Carolina, my mother, and I were walking in a field in Gallia County, where I had been thinking of buying a house. I had abut $50,000 right now which I could spare, but I didn't want to pay more than $30,000 for the house. I thought if I looked around Gallia County, I might be able to find a house cheap.

Several old abandoned houses, as well as the ruins of some small houses, were scattered around the field. My mother (who looked haggard and unlike her normal self) and I had been there earlier looking for a house. My mother asked me what size house I wanted, and I told her I wanted at least two bedrooms. As we walked past one house, I told my mother that she and I had already been in that house once before. The house was badly damaged and I knew it couldn't be fixed. Nevertheless, my mother walked in the house. She quickly came back out, we continued on, until she walked into another house and again came back out. This time she looked shaken and seemed to have shrank. She looked bony and extremely haggard. She told me she had seen two dead children in the house. I was immediately alarmed. I quickly motioned to Carolina and all three of us started walking across the field, trying to leave. I was now convinced that something terribly wrong was going on there. We needed to find the authorities and tell them what we had found.

I now recalled, however, that my mother had earlier been in another house and discovered a dead child, and we had notified the authorities. Now that I thought about it, it seemed curious that no police were there. It didn't seem to me that the police would have had time to have investigated the death of the first child and to have left so soon. I concluded that something very strange was going on and that we should exit this place as quickly as possible.

As we hastened across the field, I thought I could see the remnants of some old wells where some old houses had been. I took care not to fall into one of the wells. But my mother went over to one pile of rubble and began poking around. I wanted her to get out of there, but suddenly she slipped and fell. I could see that she was about to fall into one of the wells. She tried to grab a bar across the top of the well, but she couldn't hang on and she plummeted down into the well. I couldn't have reached her hand before she fell -- she was too far away -- but I was sorry I hadn't been able to grab her.

I ran over to the well which was overgrown with weeds all around it. I looked down into the well and could see the water about three meters from the top, but I couldn't see my mother anywhere, and I realized she had sunk down under the water. I knew if I didn't save her now, it would be too late. Almost automatically I jumped feet first into the well. I hit the water and continued under the water, sinking, unable to see anything, thrashing about trying to feel my mother. Finally my feet hit the bottom and I still hadn't found her. However, I felt something slide through my hands -- it felt like a snake. I stopped and wondered what I had gotten into. It wrapped itself around my hand, then went on. It was slippery and slimy.

I was still unable to find my mother. Suddenly I realized I had to get out of there. I had done all I could and I wasn't going to be able to save my mother. I needed to resurface as quickly as possible and I wasn't even sure how I was going to climb out of the well, I was so far down. But I had to get out. 

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