“The Mad Woman by the Road”—the story that made a whole town quiet
Eunice and her friends would notice a dirty woman standing at the corner by the school gate every afternoon after school.
Her hair was a mess, her face was dirty, and her clothes were ripped and worn. But her eyes shone with something deep, sad, and haunting.
Every day, as the kids walked by, she would smile and say,
“Eunice, my daughter…” It’s me, your mom.
The words made everyone stop moving.
Eunice’s companions looked at each other in disbelief.
“What did she say?” one said quietly.
“Did she just call you her daughter?”
Eunice laughed, even though her cheeks were hot.
“She’s
Her pals laughed and kept going.
But the woman kept smiling.
She just remained there, watching Eunice leave. Her eyes didn’t look frustrated at all; they looked quite human.
It Seemed Like a Perfect Life
Eunice was ten years old and the only child of a rich couple who lived in a big villa on the edge of town.
Her
She had it all: lovely clothes, a huge school, and a room full of toys.
But everything changed when Eunice urged her parents to let her walk home “like the other kids.”
The crazy woman showed up then.
Every day.
Same corner.
Same words.
“Eunice… my child…”
The Whisper That Wouldn’t Go Away
Her pals pushed her one afternoon.
“Hey, she’s back. “Why does she only talk to you?”
Eunice shrugged, seeming like she didn’t care.
“I don’t know. She might desire money. Or attention.
But something turned inside.
The woman had agony in her eyes, but it wasn’t from being crazy.
The Rain and the Discovery
Eunice was walking home alone on a rainy day when the woman got closer.
Her voice shook.
“Don’t be scared, Eunice. I can show you. “You’re my real mother.”
Eunice stopped moving and yelled.
“Stop saying that!” You are insane! I already have genuine parents. I’ll call the police on you if you talk to me again!
The woman winced, and tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sorry…” I didn’t mean to frighten you…
Eunice turned and fled through the rain.
A faint voice behind her said,
“You’re starting to look like her…”
The next day, the corner was empty.
The crazy woman was gone for the first time in months.
Her pals cheered.
“Finally!” Maybe they put her in jail!
Eunice smiled, but her heart hurt.
There was something off.
She had always promised herself that she would be kind, yet her comments had caused someone to cry.
She couldn’t sleep that night.
A voice murmured quietly through the rain in her dreams:
“Eunice, my child…”
The Letter That Came With the Picture
Eunice noticed something weird a few days later while she was helping her mother clean the living room.
There was a brown envelope tied to the back of a big family photo in a gold frame.
It said “To Baby Eunice” on it.
She opened it because she was curious.
There was a letter inside, and the handwriting was shaky.
“My dearest Eunice,
If you ever read this, please know that I never left you.
You were taken from me when you were only a baby.
They said I wasn’t good enough to parent you.
They said I was dead.
However, I have consistently watched over you, day by day.
I adore you more than anything else.
“Mom.”
Eunice tried to hide the letter, but her mother saw the panic in her eyes.
She grabbed it, read one line, and turned pale.
Then, without saying a word, she ripped it into pieces.
“Why did you do that?” Eunice cried.
Her mother’s voice trembled.
“There are things you should never know, Eunice.” Not right now. “Not ever.”
She slammed the door behind her as she left the room.
The room turned.
Her knees shook.
At that moment, her mother came in.
“What are you holding?” she said in a harsh voice.
The Truth That Came Too Late
Eunice walked to school the next day without saying a word.
The words resonated in her heart:
“I can prove that… I am your true mommy.
She stepped outdoors when class was over and froze.
There were police cars all over the street.
Lights that flash.
Many people came to the corner.
Someone who walked by said, “A homeless woman died there this morning.” “Hit by a car… poor thing.”
Eunice’s heart stopped.
She ran to the scene.
A police officer stopped her.
“Stay back, young lady.”
Her voice broke.
“Please… Was she the woman who used to stand here and talk to a girl after school?
The cop nodded.
“Yes.” For months, she’s been here. People said she was nuts. But look at what we found in her hand.
He handed up a little silver locket that was dirty and corroded.
There was an old picture of a baby with wide cheeks and beautiful eyes within, and underneath it was just one word:
EUNICE
The ground disappeared under her.
She knelt down and cried.
Behind Closed Doors Secrets
The house was quiet that night.
Her parents didn’t look her in the eye.
Eunice could hear them fighting from her room.
“You said it was over!”
“How was I supposed to know she’d come back?”
“She shouldn’t have been able to see the child!”
“She’s the real mom, Helen!” You can’t get rid of that!
Eunice put her hands over her lips to stop her crying.
Every truth she had ever known broke like glass.
The Wind and the Locket
She sneaked into the backyard late that night.
The moon was behind clouds, and the wind was frigid.
The cops had given her back the silver locket that was in her hand.
She opened it, caressed the baby’s face, and said softly,
“I’m sorry, Mom.” I didn’t know. “I didn’t know it was you.”
A little breeze moved her hair.
And for a time, she could believe she heard a soft voice carried by the wind:
“I forgive you, my child.” I always have.
Years later…
Eunice became a quiet, reflective young woman.
Her family was still rich, and her life seemed excellent on the outside, but she knew otherwise.
Behind every picture in that house, there were secrets that felt too heavy to express.
Sometimes, she would return to the spot beside the school, now cracked and overgrown with weeds.
She would put a modest bunch of lilies and a folded note:
“I still think of you, Mom.
They said you were crazy.
But you were the only one who had the guts to tell me the truth.
A little girl selling newspapers came up to her one evening while she was putting down the flowers.
“Miss, do you come here every week to leave flowers?”
“Yes, dear. “Why?”
“Because a woman came yesterday. She was in tears. She said, “Thank you for forgiving her.”
Eunice stopped moving.
“What did she look like?”
“She wasn’t poor.” She had long hair and wore a gray coat. and drove a large automobile.
The child rushed away before Eunice could ask anything else.
She looked down the long, winding road that went past the corner. The headlights of a car in the distance disappeared into the fog.
She felt an odd mix of fear and hope.
There was a slight smell of jasmine in the air, the same smell that had always been there when the crazy woman smiled through her tears.
Eunice held the locket to her heart and closed her eyes.
And in the wind that was whispering, she heard it again, faint yet clear:
“My daughter… “You never left me.”
🌫️ The End
Was the crazy woman really dead?
Or had someone else, someone who knew too much, taken her place that night?
No one ever knew.
Eunice was the only one who knew that the wind still called her name when it blew through the trees near that road.
