water

A crisp Sunday morning in late fall. The large church and its white steeple tower above the rest of the quiet neighborhood. High above the ground, suspended in the steeple, the church bell tolls, drawing surrounding ears to its majestic clang.

Part IV: Making Mischief

Julia grows more comfortable with her newfound abilities, and uses them to her advantage.

Many years ago, there lived in Haarlem, one of the principal cities in Holland, a sunny-haired girl with a gentle disposition. Her father was a sluicer, a very important position. It was his job to open and close the sluice gates as then need arises. It is also a very hard job, for water pressure must be maintained at all time. Should one sluice gate break, the angry waters of the sea would overwhelm further sluice gates and overflow the dikes. As most of Holland is below sea level, such an event would be catastrophic.

Gemma applied her make-up, following all necessary preparation steps to make sure she looked nice and pretty for the party. Well, the make-up was just the icing on the cake. Gemma was naturally pretty, straight blonde hair, smooth thin face with soft plump lips, and shimmering blue eyes, twinkling in every light that met them.