The Full Circle

It was a typical January night in Salem, Massachusetts and Sandra was feeling lonely and gloomy . As part of her research work at the university , Sandra was writing a thesis on the Salem witch hunt and all her reading came back to haunt her, creating terrifying images in her head. She thought she heard some rustling noise of dry leaves in the garden , but how could that be when there was four inches of snow outside ? It was freezing outside so she decided to stay indoors. She was scared to step outside in the dark but she could not get over the feeling that something creepy was hiding in the garden .She started to pace up and down to calm her  fear when she felt something damp beneath her feet . She was terrified to see patches of blood . She wanted to scream out loud but her voice remained stuck in her throat .

Sandra woke up sweating from head to toe .The familiar nightmare that gave her sleepless nights since her childhood was back and this time it was back with a vengeance . Sandra was on the verge of developing insomnia . She decided to confide in her best friend , Agnes, who was also in the same University doing her research on paranormal studies .

Sandra had a reason to choose her topic of research - her great great grandmother was branded as a witch for helping a single mother terminate her pregnancy and hanged in the gallows . 

The story of Rosa Mathai was kept alive and told to every single generation of Mathai women who followed her including Sandra.

Rosa was brought from Sub Saharan Africa to Salem to work at the Smith family home . Like many other women from Africa , Rosa was aware of the medicinal properties of plants and would gladly help people who came to her with their ailments . One day Rosa’s daughter brought her friend Catherine home . Catherine belonged to a poor family and had lost her father to tuberculosis . She was pregnant with the parish priest ’s  married nephew ’s baby and knew that the father would never acknowledge the child as his own . She wanted to terminate the pregnancy and sought out  Rosa ’s help. 

Rosa knew that helping Catherine could get her into trouble . The environment at Salem was hostile . Women were being branded as witches on the basis of testimony from people who were probably hallucinating and had mental health issues , as research studies about the infamous period suggests .The atmosphere was replete with paranoia fueled by a lack of  understanding of certain phenomena, especially by men in positions of power. The church , which had a stronghold on juries , propagated their misogynistic agenda by deeming the accused as agents of the devil. The accused had to confess to the alleged crime , beg for forgiveness and implicate others for good measure , failing which they would be hanged to death .

The father of the unborn child was an influential person and the church deemed abortion as an act of the devil.

Rosa could not bear to see Catherine ’s plight and decided to help . Sure enough all of this came to the Church ’s notice and Rosa was branded as a witch and sent to the gallows . Catherine pleaded innocence and asked for forgiveness and agreed to testify against Rosa . Rosa was judged guilty and was hanged to death.

This was a story that Sandra had heard growing up and the one that she had shared with her best friend Agnes. 

Sandra met Agnes at the coffee house the next day . She confided in her about her repeated nightmare . She said , “This nightmare is turning me into an insomniac . I am not able to focus on my thesis and no  matter how well I research and write , my professor says something is amiss and it is not giving the desired message effectively”.

“Maybe there is a message in that dream , one that will lead you to your destiny”, remarked Agnes.

“Whatever is that supposed to mean ?”, asked Sandra.

“It means try not to wake up until the dream is over”, said Agnes.

“But the dream is so petrifying that I feel suffocated with fear. How on Earth can I curb my instinct to just wake up and breathe ?” said Sandra.

“Maybe you just have to try . I get the feeling that someone is trying to say something to you , possibly something that would take you closer to your goal . You have been aiming to do this research since high school and I sometimes get the feeling that it's related to the dream . Recurrent dreams have a message”, said Agnes.

Sandra thought about what her best friend told her as she headed back to her apartment to work on her thesis . All that coffee did not seem to help as the words swam in front of Sandra’s eyes and before she knew she was fast asleep ;  the inevitable dream was back . This time around she also heard a faint singsong voice calling out to her .

“Who are you and what do you want ?”, asked the terror stricken  Sandra.

“I am Rosa. I am the voice in your head that is  urging you to find your calling . I want my story to be known to the world . You owe this to your roots and to scores of women who were branded as witches and sent to the gallows.”

Sandra woke up with a startle and was perspiring profusely . She looked at her table with books and papers lying scattered around the MacBook . As sleep gave way to awakening , Sandra realised what was missing in her thesis . She decided to incorporate the story of Rosa Mathai into her thesis ; a story of a healer with a heart of gold who was sent to the gallows for helping a poor girl in need .

Sandra’s professor was very impressed by her hard work and her thesis was approved . She went on to get her doctorate from the university and started to guide and counsel youngsters in need  . Sure enough , she stopped having  the recurring nightmare. She had found her true calling in life .