Papa was Lord of the Sea. Our mother and my three sisters lived in a castle in the hills. When papa was away fighting in a raging battle, mama died. My Aunt Aoife came to care for us. She fed us and put us to bed. I don’t think she was sad mama died.
When papa came home he wept and Aoife soothed him. Papa invited her to live with us and after many months I saw Aoife kiss papa. This made me scared. Aoife cared for us but she did not love us. She never once smiled at us or hugged us.
In the spring, papa and Aoife got married and a few months later she became pregnant. Papa left to fight another battle. Aoife began consulting with a Druid priest. They had secret meetings. This was curious. One day Aoife suggested a picnic by the lake. My sisters and I waded in the lake looking for tadpoles. Aoife raised her arms and spoke our names. One by one each us became a swan.
We have been swimming in this lake for hundreds of years. Aoife told us the spell would be broken when we could hear a Christian bell ring. Many people have celebrations by this lake and they ring bells. My sisters got excited when they heard bells but I had grown sick of it. I had come to hate the sound of bells. I was fine being a swan. My feathers were beautifully white and I could glide so gracefully around the lake.
One day, hundreds of years later, a man whom everyone called Patrick rang a bell and my sisters and I became young girls again. This made me so mad that I charged forward, grabbed the bell from him, and broke it. People yelled, “Pagan.”
My sisters and I were taken to a convent. It was horrible. It was not like papa’s beautiful castle. And we had to pray several times a day to some strange God. Each day was drudgery so I ran away and went to the lake. I plunged in and allowed myself to drown. All because someone rang a Christian bell.