Lady Tulayda's Swamp

John 1:5

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

“Ten minute warning! Ten minute warning before we start loading up folks! Last chance to sterilize our toilets because you can’t go off the side of the boat!” The swamp tour guide announced.

Which was perfect timing for me as I slurped down a large soda to calm my nerves. Something about a sugar rush always kept me level headed whenever I had to hide the fact that I was afraid of something. It found a way to backfire though if it was something of liquid and bubbly substance.

“Here, hold my stuff! I’m going to run to the bathroom really fast,” I hurriedly push everything against my best friend, Marissa’s, chest.

“I told you not to get that big ol’ drink! You never listen!” She scolds, throwing my purse over her shoulder.

“I’ll be back!” I reassure, stomping my boots through the mud.

The Halloween themed souvenir store lights up the eerie night with its festive colors of orange and red. Bright enough for one to see a clear path to walk that would be free of alligators and other creatures of the night. Followed up with the strong stench of swamp water, so overwhelming it was suffocating, to help set the tone. I struggled to pull my sinking feet up, step by step, from the unsteady moisture of the ground that consumed the cleanliness of my boots.

The aged, wooden steps creek and ache under my weight as I continually make my way towards the ladies’ room.

“Marissa was right!” I barge into a bathroom stall to relieve myself.

The silence in the ladies room sends a stressed worrying throughout my body as I rush to put myself together. Fumbling to become presentable again, I hear the slow creaking of the bathroom door being pushed open. The echo of steady footsteps send chills down my spine.

The creeping footsteps grow louder as they make their way towards my stall. Time seemed against me as I became more panicked to button my clothes back onto me. Standing inside my stall of protection I peer through the open bottom, as the person ceases their stride at my door.

“Hello?” I call out.

No response.

The sound of me swallowing the hard lump of fear stuck in my throat filled the dreadful essence of the room as I reach for a cellphone that had been left inside my purse. I freeze with my eyes locked on the stranger’s mud covered boots, and the trim of a burlesque skirt that almost dragged across the floor. Marissa was only a few feet outside yet I had not the courage to scream out for her to help me, even though I did not realize what exactly I was afraid of.

It was a dark lingering aura that was dragged in with this mysterious person. Something heavy and unshakeable that I did not want to face in a place like this.

My hands clutching at my side as my eyes waited for the boots to turn and make their way into a different direction. Carrying their own atmosphere of evil, I subconsciously became frozen from fear.

“H-hello?” I shakenly call out again, holding onto my back packet where my phone would usually be.

No response, the boots remain in front of my stall.

“If you are here for the Halloween swamp tour, we are now boarding passengers!” I hear the captain yell from outside.

The essence of time begins to send me into panic as I did not want to face what was waiting for me, but I knew I had to move.

“Do you,” I hesitantly start, “Do you need to use this stall ma’am?”

Suddenly I hear Marissa’s demanding voice barge in.

“Elaine hurry up! We got to go!”

“Oh Thank God,” I whisper to myself.

Fear unhinging its grip from me, my body let’s out a sigh of relief and reaches for the lock on the door. Urgently, I rush out of the stall to greet Marissa, but only come to find that she was not there. Instead of my best friend waiting for me, I find myself coming face to face with a woman of red eyes glaring at me.

My bathroom stranger had been revealed, with her hair long and knotted down her back, and her midnight skin covered in markings of a different language. The woman’s clothes were dragged and ripped, as if she had just ran out from a bush of thorns. Those eyes wickedly penetrating her glance into my soul, leaving me trembling. Uncontrollably, I found myself shaking as her stature alone felt disturbingly dangerous.

“Do you walk the swamp at night?” The woman’s voice croaked from her chest, while tilting her head in wide-eyed curiosity.

“I-I’m sorry,” I barely spoke, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

She grins at me, exposing her teeth of black and silver.

“So,” she continues, “You do wish to walk the swamp.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say still afraid and confused, “I am going on a boat ride-”

“Indeed you are my dear.” She smiles, turning to place a small wooden figure on the rusted sink, with my face carved onto it. “Indeed you are.”

Without another word, the bathroom stranger turns to leave.

Looking upon the tiny figure, I become deathly afraid as to how someone could capture my face so easily on wood. Why would she be carrying that around? And why would she plainly give it to me? Was she just messing with me because it’s Halloween? Was Marissa in on this?

No, Marissa wouldn’t do something like this. Her beliefs in the church almost caused her not to come with me to New Orleans for a simple swamp tour. If I knew my best friend, I know she wouldn’t want to partake in something vile like this. Which only brewed more anxiety as to who that woman was.

“Hey!” Marissa barges in, breaking my concentration. “You coming to see the swamp, or are you chickening out on me?”

“Marissa,” I whimper, grabbing a hold of the figurine, “Did you happen to see a woman walk out of the bathroom just now?”

“Just now?” She asks in confusion, “Girl, I just decided to follow you to the bathroom. I was standing outside the door the whole time, I didn’t see anyone come in or out besides you-”

“Marissa, that’s not funny!” I start to panic, “I know you saw that woman walk out of the bathroom then-!”

“Elaine THAT’S not funny,” She argues back, “Stop trying to scare me. You’re an atheist remember? You said you don’t believe in ghost, so don’t expect me to believe you saw one. Now come on.”

“Marissa, I’m being serious! Look!” I show her the wooden figure in my hand.

I watch Marissa intently study the facial structure upon the figurine, then looks up intently at me, then back at the figurine.

“Ah Ha, really scary, Elaine,” My best friend mocks.

“What-?”

“You probably had that made before we got here-”

“Marissa, this isn’t a joke, some lady just walked in here and gave me this-”

“No one came in here, Elaine!” I can see the visible frustration on Marissa’s face. “Can we go now, before we miss this boat?! Thanks.”

In a swift, and annoyed tone, Marissa turns to walk out of the bathroom. My eyes well up with tears as I didn’t know if I felt hurt that she didn’t believe me, scared that something actually happened here, or stupid that this might be a prank that I was falling for.

I present a calm demeanor, while settling into my seat next to Marissa onto the boat. Her face has softened a bit as she sees my worry still lingering. Though I say nothing I spot from the corner of my eye that she is still examining the doll in my hand.

“You really didn’t have this little guy made?” Marissa finally asks.

“No,” I reply, looking up to make eye contact.

“Huh?” She examines some more, “That really is strange.”

Marissa slowly reaches down to grasp it, but violently jerks her arm back half way through her attempt.

“There is something evil about this doll,” her jaw clenching with anger as her voice deepened with stern sincerity. I watch as she doesn’t break her gaze from the doll, and a low growl vibrating from her chest.

“Alrighty folks, welcome to Lady Tulayda’s Halloween swamp tour!” the captain greets excitedly as the other passengers cheer.

The sounds of cheering people and a revving boat engine fills the air of the eerie night. Marissa and I are rocked back and forth from the gentle sway of boat gliding through the water. The low lit lights of our transportation guide our way and warn the alligators to swim towards a different path.

“Alrighty!” The captain continues, “Let’s get into some spooky Halloween stories huh?”

The crowd encourages him.

“It is always wise to start with the origin of this swamp… Lady Tulayda’s swamp.”

The crowd releases a unified “Ooooh”.

“Back in 1892, Lady Tulayda lived in this swamp, and away from people… must have been nice.”

The crowd chuckles.

“Here, she studied dark magic, voodoo, spells, witchcraft, made deals with the devil, and her best friends were more than likely demons… yeeeeah, you didn’t mess with Lady Tulayda. But that didn’t stop the fine folks of New Orleans at the time. Every time a plague or famine overtook the land, guess who they blamed for it?”

“Lady Tulayda,” the crowd whispered.

“Lady Tulayda! They said that God was mad at them for allowing her to preach her dark magic on the land. SO! The people, enraged, stormed the swamp, searched for Lady Tulayda everywhere until they found her. Then, they tied her up, cursed her name, and set her aflame, along with all her belongings inside her home.”

“That’s awful,” I sympathized.

“For the people,” The captain replied to my comment before continuing on with the story. “Ya see, young lady. Lady Tulayda wasn’t going down without a fight. Oooh no! She cursed this very swamp before she died. Saying, she would appear to many people long after her death who came to her swamp. Some people have even reported sightings of her. See folks, when you see Lady Tulayda, you must never EVER speak to her, even if she speaks to you. And you’ll know it’s her, because if you see a deranged looking woman and she asks you, ‘Do you wish to walk the swamp?’ you better just run like you got hyenas at your ankles.”

Instantly, I feel my heart sink into my stomach, as I hear that raspy voice from the bathroom replaying in my head over and over again.

“See, that was Lady Tulayda’s way of inviting you in, BUT! The acceptance of the invitation is what really got people hurt. Because if you talked to Lady Tulayda, she would leave you a wooden doll that would look just. Like. You. And if you took that doll, it means you accepted her invitation-”

“Invitation to what?!” I screamed standing up and throwing the doll to the metal flooring of the boat.

The crowd fell silent as I felt everyone’s eyes locked on me.

“Hell,” the captain drearily said.

I felt my eyes tearing up once more, and Marissa’s eyes locked on the doll covered in dirt upon the boat.

“Let me guess,” The long bearded caption spoke, “You saw her tonight didn’t you?”

He smiles with little concern.

“Yes,” I whimper.

“How many of you, saw her tonight?” he asks, still happily driving the boat through the water.

Almost half the boat of people raise their hands.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we actually have Lady Tulayda currently here with us.”

Marissa and I lock eyes, both with confused expressions.

“Please don’t sue us for emotional damages, our Lady Tulayda can usually give people quite the scare-”

“Wait, this was all a part of the show?” Marissa questions, while grimacing towards the captain.

“For seventy bucks, it better be a part of the show!” someone in the crowd laughs.

Everyone else joins in with chuckles and giggles.

“Yes folks, it is all a part of the show, as a matter of fact,” The captain nonchalantly goes on, “Allow me to introduce… LADY TULAYDA!”

Relief sweeps over me as I’ve never felt happier for falling for a small prank.

The boat comes to a slow halt and our captain flips on a switch to engage his bright light. Turning to the direction where the light is shining, we all look to see a woman standing on a small patch of land, ignoring the small critters creeping around her. With an oversized smile, she waves freely at the boat.

My relief dissipates just as quickly as it arrived.

I observe a woman of olive skin, dressed in a newly purchased pirate costume. She prances around excitedly in circles as the crowd cheers and roars from the boat. Everyone basking in her presence of bliss while I couldn’t fixate my facial expression into anything else except horror.

“Phew,” Marissa laughs with everyone else, “Turns out it was the company playing with us, Elai-”

“That’s not her,” I felt a tear of fear fall down my cheek.

“What?” Marissa quickly wiped away her joy.

“Marissa,” I uncontrollably cried, “That wasn’t the woman I saw in the bathroom.”

Looking upon the fake Lady Tulayda, twisted my stomach into painful knots. Suddenly, I spot a darker shadow arising from behind her. The weight of an evil aura anchors me down harshly to the point of being unable to speak. The fake dances out of the way to reveal a woman in charcoaled and ripped clothing smiling right at me, my bathroom stranger. I feel my breathing being labored as my lungs struggle to grasp for air from the sight of her wicked posture. Her dress dragging across the mud as she begins to walk in my direction.

The sensation of water begins to soak my feet, as I look down to observe that I was no longer in the boat, but caught in the midst of the swamp. Panic, fear, and complete terror overtake my body, while slowly sinking into the water. Lady Tulayda continues her journey towards me with the water almost waist deep to her.

“No, please,” I plead, and cry out, “I am begging you! Please don’t! No! NO!”

Her smile grows, as the water is now at her waist, and my neck.

“We can walk the swamp together now,” The woman grins.

In my final attempt at saving my life, I desperately scream out anything that could help.

“GOOOOOD!” I ripped out from the last breath of my lungs, “HELP ME! SAVE ME PLEASE, JESUS!”

Nothing.

“PLEASE LORD! I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! PLEEEASE!”

Nothing.

I hear Lady Tulayda laugh at me from just a couple feet away.

My tears blurring my vision, I seal all hopelessness into my heart.

“Our Father,” I my lips quivered feeling the water rising, “Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”

In a strange turn of events, the water ceased from rising. I continued a prayer I did not believe in until now. Lady Tulayda’s presence lingered directly in front of me, but the weight of an evil aura felt lifted from my body.

“And lead us not,” the same deepened voice Marissa had used on the boat roared from behind me, “Into temptation.”

“But deliver us from evil,” I continued to whimper in fear.

Even through my tear obscured vision, I could make out the ragged clothes of Lady Tulayda who stood directly in front of me now. While hearing Marissa’s voice call out from behind me. That deepened tone she used before when she saw the doll held a dominating, yet pure aura that almost felt safe. It was Marissa’s voice I could hear, but it was also the voice of someone else combined with her.

“In Jesus name we pray,” The voice firmly calls out from behind me.

“Amen,” I finish.

A hand of sharp nails clutches me by the hair and dips my entire being underneath the water. I hold my breath for what seemed like forever, until a gentle push presses against my back and allows me to come up for air.

The sun greets me with a warm kiss, as I see many people clapping for me off the shore of the beach. My pastor wipes my eyes so that I may see the clarity of the beach water, and the school of fish peacefully swimming around us. The sensation of purity causes my body to feel so weightless that it is the wet robe that felt like an entire person attached to my figure.

I gaze at the coast line and see Marissa, jumping and splashing into the water to get to me. We share a laugh as she still has all her clothes on but carelessly swims over to me until I am locked in the comfort of her full grasp. Instantly, I feel her love wrapping around me as my arms instinctively reciprocate her emotions.

“I am so proud of you!” she starts crying in my ears.

“I never thought I would be here. Can’t believe it’s been a year since that faithful night.” I pull out of Marissa’s embrace to look into her tearful eyes. “Thank you for being there to rescue me.”

“Elaine,” She pauses for a moment, and smiles, “I never found you again after you left the boat.”

“What?” I question.

“I should have told you sooner, but someone saved you that night… it just wasn’t me.”

Inscribing her words into the lining of my heart I turn my head to the clear skies of gentle blue.