Rewrite and Final Edits
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If you struggle with addiction, please seek help.
The Shanty On The Water
In Aripeka, Florida, a little town on Hernando Beach, lies a run-down Shanty amongst the weeds and waterways. Some days, people will pull up to the shanty and fish off the porch of the home or anchor off the house and enjoy the view of the water. However, a long time ago, this home belonged to a family of three. The woman of the house was a god-fearing Christian who raised her daughter with education and a firm respect for God. She also worked as the local seamstress. The daughter was a kind and loving girl who went out of her way to help others. However, the man of the house, who worked as a fisherman, loved to socialize and drink. Because of the drinking, he was very unpopular with the locals and the church. His drinking caused the family to be disliked and financially poor. Because of their rough times, the wife had gone to get help from her family. However, her family told her this was her problem as she married a man beneath her, and she must deal with the consequences. Don't get me wrong, the man loved his wife and daughter. However, as happens with people who overdrink, he could not see the pain he was causing.
The wife made one last attempt to get help for her husband. She did this by going to the local Pastor. The Pastor, a kind and patient man, went to talk with the husband and tried to have him see reason. The Pastor went to the local bar, found the man sitting in a dark corner, and approached him.
"May I join you?" The Pastor asked.
"What do you want, Pastor?" He growled.
"I am here to speak with you," He said. "Your wife has been quite concerned for you, and I am here to offer you help with your drinking if you would like to accept it."
The husband slapped his hand on the table and said, "So you come to a place where I am respected and try to tell me about God."
The Pastor sighed and said, "No, I am here to discuss your drinking. Sir, your wife and daughter love you, but you are throwing them away for that swill in your drink. I am offering you help to leave the drink behind."
The husband gave a low chuckle as he said, "You think I want to leave the drink behind?"
The Pastor said, "That drink will cost your family if you do not change your ways."
Standing up, the husband yelled, "You know nothing about my family. Stay out of our business."
The Pastor stood up and said, "You're not the first man who was in too deep with alcohol that I offered to help. Mark my words it will not end well for you or your family."
Walking out the door the Pastor left and went back to the parsonage to write the wife a letter offering to send the wife and daughter away. He sent one of his servants of the parsonage with an offer to send them somewhere to be safe, away from the husband.
The servant was quick and met the wife in the market. He said, "Mrs. I have a letter from the parsonage."
She took the letter and said, "Thank you."
Waiting the servant said, "I was instructed for you to read the letter and return with a reply and the letter so you have no trouble, Mrs."
She read the letter and sighed, "Tell the Pastor if my husband does not hear me out, my daughter and I will head to the parsonage in a few hours."
He nodded and said, "Be safe, Mrs., the Pastor said that your husband was lost in drink when he met with him."
She nodded, and the servant headed back to the parsonage. What she and the Pastor did not know was that the day the Pastor met and talked with the husband was also the day the husband was let go from his local job. Why was he fired? Because he was caught drinking on the job.
When the husband returned home that afternoon, he asked her, "Did you send the Pastor to speak with me?"
"I had," She said. "Your drinking is at its worst, and I am concerned."
He laughed and said, "Well, worry about how we are going to eat. I lost my job today, and you need to ask your family for more help."
It was her turn to laugh, and she said, "I did already. My family said that since I married you, you are my problem, and they will not be helping us at all. If you lost your job, where was the pay for this week's work?"
"I had to pay my bar tab," He said. "After I spoke to the Pastor, I got really thirsty."
She snapped, "How could you? What about our daughter? She needs clothes and food, do you think of no one but yourself?"
He grabbed his wife by the hair and hit her. She dropped to the ground and pretended to be knocked out. He stumbled to the bedroom and passed out in their room. The wife got up and grabbed her bag, which she had hidden in her daughter's room. Her daughter packed her belongings in her own bag while the wife packed a few belongings in the basket that she had on the table. As the storm started to come in from the Gulf of Mexico, the wife and daughter left the home for the last time.
When the Husband awoke hours later, a storm raged outside. However, inside was so quiet he had assumed his wife had lain down with their daughter to go to sleep and went to beg her forgiveness as he always had. His blood ran cold when he looked at his daughter's bed, and it was empty. Then he realized all his daughters and wife's belongings were gone.
"What have I done?" He cried.
In a moment of clarity, he realized that he had pushed his wife too far, and she had indeed taken their daughter and left. Realizing he was losing his wife and daughter, the Husband grabbed his coat and lantern and rushed out into the storm to find them. He ran along the flooded pathways calling his wife's and daughter's names.
After the storm had passed, neighbors realized the pathway that had connected multiple shanties was underwater. The neighbors started checking on their neighbors. The Pastor and his servant went to check on the woman and her daughter, as they had not arrived at the church before the storm
When they arrived at the home of the Fisherman and the Seamstress, they discovered it was empty. The Pastor said a prayer for the family; however, in his heart, he already knew something was wrong.
Before long, the Pastor gathered all the townspeople and searched for the family. Soon enough, they found they were too late. A group of people who were searching found the bodies of the wife and daughter along the shore with their belongings tied to their waists.
The people searching could only guess they had been swept away in the rising water as they tried to reach the church in town. After a week, the wife's family claimed their bodies and buried them in a local churchyard.
After the funeral service, the Pastor asked the wife's father, "If we find the body of your son-in-law, should we contact you?"
Her father stated, "Throw him back into the water if he shows back up."
The Pastor wanted to argue with the seamstress's parents. But as they buried the wife and daughter, they grieved themselves. The rescuers still searched along the shanty paths, and they could not locate the Husband. A few weeks later, when another storm hit, the body of the Husband washed ashore with his lantern still gripped in his hand. The pastor spoke to a few members of the community, and they arranged that the Fisherman be buried with his family.
Years later, If you drive along the road near where the Shanty used to stand and the remains of the paths are, make sure your timing is right, come right after a storm or watch the storm from the safety of your car. You may see lights bobbing around in the marsh. Some say it's swamp gas, but more people say it's the Fisherman looking for his wife and daughter. You may also hear the man screaming and yelling for his family, who are no longer with us. I know from experience that if you drive the road along the original path on stormy nights, you can hear the sound of crying. Some say it's the wife and daughter crying in the storm as they try to get to safety.
Was this story a cautionary tale of what happens when you choose alcohol and drugs over the ones you love? Have I seen the shanty sitting on the water? I have when I was younger. Have I seen the light bobbing on the water along where the path used to be? I have. I only hope that wherever the wife and daughter are now, they are finally at peace.
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