She stood still at the door and watched as her mother carried another bucket of water to the stables. The sun was blazing. As it shone, the entire land seemed to sparkle like a bed of green diamonds. Her mother came out from the stables with an empty bucket and headed towards the river.
A smile slowly spread across Agatha’s face. The wind instantly grew much stronger and blew away one branch from the broken tree. The branch hit her mother and with one scream, she slipped and fell into the water.
“Mama!” Elisa, who had just returned from school, tossed her bag onto the floor and went to the edge of the river.
“Mama!” Elisa shouted. Her mother was struggling endlessly in the water.
“Help, Agatha!” Elisa cried as Agatha strolled along to her side.
“Call for help, Agatha!” Her sister ordered again.
“Well, why don’t you help mama yourself?” Agatha grinned and then shoved Elisa into the water.
“Agatha…em…” Elisa, drowned in the water, whimpered and waved.
Yet, Agatha did not move a single muscle. She stood and watched as the current carried both her mother and sister away.
“Please, help…” Her mother begged.
Agatha raised her brows and crossed her arms.
“But you didn’t help me when I needed you, mama.” She said plainly. “You only saved Elisa but not me.”
“Agatha, forgive me!”
It was the last sentence spoken by her mother. With that, she sank deeper into the water like Agatha had the other day. As for Elisa, her cries died away pretty soon. When others arrived, they could only find their corpses.
After a long while, Agatha sat on the ground and wept. The men sympathized with her. The women offered their hands.
Nonetheless, no one could see through those two twisted faces, soaked in wetness, hair tangled.
Secretly and silently, Agatha smiled to herself.
It was the first time in ten years that she smiled.