Insanity Lagoon

A quick bedtime mythology for children (and adults) afraid of hurricanes...

Every twelve years, the sea monster Charybdis ravages the village of Messina with a colossal hurricane. The following day, the chosen one, the quasi-immortal Ophelia, is sent out in tribute and appeasement to Charybdis. Each time, Ophelia is pregnant with a daughter who will also be named "Ophelia." The soon-to-be mother ambles heavily along the coast of Insanity Lagoon. She follows the ridge of the reef until her water breaks, then slips on the wave-polished rock into the still-murky and whirlpooling water. In the lagoon, she is slowly, surely pulled to the center, where the ravenous Charybdis sucks her to the depths of Insanity. The lagoon claims its namesake for another twelve years... yet as Charybdis is also wise, the newborn Ophelia is washed ashore with the morning tide. And for twelve yeas the villagers raise the child as a future martyr. Thus the cycle continues, and there is no reason to be afraid. Though Ophelia drowns, Ophelia lives.

And so does the sea monster Charybdis...

Prompt: "A woman falls into a lagoon filled with insanity. Nobody misses her."