Marrying the River God

There was a river that ran through our village.

According to the legend, a river god dwelled in its depths, and every month on the 15th, the village had to send a young woman to enter the water and serve him.

At first, everything seemed normal. After their service to the river god, the women would return to shore, go home, and eventually marry and start families. But this year, the peace was shattered.

Every woman who spent the night with the river god turned up dead, their naked bodies floating to the surface. I secretly watched as they retrieved the corpses twice. The evidence of the violation was horrific.

This month, I was selected. I had been chosen to marry the river god.

I was chosen to be the river god's bride this month.

The village chief, Harold Whitmore, arrived with a beaming smile, delivering my wedding dress and instructing Clara Jensen, my sister-in-law and former river wife, to prepare me in advance.

"Teach her how to serve the river god. We cannot have her anger him and bring disaster to the whole village."

Clara nodded silently, then carried a large chest into my room, saying she would return tonight to instruct me.

After Chief Whitmore left, my neighbor, Violet Marsh, climbed over the wall and slipped into my bedroom. We stared at the chest Clara had left behind, curiosity getting the better of us.

We opened it. Inside, we found it packed full of rods in various shapes, sizes, and materials. Long ones, short ones, thick ones, thin ones, even some covered in soft ridges. The collection was extensive, at least a dozen or more.

Violet and I had never seen anything like them. What were they for?

After comparing them to various parts of our bodies, Violet's face suddenly flushed crimson.

"You don't think they go... here, do you?"

Her gaze dropped to the area below my navel. Understanding dawned on me instantly.

Though I was already an adult, I remained naive about such matters, still innocent and uninformed. Curious, I picked one up and examined it in my hand. Apart from milky-white stains, it still retained a hint of warmth.

My face burned red too. I quickly returned it to the chest and changed the subject.

"Clara will teach me tonight. We shouldn't touch these."

Violet nodded, her attention shifting to the wedding dress nearby. Her eyes reddened, and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Aria, do you really have to marry him? The river wives this year died so horribly. If you go through with this, you'll never come back.

"Last month, when they pulled Luna's body out, they said everything below had been destroyed.

"Aria, I don't want you to die. Please..."

Her crying made my chest ache. My previously resigned acceptance began to waver. But what choice did I have?

"Violet, marrying the river god is the fate of every woman in our village. There's no escaping it."

Our village was called Riverbend,