BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//InvisionCommunity Events 5.0.18//EN METHOD:PUBLISH CALSCALE:GREGORIAN REFRESH-INTERVAL:PT15M X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT15M X-WR-CALNAME:RMWorkCalendar NAME:RMWorkCalendar BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London TZURL:https://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A TRUTH IN THE SEA DTSTAMP:20260601T050707Z SEQUENCE:0 UID:743-5-c3fe8195a3dde498d013e477e2142422@aalbc.com ORGANIZER;CN="richardmurray":noreply@aalbc.com DESCRIPTION:URLhttps://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/A-TRUTH-IN-THE-S EA-1339272554CONTENTTITLE: A TRUTH IN THE SEA\nSUBTITLE: A Marcus Preacher tale\nAUTHOR: Richard Murray @HDdeviant\nSTORY:\nSummer is the time of ic e cream\, roller skating\, or fun at the beach. Everyone is looking to\nav oid baking in the heat\, seeing disturbing illusions\, succumbing to the f rying frustrations.\nThus\, a child dead at the beach is an uninvited thin g\, but not unnatural. Adults can get\nkilled by tide\, and children since ancient times have always gone where they were told they\nshouldn't. So\, I didn't drive to the hospital expecting a lead like at a cookout. I hone stly\nwanted a reason to get the wind across my face for an extended time in a dry\, smelting day.\nBut what I got was a recipe for deadly delusion. \nFanning myself\, I entered the hospital and per a friend\, who kindly in formed me that\nFreddie Salazar saw the body already\, saw the body. Her n ame was Fatima Branch\,\nfourteen years old\, champion swimmer at Harriet Tubman middle school. Now still in the\neternal waters of death. My friend told me what they only told law enforcement\, the young\nBranch didn't dr own by being forced under. She had no marks across her body\, she had no\n liquid elements to induce\, or signs of inhalations to promote. By all acc ounts Fatima\nBranch kept herself under water. But why?\nI acquired the na me of the parents to the deceased and the school young Fatima attended\nan d after a phone book search called some potentials. Finally\, I reached Ve ona Branch\nwho was quick to hang up but informed me she had already talke d to the police. Wanting\nto cool off more\, I drove to the old slaughterh ouse district\, now a residence for municipal\nworkers to churn out their lives with their families. P.S. 352 is like any urban school\, whose\nneig hborhood changed\, it once had a choir\, a mock trial team\, a set of stat ewide science\nfair winners. But the trophies for modernity are bare\, exc ept for the swim team\, and I could\nsee the legend that was Fatima Branch .\nThe security guard informed me that Harry Wecum is teaching some kids h ow to swim in\nthe school pool. I traversed the halls of book reports\, gr ading lists\, photographs of children\nplaying to reach coach Wecum. He wa s helping a child with their form when I approached.\nHe told me Fatima wa s a good student\, without turning. The harassment in the heat made\nhim s ensitive to questioners. I asked him more about her. Did she have any bull ies? Was\nshe a loner? How was her home life? Did she have any secrets you learned as a coach? he\nsaid no to all with the inner melancholy of a tel l all book. I offered to see him again and he\nsaid to be at Jim's Pizza P arlor in an hour.\nI took that hour to knock on the Branch's. A male voice replied to go away. I pleaded I didn't\nthink Fatima was crazy or bad and wanted to tell the positives in her life. The door opened\nand Mr. Branch spoke sharply\, his posturing a clear message I wasn't getting in.\n\"She loved to swim\, she was loved\, a prodigy\, that will be on her graveston e\"\nAnd Mr. Branch closed the door while I protested and pleaded. And off I went to wait at\nJim's. I asked the pizzaman if he knew Fatima. He said she never came in. The pizza\nsmelled good but the heat in the parlor was effervescent. Finally\, coach Wecum came in.\nThe coach ordered a slice. I asked him\, did he and Fatima go here often? He said yes. And\nthen I as ked him\, is there something he can tell me about Fatima that can shed lig ht on her\nmurder? He said she wasn't bullied\, had a good set of friends\ , whom he named\, from what\nhe could tell her parents were very proud of her swimming ability. She did seem worried in\nthe weeks before her death\ , but he didn't know why. I asked him about a pendant her\nfather wore\, s eemed like a golden mermaid to me. He said he wasn't sure. He asked\nFatim a about it. She wore one as well\, and she said it is an ancient water spi rit\, Tlanchana.\nThe coach wasn't anymore help but I had something.\nI wa s happy to drive to the museum and caught Doctor Williams on her way home. I asked\nher if she knew of Tlanchana. She said it sounds Mesoamerican. B ut she would call me\ntonight. So I headed on home. A kid\, great in the w ater\, who believed in a water spirit\, kept\nherself in the water to her death. Was it infatuation\, love\, or some sort of fear? Around nine\np.m. the Doctor called. She told me Tlanchana is the name for a water goddess of the\nPurepecha people\, great metalworkers\, before the white Europeans came. She said her\nbottom half is serpent not fish and she is usually be nevolent. She said Dr. John Thompson\nname came up continually on research \, and also told me to be careful. She knows how I\nlike to burn my nose. And I thanked her in a mature way\, and went to bed... great child\nswimme r\, Tlanchana\, a watery rest\, why?\nAfter a cold shower\, the next morni ng\, I quickly found and headed to the clinic of\npsychiatrist Doctor John Thompson. I repeatedly pondered why a psychiatrist was\ninterested in a M esoamerican mermaid. I didn't know the truth but the statue outside his\np ractice\, on the freshly cut lawn\, is like the necklace worn by Mr. Branc h. While large\nenough for me to notice Tlanchana's serpentine figure. I w ent inside and as I was asked to\nwait by the receptionist the pamphlets p lus posters reveal the connection. Dr. Thompson's\npractice focuses on hea ling people from a fear of water\, aquaphobia. But I am stuck. If the\ndec eased Branch was afraid of water\, why let herself die in it? If Thompson was who\nfrightened her to stay in the water\, what could he had gained?\n Thompson was very somber and assertive. But I immediately noticed his gold necklace.\nAnd asked did he know Fatima Branch. He told me he did and her parents. His tears\nseemed true. After a moment\, he continued and explai ned that he is a psychologist for the\nhealing of natophobia\, the fear of swimming. Branch's parents and his other clients have\nan uncommon trait of natophobia\, in their bloodline. I saw a shrine of candles through a\nw indow and asked what was it for. He said it is for the children of clients \, now including\nFatima. He added thousands die from drowning every year\ , it is rare but not unheard of. He\nadmitted some of his clients have los t faith in his methods after Fatima's death. I asked\nhim\, did Fatima sho w signs of fear in the weeks before she died. He said no but I could tell\ nhe pondered himself. I didn't think he thought Fatima was murdered in the water either. I\nasked him about his methods and he said that was private to the clients.\nOn the drive back to the newsroom\, I tried to find a se am\, to answer why Fatima let herself\ndie in the water she loved so well. Psychiatrists\, ancient deities\, coaches\, a unique\ncommunity\, maybe t he psychiatrist tried an experiment gone wrong\, maybe a secret from\nthe coach is the key\, or a relation\, a teammate\, or a member of the natopho bes succeeded\nin some scheme for some reason. I needed more. In the offic e it was quiet for me. Ethel\nand Clay was working on another successful r omantic column. A couple long dead in the\ncity had left messages in jewel ry about a tree that saved their community from eminent\ndomain and real e state sharks. Santos was getting juicy insight on a telenovela. She\nlearn ed that Divine Johnson is making a comeback in \"My House Mi Casa\" as Pea rl\nSantiago\, the Queen mother of the Christophe clan feigned her death i n episode two\nhundred and eight and is coming back with a completed plan to return to her chair. While I\,\ninvestigative reporter of the Renaissan ce News\, sit unactive around the bustle. Malcolm\ndidn't even find the ti me to chastise me with so much going for everybody else. And Mallory\ncall ed\, which proved how little he knew\, hoping to get back into the game th rough me. And\nthen the phone rang. Coach Wecum told me to come to a road aside a garage near while\nsafely about the psychiatrist\, at three a.m. I asked him why and he said he wanted proof he\nwasn't the cause of Fatima' s death as law enforcement has been asking more and more\nquestions about him\, and by exposing the psychiatrist\, the truth will be revealed. I had no\nother leads but I told him\, I have an interview with Detective Todd Langer tomorrow\nmorning which can help his cause. He was overjoyed. And I wrote the introduction to my\ncolumn.\nAfter a little dinner with Santos\ , I headed to the meetup spot\, taking the rocky roads to\navoid the main. At least it was cool that night I kept my car locked and out of sight of the\ncoach whom I watched sitting relatively still in his car\, as I crept near. I could see he was\njittering as I snuck aside him\, and tapped his window. If only a photo of his reaction had\nvalue. He was surprised I ca me but said we will need to be careful and observe a ritual. I\nasked what kind of ritual. He said the ritual of Tlanchana. I told him\, you lied ab out the\nnecklace. He said\, I didn't tell the police or anyone else what I know\, some ancient ritual\nwouldn't be believed or would make people th ink I am crazy. I asked him what evidence\nwill I see. He said evidence th at Dr. Thompson and his patients\, including the Branches\,\nare doing exp eriments that led to Fatima's death. We walked to the clinic\, under the\n moonlight\, careful not to be seen and enter the backway through some bush es. I saw the\nDoctor\, and a set of people\, including the Branches\; he was wearing a feathered headdress\nand directed his flock to the pool. The clients undressed and entered the pool\, as I took\nphotos. I couldn't sa y a bachelor wasn't happy with some of the sights but was worried as\nthey seemed to live in the water. I asked the coach if Fatima ever showed this ability. He\ngave a convincing no with his nodding. Mermaids\, people of the sea\, in a suburb of the\nUnited States of America. What a story. I sa w them under the water for an hour and a half.\nThey all came out adjusted for the air and seemed overjoyed. During their underwear stay I\nasked th e coach how he learned about this. He said he read a notebook of Fatima's which\nmentioned this a while back\, saying her parents always did this on a full moon\, like tonight.\nI pondered\, maybe Fatima tried this away fr om the pool. That would explain her not coming\nup and make her parents or the doctor complicit but the sudden turn of behavior didn't\nhave a cause . I told the coach\, Detective Langer will definitely want to see this\, w hich\nmade the coach very happy. The coach said he needed to get back to t he city\, he has early\nmorning preparations to do. I told him thanks and I will be alright. I wanted to stay and see.\nAfter a meal\, and some pray ers for the candles\, the clients left and the Doctor was alone. I\nfigure d it was about time to head back when a car came back.\nHere we go. The Do ctor seemed prepared and had a gun in his pocket. He opened the door\nfor a woman\, blond\, middle aged. He gestured for her to sit in the lobby and she did and\nthen he accused her of something and they argued. Between me rmaids performing under\nthe water and mermaids arguing outside of it\, I have decent material. Whatever this\nwoman told the doctor had him in shoc k. She leaves patient or confident. While I am\nconfused. A dead champion child swimmer who never came up for air\, the venerable\nTlanchana\, merma ids in modern times\, a coach scared of being exposed\, a rogue mermaid\nw ith a secret. I thought of what I learned going back to my car. In my fool ishness\, I didn't\nnotice if the car was locked and just entered it. I sa t down and someone clubbed me.\nWobbly\, I noticed one of two was the coac h or the blond woman. I was tied up but I could\ntalk now.\nI asked them w hat is going on. They both told me to shut up\, while they dragged me to t he\nsea. And I realized i was being taken to where Fatima died. The night tide was coming in\nheavy. The moonlight was visible as I held my breath u nable to move. A reported in a few\nhours would be falsely reported as a n ews maker who knew of the Doctors practices and\ncoerced Fatima Branch int o a botched story absent anyone's knowledge. A murphy\, a sap\,\nme.\nAll I could do was focus on the moonlight\, and struggle against the ropes. Su ddenly\, I saw a\nsnake like figure break the moonlight. A great tide came in. It knocked me out. When I woke\nup I was on the beach\, alone. I had no idea of what happened to the coach or the blond\nwoman. But the rope wa s severed. I took hours to get back to the car. Luckily they didn't\ntake my money\, so I was able to get a bus ride some of the way. I found my car where I left\nit and broke in. My camera was intact but I wondered. I che cked everywhere in the car\, my\nwallet\, compartments\, pockets\, trunk\, and I checked my journal and the camera. I had\nphotos of Fatima Branch\, I never made\, naked. I had essays from her\, she never gave to\nme. And it nearly all fit. A coach with an inappropriate relationship with a stude nt\, a child. A\nchild of mermaids with one from her flock who had a role in her death. But she knew a\nsecret so strong she couldn't be revealed.\n Sirens. Police sirens. Valentin creeping behind law enforcement\, for the Concrete inquirer.\nI saw they were headed to the psychiatrist. I followed them in my car. Detective Langer\ncame out a car and I parked and exited. I took all the planned material in a bag with me and\nrefilled my camera\ , took my pad and exited. Langer saw me and was in shock\, and said:\n\"We 've been looking for you\, the coach came in and confessed to violating Br anch\,\nattempted murder of you and planting false evidence.\"\nI told him if he let me speak to the Doctor\, and I will give you the planted materi al. The\ndetective said: \"only because you had a rough night\, and the Do ctor and you are only\nneeded for questioning\, five minutes. \"\nI handed the bag and ran to the door of the clinic and reached it as the Doctor wa s opening\nit to leave. The detective gave the signal and the cops allowed me to push the Doctor back\nin. I locked the door and I told him\, I saw the mermaids earlier that evening with the coach\,\nand I saw him argue wi th a blond woman\, who tried to kill me. The Doctor said the water\nwas a perfluorochemical solution he made. It seemed to ease his patients being a ble to be\nfree in the water. I asked\, if you knew the blond woman had hu rt Fatima\, why didn't he go to\nthe police earlier. He said\, she knew th e secrets of his practice. If she told\, all of his\npatients plus him wou ld go to jail. He accepted what he did but his clients are fearful and\nde sperate people. And then I comprehended the truth behind the candles\, and law\nenforcement knocked on the door.\nI was questioned and said all but my late conversation to the Doctor or the glimmer that is\na foggy photo i n my mind. Poor Fatima\, harassed into a state of anxiety\, believing her death\nwas what the water spirit wanted. Fatima was a gift\, the lone chil d who survived a cult of\nnatophobes who wanted to be mermaids to alleviat e their fears. And between a coach\npreying on her body plus mind\, fright ened to be exposed and a member of her cult\, envious\nof Fatima's success with a candle for their own failure. The young swimmer was caught in a\nd eadly delusion.\nEventually\, the body of Marilyn Cox was found washed up on shore. By then the coach\, and\nall he saw of girls or goddesses\, was in jail. The pseudo mermaids\, including the Branch's\nhad swum elsewhere\ , living in their deadly wet fears. But while Fatima was untouched in\nthe water. Marillyn seemed to be crushed by a serpent. A benevolent spirit to the fearful\,\nforgiving even of their sins\, but to the treacherous\, de adly.\nCHARACTER LISTMarcus Preacher- narrator\, investigative reporter fo r Renaissance NewsFatima Branch- goes to Harriet Tubman middle schoolVeona Branch - mother of Fatima BranchHarry Wecum - swimming teacher at P.S. 35 2Mr. Branch- father of Fatima BranchDoctor Williams- friend of Marcus Prea cherTlanchana- Mesoamerican water goddess of the Purepecha peopleDr John T hompson - psychiatrist of natophobes\, trying to cure them of natophobiaEt hel and Clay- romantic columnist for the Renaissance News\, a coupleSantos - female reporter for entertainment news\, Renaissance NewsMalcolm- head o f the newsroom\, Editor of Renaissance NewsDetective Todd Langer- local co p\, knows PreacherMarillyn Cox- Woman\, blond\, middle aged\, natophobeVal entine | Pianist and photographer for a local newspaper (favorite piano pi ece III. Allegrocon spirito by ligeti! ) [Tumblr user @moregaythanyoureali zed ]Fredricka \"Freddie\" Salazar | crime reporter [ Tumblr user @dancing bugs ]Jack Mallory| private detective (fired from his former job--insuranc e investigator--after\nexposing an embezzlement scheme) [ Tumblr user @geh ayi ]\nInspired partially by @DrThomasStockmann challenge in @CRLiterature https://www.deviantart.com/drthomasstockmann/journal/Extra-Extra-Earn-the- MerMay-Badge-1324727719Gallery of Literaturehttps://www.deviantart.com/hdd eviant/gallery/81311721/my-tales-or-poetryIf you are a fan of crime fictio n or film noir consider joining the following grouphttps://www.tumblr.com/ communities/filmnoirpigeonsTip me if you like my storieshttps://www.devian tart.com/hddeviant/tier/Tip-Jar-to-HDdeviant-902770076#black337 #mermay #d etective #reporter #hddeviant #richardmurray #richardmurrayhumblr #filmnoi r #filmnoirpigeons #crimedrama #crliterature DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260601 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR