Maurizia, Star of the Sea

"Maurizia!" called the frantic mother looking for her child. "Maurizia! Where are you?" called her mother again.

Let's rewind to two months ago when everything was normal... sort of. Maurizia was the only child of a single mother. They had just moved to the state of New York from Italy. Maurizia wasn't fond of the city and big lights ahead of her, though. She preferred the quiet country and any place near water- she found herself drawn to it whenever it was nearby.



Maurizia was an average 16 year old girl. She had long black hair that went past her smooth shoulders, and she wasn't very tall- she was only 5 feet tall. She had long eyelashes along with a beautiful set of bright green eyes that could suck you into them at any time. She was quiet, never really spoke out much and had few friends. After she and her mom had moved into a small apartment right in the middle of Brooklyn. Maurizia sighed, not wanting to believe she had really come a long way from her small, quiet room.

Her mother, on the other hand, was just delighted to be in the city. She was starting to show her age with most of her hair turning gray and her cheeks and forehead showing wrinkles, but that didn't stop her from enjoying life to the fullest. She was much more adventurous and very outgoing compared to her daughter.

"Come on, let's go out and go shopping!" announced the overly excited mother who had been dying to go shopping since they arrived. Maurizia responded with a loud groan but got up anyway. She changed her clothes into a old band T-shirt and some old jeans. Her mother spend most of the time oohing and ahh-ing at most of the things they came across. Maurizia had strayed away from her mother and eventually wasn't even in the city anymore; she had found a forest, believe it or not, and it had a clear blue pond in the middle of it.

She dived in instantly. She loved the water and felt like she was at home all over again. She got out after an hour or two of being in it and found her mom. Her mom didn't question her daughter's soaked clothing and hair, though. She was too busy looking through all the new things she had gotten herself.

The first few weeks of school for Maurizia were easy, nobody really spoke to her or cared she was even there, actually. After school she'd go to the pond more and more. Then one day she when she went got out of the water, her hand was... Just missing. But, the water kept calling her in and then one day she was engulfed by the clear water.



Her mother was overprotective and she thought irrationally, "Maybe she had ran away. Maybe a boy has her out late. Maybe she's out with her friend. Maybe, just maybe, she's on her way home." But little did her mother know that she was wrong. So very wrong. Her daughter was never going to come back, at least in her flesh and blood. She was one with the water now. Her mother never gave up hope, and another month went by.

Her mother had been searching for her ever since the first day she had been missing. They only found her clothing floating in the pond, but no body. Sometimes her spirit is seen in the water in the shape of a star. I guess she does live up to her name now. The name of Maurizia means "star of the sea", but in this case, her sea is a lonely pond hidden away by the busy streets and lights of a city.