Reason for the Lake

By Mitchell Ford

"So I have a sister?" was Aires's response when Lucia and Diego told her of Luna's upcoming visit.

"You have a sister," Lucia answered.

With this revelation, nineteen-year-old Aires Caredana was to welcome her long-lost sibling to her family home. Her sister was gravely ill, and no one knew how to treat her.

Over two hundred years had now passed after the construction of the villa in which the Caredana family lived. The villa and, adjacent to this, a lake, were well renowned. Nobody knew whether to believe or dismiss accounts of healing from this water. They were abundant and could easily be heard.

Luna would soon be there. She knows absolutely nothing of this reputed river.

Aires was preparing to leave and had little time to stay with her sister, Luna. Their parents were sure Luna would not be long with them. A perhaps two-acre river just could be the resolution to an issue, which had plagued this family for eighteen years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: May 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9798885051569

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

About the Author

cover.jpg

Reason for the Lake

Mitchell Ford

Copyright © 2024 Mitchell Ford

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2024

ISBN 979-8-88505-155-2 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88505-156-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

The following is dedicated first to my sister who, for a reason I perhaps shouldn't relate on this page, I feel blessed to have by my side at this moment of publication. She has a share in all dedications pertaining to my creativity. This also is for my mother. She is an avid reader, and though I allowed her to fine-tune a previous story, I felt I needed others to go over this one. I'm sorry, Mom. (Here is my apology.) And to my heavenly Father, Almighty God, who provides the real healing and will use His creation to do so. Thank you.

This book is also dedicated to a very special friend of mine who I agreed to have proofread this some years ago, Hailey Amanda Holmes (October 4, 1983–September 30, 2022). Though busy at times, she took time to read and even refine the text. She delighted in doing it. She was artistic in a number of aspects and drawn to the composition and publication of books. She seemed excited about this project and told me she truly believed I should continue with it. She had moved out to Western Texas after being raised in Victoria where her family is still, to whom as well this is dedicated. What she believed in has come true, and I'm grateful for her faith in this work.

I

She determined the water held more than she could comprehend. Bathing was a moment of joy, even therapeutic, for Aires. Aires was an older teenage female just weeks shy of her nineteenth birthday, and she was an accomplished painter.

She painted whenever she could using what she had at the time. She even made water figures in the tub at times when she decided to relax. She loved lying in the tub each night. She could and did spend a couple of hours in there with the water being a friend. This seemed to be her only quirk.

She was a levelheaded individual, very much so. Her parents saw to that. Everyone knew that even now, Aires Caredana made great work.

The Caredanas were living in Tuscany, Italy; the community of San Gimignano, in the province of Siena, where they had been living for several years. They were, however, originally from Spain. Diego Caredana had been working in Italy with the same business that had taken him from Spain. He was most intelligent. Of course, that was in an artificial, logical sense, and there was a lot of sense of him working in Siena. He was a gentleman who for sure had his differences. But his family seemed to be everything to him, and the San Gimignano public bore no resentment toward him.

His wife and he were born in 1823 and met when they were nineteen. They were married in 1846, and by this time, that had been twenty-four years. Mr. Caredana had taken a wonderful job in Valencia the year before but made a change in career the year after they were married. Despite the change, they had a great life where they lived in Spain. Another blessing was added to their lives in their fifth year when a girl was born to them, whom they named Aires.

Aires was an average toddler, discovering everything and wanting to investigate whatever she did discover. Three years after she was born, the Caredana family made their move to Italy. Italy was obviously a different place, and it required adjustment. Strange as it may seem, it was the hardest on young Aires; everyone else found it strange also. They tried to do whatever they could to ease any hardship they managed to find as newcomers.

Life did seem to become easier for them in the following years. Mr. and Mrs. Caredana were making a successful life for themselves and their little girl, Aires. It was at six years old that Aires Caredana discovered the beauty of art. She would stare intently at any illustration she came across as if studying it. She soon began to duplicate what she saw, drawing exceptionally for her age. She exhibited a profound understanding of shapes, sizes, and positions—colors as well. She was soon, after this, making her own pictures. She, of course, had a wonderful eye for such details and would make great pictures because of this. Diego and Lucia Caredana started to notice Aires's gift.

Mr. and Mrs. Caredana were fond of their painter's work, beginning to show it off around their home and at times carrying some of her art around to be available for show. When they first started, Aires objected, claiming embarrassment; but as time went on, she became used to this and would let her parents handle the exhibitions and simply ignore them. She never flaunted. She wasn't that type. She would quietly work, and if her parents wanted to showcase it, they were allowed. She was growing more polite toward people's compliments of her work, however.

Aires could be outspoken about other things. She was determined in her young age but at the same time wasn't stubborn. She had developed a very likable yet strange personality. One would hold this opinion after the first and second meeting with the girl. After which, they'd begin to know her better or become accustomed to her behavior. Just being around her, though, would ascertain how she and the other party could act toward each other.

A troublesome ordeal had been around her since she was young, and it was consistently taunting. Beginning at about age five, her sleep would be visited by a dream. She would all at once find herself in water. After seeing her surroundings, she would find herself splashing and moving around. She always looked up after that to see she was in a pool in some sort of building, with people around her. She was not alone in the water either, as she would always look to see a female toddler, maybe her age, immediately, after she was seen, look at her.

This was not just a dream at night. She seemed to have a memory of an event such as this at the time the dreams were coming. She started to ponder these and ask within herself what this might mean. Because of how frequent all of this was, she felt it wise to ask her mother and father. They seemed concerned but at the same time not exactly.

They gave her no real answer. After this, she couldn't say for certain that she had not been born into a different family. She asked about it as well.

You're not adopted, they would say.

Is there another conclusion? asked Aires.

Your wonderful imagination! That's all, her father told her more than once.

Usually, she would retreat to her art after something like this, but at this moment, she left her house for a large spot a few yards away. There was a portion of land on their property (two or three acres) where flowing steadily were small rivers that finally came together to, of course, form a lake. She loved this hot water but just sat in front of it now. The water seemed to recuperate. There were times when she could remember vividly being in a pool with a girl toddler. She sometimes thought she remembered being in a second place with this young girl as well.

She will grow out of this, her father told Mrs. Caredana.

Will this affect her artwork in any way? she asked.

No, I won't let that happen.

She should continue.

At twelve years of age, with her painting as well as she does, it would disappoint me profoundly if she were to abandon art, Mister Caredana sharply said. He was determined his daughter would find an interest and pursue it. Perhaps it would be her living.

I think we need not worry. This is a part of her, and she finds pleasure in it, Mrs.