Black Pond

 

Once upon a time, in a small town called Faerie in a galaxy far, far away, somewhere on the outskirts of Italy, a little girl was born. She was beautiful; the entire village of less than 214 inhabitants delighted in the child of old Mrs. Lannares, who no one expected to be able to conceive.

Old Mrs. Lannares and her husband couldn't accept that they had a daughter, not a son. So they decided to drown the child in a pond and claim it had been kidnapped.

The mother placed her daughter in a basket lined with a dirty gray rag and threw her into the water. The splashing water frightened the wild ducks roosting in the reeds.

Three days later, a true miracle occurred.

Old Mrs. Lannares's husband, hunting wild boar in the forest near the pond, found a white basket lined with black satin floating in the water. Inside, amidst squeals and groans, lay an incredibly ugly male child. The joy of the elderly parents was indescribable—they had finally received their longed-for son, and even though he was the ugliest child the world had ever seen, they loved him above all else. The boy, named Fabrizzo in honor of his grandfather, grew up in harsh conditions, yet surrounded by great love. He excelled at the school he attended. He always dreamed of being a traveler and enjoyed nighttime adventures, although his mother forbade him from venturing far.

When he turned 18, he simply left. He didn't leave a message, not a scrap of clothing, simply grabbed his coat and left.

Walking along the sandy shore of the pond, he wondered how large it was, for he couldn't see its end.

For four days and four nights, eating nothing and drinking only dirty water, he walked along the shore of the pond, searching for its end.

The surroundings had changed. Fabrizzo reached a small, beautiful cottage. He knocked once, twice.

He fainted on the threshold.

Days passed, nights passed. Finally, after another nightmare, he awoke. He was lying in a short, green bed under a white canopy.

"Angel..." he whispered, seeing beside him an unearthly beauty with rosy skin, golden curls, and incredibly large, blue eyes.

The girl laughed, her laugh ringing like a million silver bells.

"My name is Alessia..." she whispered.

Fabrizzo had lived with Alessia and her parents, spending a very happy year there. However, it was clear that Alessia's parents didn't like him very much.

One day, on his way to the store, he overheard a conversation among passersby. About how Alessia had floated into the village in a basket lined with dirty rags, and that her parents, upon finding her, had thrown out their own, ugly child.

Fabrizzo realized they were talking about him... that it was actually Alessi's parents who loved him more than anything else, while his own parents loathed him. He couldn't bear the thought.

He drowned in a black pond.