Ophelia’s heart is broken and her mind doesn’t fair much better, in an act of desperation she returns to the woods and waterfall where she and her ex lover lay entwined. A blissful moment to relive, where the sound of the forest and waterfall mixed with the strong but loving caresses of her loved one. But that past emotion is now a shattered memory, as dead as the roses she carries in her arms; the last gift from her lover. As with many young men his eyes roamed too far and found another lover, another conquest and another heart to break.
Heart brokenly she scatters the dead flowers on the forest floor where they once loved, she will no longer cherish them as the bruised memory is simply too painful.
She makes her way the top of the waterfall and pauses for a while, the cold fast flowing water swirling around her feet creates the only feeling she has sensed for a long time. The last few days have made her numb and melancholy, each passing day has seen her dip in and out of mental anguish and insanity.
She peers below now and then to contemplate the dizzy drop to the bottom of the waterfall, she feels no fear and no anticipation just a crushing ache that is unbearable She prays to the Gods for relief and mercy but receives no answer and no sense of devotion.
There is no need for preparation there is just the act, a simple step, a small thing really, an act of no consequence.
She falls down the waterfall, striking hard the rocks below and drowns, however the Gods do not look kindly on those that take their own life, even if they are negligent to the prayers of those in desperation.
Ophelia is marked and cursed by the Gods for her own demise, they command her spirit to remain at the bottom of the waterfall, there to lure errant young men to their doom. For 500 years she is to use her feminine wiles and enchantments to trap and blind man’s senses and guide them to their death and she once died herself.
However over the years fewer men came to hear her calls and enchantments, her spirit became even more troubled and loneliness ate at her and she became even more desperate to ensnare young men even though they died in her pool.
Near the end she could barely stand to even look at the waterfall and as the years marched on and on she covered her eyes.
Eventually 500 years pass by and the Gods release her from the pool but they still do not grant her death, merely freedom from her pool.
Amber Castle
So she leaves the pool a free spirit but times have changed and the world has moved on, she does not recognise this new world of machines and strange devices. She retreats to the forest and mountains close to her pool, and there she dwells still …. a lost disowned spirit roaming through the heather and playing with the trees, always waiting for a chance to rest the rest of death.
The Curse of Ophelia.
Played by Amber Castle
Written by John McNairn
Photography by John McNairn
