Sviciazianka (A female love story)

Sviciazianka

Sviciazianka

It was the last couple of months before graduation. The daily routine was killing me, so when the other girls invited me to go to a lake over the weekend, I jumped in their car without even thinking. Yahor was visiting his grandmother with his aunt, and she kindly offered to drive us. I was so glad to get out of the city that I even baked a cake for everyone.

After a couple of hours on the bumpy countryside road, driving through the sunflower fields and rustic villages, we arrived at our destination. Lake Sviciaz treated us to a coy smile of invitation. Tucked away from the human eye, the intimate waters of the small lake reminded me why my father lovingly calls Belarus "dear Blue-eyed."

The weather was so hot that it didn't take long before we went for our first swim. The water in Sviciaz was clear and calm. Bathing in it felt majestic, purifying even. As if the very spirit of the lake reached deep into your soul and took away all the stress and darkness inside.

Yahor's grandma, Marya Antonauna, managed to sneak up on us while we were swimming. Waving her wiry hand, the cheerful woman invited us to her hut. The elderly woman had more life in her than most of the students in our college. We spent the whole evening exchanging news and stories.

After a wooden cuckoo came out of its house to strike midnight, Marya Antonauna changed in her face. She told us to be wary of the lake. According to legend, white water-lilies used to grow in it. These were the souls of the mermaids called sviciaziankas, who lured young men into the misty waters. These legends were so old that nobody remembered where they came from.

"Two years ago," she said, "a young lad from the neighboring village had drowned. People said they heard sviciaziankas sing their mysterious songs the same night. Be careful because tomorrow is Siomukha." She saw the confusion in our eyes. "Our ancestors have celebrated the holiday long before Christianity set its foot here. On this day, mermaids walk on land. They bless the soil to be fertile, but they also lure men to come with them to their underwater kingdom." We all looked at Yahor and laughed. He is known to fall for pretty faces.

After the spooky story, Yahor offered to walk the girls back to our camp to protect them from the mermaid. The girls laughed, saying that they would gladly protect him from the mermaids. Lera and Nil, however, have decided to go for a walk around the lake. I, too, had decided to go for a stroll but quickly regretted it. I felt like the third wheel with the two lovebirds, so I took the first turn I could to avoid their cheesy flirting.

The moonlight led me along a meandering trail to a secluded backwater. Once alone with the stars, I was lost among the legends and tales. The forest sounds, and the smell of the passing spring drew a smile on my face. The ancient trees reached out to the center of the lake like scrawny arms, hanging on their black roots, while the swaying reflection of the moon in the waves slowly lulled me.

I took off my shoes and carefully climbed onto the birch tree, growing horizontally over the lake's surface. I felt the cold of the water with my feet; a veil of fog hung above it.

A gentle voice sounded in the distance.

At first, I thought it's just my mind playing tricks on me after all the legends about the mermaids. The sounds coming from the lake were a soft, an archaic tune sung by a young female voice. The fog grew thicker until a whole cloud of it formed above the water. In it, a city stood among the hills. An army was approaching it on horseback with battle cries, swinging their curved blades. Women and children were praying inside the city walls. A young princess hurried through the weeping crowd, slightly lifting her fabulous dress with her hands. Her brown hair, braided to the very waist, was tied with a headband, decorated with ornate metal rings. Eyes full of resolve peered beneath her thin black eyebrows. She arrived at the wooden altar, where a group of volkhvs was performing a ritual. She pleaded to the ancient gods to save her people from the taint of the invaders.