Location: Somewhere along a scenic riverside park in the Midwest

🕯️ What could be more perfect than a lazy summer afternoon spent under towering shade trees, watching paddleboats drift along a calm river? At Broken Bow Bend, families gather for picnics, laughter echoes across the park, and the old bridge rises gracefully above the slow-moving water like a forgotten memory.

But memories have weight here—and some are too heavy to stay submerged forever.

Locals whisper that every few years, on a day no one can predict, one of the benches near the river turns cold, even in the blazing heat. The laughter around it fades. And someone—just one person—will claim to see a young woman in 19th-century mourning dress sitting by the water’s edge. She doesn’t move. She doesn’t blink. She just stares into the current, mouthing something that no one can hear.

Some say she was a bride who jumped from the bridge in 1889 when her groom never arrived. Others insist she drowned rescuing children from the spring floods—and now waits eternally for someone to take her place. Either way, if you sit alone by the river too long, you may find your thoughts drifting… and your feet carrying you closer to the edge.

Visitor Tips:

  • Picnic in groups and never wander off alone—especially near the water.
  • Avoid the far bench closest to the bridge if it feels colder than the others.
  • If someone in your group goes quiet and stares too long at the river, distract them immediately.
  • Do not follow the woman in black. No matter how kind her smile seems.