Friday on the Lake
There was an empty kayak on the beach.
It had washed up not too long ago, likely during the night. I had found it this morning when I walked down to the lake for my morning coffee. The sand shifted between my toes as I walked down the beach to examine it.
It was a red kayak, lengthy and not long abandoned. In fact it seemed it wasn’t even supposed to be abandoned. Washed up next to the boat was an empty beer can and a single flip-flop. I turned it over to see the other said, and--
And it was bashed in.
The paint was ruined, white streaks running up and down the length of the side, and half of it was inverted. Clearly it had slammed into something.
Or something had slammed into it.
Turning the kayak over on the other side, I saw something that made my heart drop.
Trapped inside the rower’s seat was a yellow life jacket, floating in the thin layer of water still left.
So—so the person in this thing was either still out there swimming or…dead. And if they had been swimming they would have grabbed the kayak again. That person was probably dead, leaving me with the question: how did the kayak get dented, and why?
I resolved to at least try to figure it out. I got my own kayak, bright yellow and shorter than the average. Sit-on-top and thus harder to sink. And I wisely decided to wear my life jacket instead of keeping it in the kayak with me. I grabbed my paddle and pushed off.
I brought lunch with me, and my coffee, so I could stay out for a while. I traveled against the current as that would be from where the kayak drifted. I found nothing, no matter how far I went.
As the sun was setting I began to make my way back home. The dark was coming quickly and while I had a flashlight, I didn’t want to use it if I could afford not to.
As the current aided me in returning home, I heard a motorboat approaching. I turned around to check its trajectory. It looked like it would pass close, and I would need to weather the waves, but not too close and I’d be fine. Still, the crescendo of the motorboat bugged me. They really should be taking a farther route.
The boat grew louder and louder. I turned around to check where it was.
It had changed trajectory. I was underwater in a second.
I surfaced quickly due to the life jacket, coughing and sputtering. That was what happened to the other kayak! I began to swim frantically towards the nearest land, but the motorboat cut me off. I desperately switched direction but it didn’t matter, the boat was faster than me, and as it slowly approached, I could see the spinning blades of the motor behind the boat.
I gave up and awaited my fate.
Homecoming
Geo felt freer on the lake than anywhere else. He could be himself, and hardly anyone bothered him there. Not since that summer. Sure, there was an investigation, but nothing came of it. No body; no crime.
He liked the shack and the little skiff dock. He sat on the edge of the dock on evenings like this. Thirty feet out, the buoy rocked from a passing motorboat, and the soft clang set the birds off.
The motorboat made another pass and slowed, letting its own wake push it to the dock. His dock. "'Scuse me. May I help you?"
"Yes, I'm looking for 402 East. Whatever that means." The stranger stood and steadied the boat alongside the dock.
"It means lot 40 on the south-eastern shore. The 2 stands for South. It also means you found the right place."
"Oh, I just assumed...uh. Hmm. I was told there wasn't a tenet." The two men sized each other up.
"Assumed, yeah. The old man just disappeared, and no family had come to claim the shack. Was it really so bad that I lived here? But people make *assumptions,* and gossip turns to truth faster than paint dries in the desert," Geo blurted out, immediately wishing he could shove all the words back in his big gab.
"Sorry! What the heck do you mean? This is my uncle's property. You don't have a lease?"
"Look, it was just sitting here..." before he could finish, the stranger restartsd the engine and steered towards town.
The stranger returned the next morning, his face paler and his jaw set. "So, I asked around," he said, rousing Geo from his morning nap. "Look, I know what everyone thinks. I also know it's not true."
"And how's that? You just got here."
"Well, I just got back." The stranger lifted his arm and balanced the compound bow. He aimed for Geo's heart and squeezed.
You die today
For the past couple years of my life starting at the age of 20, I Had this dream not just any dream. See I am not the type to fall asleep and dream about anything only if it’s serious, and this is exactly that. At the age of 25, Im with with friends two of them to be exact, its my birthday and were heading down to the lake behind my house, when all of a sudden a shadowy figure comes out of nowhere and strikes me down I scream and kick but I can’t make any noise for this figure has taken my last breath….
I tried not to think much of it as I reach my soon to be happy death day, its almost the 6th almost my birthday.
Its here..
Its my birthday the thought of death lingering behind every door, my friends arrive bring snacks and drinks we get ready for a cozy day at the lake. Once were there we set up the grill and make s’mores and drink our wine, talking about our lives. The girls go in after some time to use the restroom, leaving me there to watch the grill when I hear a noise behind me I think nothing of it maybe some deer that live nearby or my next door neighbor. I continue doing what Im doing putting some music on..
I feel something warm running down my shirt and legs maybe I had drank a little to much or maybe because I was expecting it but when I look I see a blade stuck in me. The pain finally coming too, blood running down my lips, staining them like a brand new lipstick. I try to turn around to see who it is, try to scream but while I do the knife is taken from me and plunged back into another part of my chest, I slowly die but while my soul starts to leave me I realize that my dream had come true. With one last look back into my life I see my killer or my killers my bestfriends, my everything’s, my sister. They laughed while I choked on my last untimely breath.
The End
This comes from a dream I‘ve had several times about dying at that age