MEMORIES IN A BOTTLE...

"Bless this land of me, protect and guard its doorway from any harm maybe. May I will be a shield of steel and strength shield the land from any those cruel intent… banish those who mean harm! If not invited you shall not pass. It be my will and will it be. And it harm none so mote it be,"

Esmeralda chants the word calmly as a cloud of bubbles fills the cave chambers inside the limestone cave. The mangrove is silent today. The dark filled the Westwood. There is no moon to light the darkness. The hand lanterns in her hands were joined with a wooden stick for proper handling. After reciting the chants, she walks out of the caves and towards the village.

The villagers are already roaming the forest and the sea, looking for food and natural materials for survival. There are no vegetables; they can grow inside Westwood. The pungent smell of rotten animal carcasses frequently fills the air of the mangrove swamp site. Something strange is happening again between those black branches of the mangroves.

"Esme, have you seen River?" the old oracle asked, walking side by side with Esmeralda on the floating wooden bridge that connects the village area with the mangrove swamp. Both of the women work as oracles and healers in the village. Esmeralda is Nanny Roe's real granddaughter.

River Rue is not Nanny Roe's real granddaughter. Nevertheless, Nanny Roe raises her like one of her own. By the time River arrive at Westwood, the sun has refused to shine again on their island. The darkness claims the whole of Westwood. River was a curse. The curse that was brought by Esme's parents.

Nanny Roe wasn't a fan of the gossip. She kept the secret to herself, and she kept it well. Her memories bury inside a bottle. thrown away into the deepest ocean, never to be found. She wants to remember River as a gift from her late son and daughter-in-law. She is a pure soul, a young woman with a gentle heart and a strong work ethic. She tries everything to grow a few grains in a single lot of soil and hopes for miracles. when the conclusion of their bad harvest is as bright as the moonlight.

River world and Nanny Roe world are not supposed to collide. It will awaken the dark side of the moon and cast away the light forever. But humans do believe in miracles. Hope and faith walk alongside their everyday lives. hopes to bring the two worlds together. Faith to reunite River with her real family is still fresh in her memory.

When hope is uncommon. When hope is welcomed with open arms, an essential decision is made. River Rue will stay in Westwood. Even if their land fills with darkness forever. The little darling will become their flesh and blood. Unaware of what she may bring, Nanny Roe placed River's memories in a bottle. Float far away, and away… vanishing her real self and emerging in a new memory with a new family and new place to live in.