huddled together in the in the cold wind and rain.

“We should never have come here!” sobbed Laila; “If I had known…” the rest was drowned in her cries. Her friends were too terrified to console her. They were helpless against the elements.

Just when they thought they had lost it all, Nisha spotted something to their far right.

“The Lady of the Tanner Beach!” cried Nisha. They stood up to look at the apparition. It was too far away to notice the features, but they could make out the feminine features. Suddenly, the vision moved to the right.

“I think she’s telling us the way out of here!” said Ariel.

“What if it’s a trap?” said Laila.

“Do we have a choice?” said Ariel, “She’s our only hope now”.

The girls then hastily followed the Spirit. They found a sudden vigour to keep up with the Spirit, despite their doubts and fear. They could not understand which way they were going, but one thing was for sure, they were going away from the sea and nearing civilisation.

They followed it till the ghost disappeared from their sight.
“We are near the road now!” said Laila, “Come lets run for cover!”

“Wait, we are being ungrateful!” said Ariel. She turned towards the beach and shouted, “Thank you, Lady of the Tanner Beach! We owe you our lives!”

Word count: 1986