Still Water
It was 6 P.M. The lake had closed 30 minutes ago, but the poor, desperate fisherman still sat beside his small boat, line in the water. The sun had just started to set, setting the mood for a relaxing evening by the salt-scented water. A few illegal hours spent here would be worth the extra meal it might’ve brought him.
As he tossed another thin line into the water, his eyes focused on something small in the distance. Barely visible was a minuscule, frail hand as if one of a small child’s. Without hesitation, the man kicked his boat away from its dock and into the water. To his surprise, the lake did not swallow it with its ripples as it usually did; the gentle waves stilled eerily quickly, allowing the man to paddle towards the small hand with absolute freedom.
He prodded at the hand with his paddle. The hand jerked and squirmed, suddenly waving helplessly in the water. He dove for it, nearly throwing himself into the water. Reacting to him, the fingers steadied, stopped. They clasped gently against his. Just as the man was prepared to yank, he felt a pull. Gentle at first, it served no threat. Suddenly, he was wrenched from the edge of his boat with the force of a demon, screams muted by water bombarding his nostrils.
Beneath the water, a pale, beige giant awaited him. It had large, slanted, black eyes with a small hand as an antenna, it’s body stretching into a thick, long snake-like rope going for seemingly miles beneath them. It grinned at him with its wide mouth and Charybdis teeth, dragging him through the water as it’s jaw opened slowly, teeth circling, tail curling. It sucked in with the force of a hundred whales, pulling his legs aggressively into his mouth, preparing to swallow him whole. The man gaped at the depth of the creature’s mouth, it’s eyes beading at him.
Around his head, however, he began to feel something else. Thin hairs began to encircle his torso, pulling him away from the large creature’s full control. His head was tilted upwards, and at the other end of the long, smooth hairs, he saw a woman. She moved gracefully through the water, her appearance flawless. A sense of bliss flooded his heart as the monstrous creature faded further into the distance, the darkness of the lake washed out by the light streaming into the shallow end of the water. The woman gently towed him closer to her, but the closer he got, the more the joy dispersed. The closer he got, the more he noticed her horribly bloodshot eyes. Her hair turned dry and itchy around his face, the bright blonde transforming into a tar-like black as it coiled violently against his skin. Her long, beautifully patterned tail morphed into a beading line of pulsing red flesh, matching her eyes. Her skin grew pale, teeth transforming into hairs that pulled him harder, faster towards the enlarging hole in her face that barely passed as a mouth-- until her string of hairs was sliced by the needle-like teeth of a much larger being.
The water finally penetrated his lungs. The larger creature had dark purple, slimy skin that moved quickly in the water in a cable shape. It darted across him with remarkable speed, it’s body never-ending. Finally, it changed its course, using its speed to wrap it’s entire lower half around the helpless fisherman. Slowly, it’s grip on him got more forceful, squeezing his body to the point of bursting. The last thing the man saw was the fish’s Joker-like grin across its wide, triangular face.
On the surface, the lake was still. The dead man’s boat floated calmly atop the still water. A small shark swallowed it whole, barely disturbing the liquid ripples, as the man’s exploded bones silently joined the layers beneath.