Obscurity, The Twenty-First Chapter
In which the widow is haunted by her past—and a protection spell must be put into place.
e last read The Twentieth Chapter, in which we met the businessman once again, and the philanthropist was haunted by his past.

For those who desire decadence in their lives, the swamp is a beautiful place to find it. There the reeds and grasses draw up to the land and the water seeps between them. When stepping barefoot into the mire, one can feel the wind gently lulling against the skin, the air so thick it holds one still against it, the mangroves so heavy they weep their branches into it.
In the swamp, the insects sing a suspended tune, a sound not dissimilar to the call of a canter, their melody echoing into a nave of nature’s making. In that nave, more sinister beings dwell, though they keep to themselves so long as they are left unprovoked. In the stillness, eyes blink above the water, hardly discernible from the mud that permeates around them. These creatures find in the mud the decadence they long for. For in the swamp, the rich earth cakes into the skin, a salve for all that ails it.
It was to just such a swamp that the ménagère turned at night. For while she healed from her illness, she waded out into Bayou St. John, allowing the swamp to seep into the recesses of her skin. With naught but her chemise draping her body, she walked into the waters, wetting the white cloth until it clung to her. She massaged the mud into her arms and down her legs, allowing it to soothe every crevice of her body and every ache in her spirit.
Sometimes she would sing—her voice sweet against the sticky air that heard it, the lurking things listening to her hum—others she would undress and lay amidst the reeds to feel the waters lap up against her skin, intimate in its embrace. The water caressed her tenderly as she lay at its edge, her mind longing for the moment it would reach her, touching her gently as it seeped slowly up her thighs, and into her belly button, until at last it languished at her breasts.
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