The Rich Girl

She was beautiful, generous and haunted. Married twice to no avail. Every time her life took a bad turn (or one that seemed so) she picked up and built a new house in an even more remote part of the world. Social life didn’t interest her: slowly, she began withdrawing from relatives and friends (my mother was very hurt) retiring into an interior life of spirits and saints. Then she started getting rid of her money, as if it was a curse (my father scorned her) travelling further and further into the very loneliness and isolation she wanted to escape. The country crumbled around her, her children worried, she was even kidnapped by some men confused by an eccentric woman living in the jungle (we all thought she was dead). Finally, she decided to play it safe: gave her land to some old, faithful servants, keeping just a little corner to herself. Last time I heard they were trying to evict her, throwing garbage in her lot so she would go away.