Maria And The 30,000 Pebbles

A short story.

“One pebble, Two pebbles, three pebbles, four pebbles, Five pebbles, Six pebbles and it went on till there were no pebbles left to be on top of the newly built stack of pebbles on the ground.”

Every day, Maria (a woman in her mid-sixties) would go on picking up pebbles in a nearby scattered ground surrounded by trees making it look like a small forest in the town of Midfree. A small yet old town that was thriving with vitality and vigour. Yes, Vitality and vigour was the motto of the town.

Viva la Midfree! Viva la Midfree! were the phrases that were sung in unison by the choir of the town every morning to lift the spirit of people who missed their loved ones who had went to war and were awaiting their arrival to shoo away sadness.

Seeing Maria walked by town every morning to pick small stones and pebbles made people question her behaviour. Sometimes people would call her sick and sometimes they would call her mad. After all, it was an unusual thing to accept for people of that town in the year 1945. But she would go on picking her pebbles every day for the past 30 years. The people in her town believed that she (Maria) changed when her son(a soldier) went missing during the time of the pearl harbour incident and there hasn’t been any report of him since then. Shortly after that, her husband had passed away leaving her for the afterlife. And she was left alone with her son’s wife. Only these two women were there for each other. Every, now and then, the report of missing soldiers would be printed in the newspapers and she would go and check the report. And she would come back with unanswered questions. With a heavy heart, every morning, she would go on picking pebbles.

One pebble, two pebbles, three pebbles etc…to make a stack of pebbles. For the past 30years, she has made countless stacks without a fail everyday.

Maria had become lifeless, sadness has gripped her soul. One fine day, when the weather was cloudy and it had rained for four day straight with thunder and lightning in the sky. She dreamt of a “goblin” who had come to take away her daughter in law’s soul and she begged the goblin to spare Rebecca’s life (her daughter-in-law) in exchange she would do anything that the goblin wished to possess and he told her that he would grant her 2 wishes if she makes 30,000 stacks of pebbles in the scattered ground of Midfree.Maria being sceptical at first, agreed to the goblin’s demand and she made sure that goblin doesn’t cheats her by signing a contract with the goblin.The goblin disappeared after wards and said that he would come again every 20 years to fulfill two of her wishes.

Maria continued to pick pebbles as she had no choice. But she started learning about goblins and witches where she learnt that goblins fear the witches and can be overpowered by them. She made her first wish where her daughter in law’s soul was free from any goblin’s clutches by making herself a witch by goblin’s power. But the goblin being playful tricked her and never spared her daughter in laws’ life and now, he began to cast his shadow on Rebecca’s daughter, Carla.

Fearing the safety of both her daughter in law and granddaughter, she made another wish when the goblin came again after 20years. She had completed all the 30,000stacks of pebbles by then. She made her second wish to free her granddaughter- Carla’s soul and to spare Rebecca’s life — her daughter in law. This time the Goblin didn’t play any tricks as his work was done and he could no longer control Maria as she became good at handling her powers.The Goblin collected those 30,000 stacks of pebbles and said that if Maria feels sad again more Goblins will come to her as they attracted by extreme sadness and grief .These pebbles are the life energy of the Goblins . The goblin before disappearing told her that his energy was depleting and he needed a human’s soul (widow) or widow’s child’s soul to compensate for those 30,000 pebbles while he makes them.

The goblin disappeared leaving Maria alone in the scattered ground. She sighed deeply looking at the ground and wondered that if she would have just accepted the missing of her son and her husband’s death .Then the goblin wouldn’t be attracted to her sorrow.And her daughter’s life wouldn’t be on the line.She pledged to never be sad again and never let anyone be sad again.Afterwards, she happily went to her home to her daughters.

The End-

Disclaimer — This is a fictional work. And does not correlate with reality at all.

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Happy Reading ☺