There was a time when I had wanted to swim. I would always dream of me floating on the top of the waters, moving like the little fish I always spotted when we stood on the edge of the lake. One day, I got what I always wanted. I just didn’t know it’d almost be the time I died.
“Just jump off the edge of the dock. You’ll just swim,” I remember my mother yelling out to me, watching from the top of the small hill, which dipped into the waters. I stared at her, before looking down into the waters. They were darker than I remembered, which scared me as I heard footsteps behind me. I was able to turn around and see my mother’s face, before I gasped. She had put her hand on my back, and gave me an unnecessary hard shove, which forced me into the dark waters. It was ice cold, filled with weeds that gripped my ankles and threatening to drag me under if I didn’t keep kicking. No matter how much I clawed at the water though, I never moved. The surface was right there, the sunlight… the air…
I opened my eyes in time to see bubbles escaping my mouth. Oh God… I could feel my lungs tightening as they struggled, and sucked in huge amounts of the black waters. I struggled, kicking, screaming silently. Why wasn’t Mom helping me? Why didn’t she come in and grab me?
Something touched my hip, causing me to yank my head down, thrashing about as my eyes met two yellow orbs. A long, clawed hand rested on my hip, and I felt my body begin to go limp. I stared into the orbs, the rest of my air finally squeezed out as another hand rested on my thigh. This was it… this was how I was going to die.
I felt it push against me, the weeds releasing my ankles, the water rushing past me as I finally broke from the waters grip. Air filled my lungs painfully as I inhaled, thrashing around as the thing continued to push, until my rear end rested on the grainy shore of the small lake. I coughed up the water, breathing heavily and feeling the pain softly leave. I took a final glance at the orbs, which faded away, before rough hands grabbed my shoulders, and yanked me up to my feet. My mother was furious. She snatched up the towel I had left on the ground when we got here, hauling my little sister into the car, who stood by when everything happened playing with a stick she found, and drove off as she tossed a water bottle into my lap, and barked at me to quit coughing. I sat in absolute disbelief at what happened. Why was Mom so mad? Why did she shove me so hard? What did she try to do…
That was when I was nine years old, just a young girl who wanted to learn to swim. It’s been nine years since I’ve been to Dry Wash, a small lake which was used to fish and play in when the summer was too hot and strenuous. I stood on the makeshift shore, which was covered in the same green grass, all the way to the water’s edge. I rested my towel onto the grass, along with my book bag and water bottle, and made my way to that very same dock. It creaked under my weight, threatening to give way if I made one wrong move.
This is stupid… I thought to myself. You shouldn’t be here…
I sat on the dock’s edge, where I had stood before, and winced as I remembered the shove my mother gave me that day. In the last nine years, I learned a lot about her that made me understand why she was angry that day. All in all, she had lost custody of us a short time after, and we were adopted by a new family, which was much kinder. I dipped my toe into the water, stirring the familiar black with my big toe, and felt my heart slightly begin to race. I could remember the orbs I saw that day, the hands that grabbed me and pushed me to the surface. I’ve done so much research on what it could’ve been, yet, nothing came up. I was left without answers. I took a deep breath, scooting to the edge of the dock, being careful not to get a splinter in my b**t, before I pushed off. The cold water surrounded me again, a rush of panic surging through me almost automatically as I felt the weeds touch my ankles yet again. My eyes opened, and I pushed off from the beam. There I was, gliding in the waters, trying to make sense of this strange underwater world as I allowed myself towards the bottom. There was nothing around me, no fish… no water skeeters, no sign of the little frogs that we’d catch with our dad… there was nothing. I began to swim to the top, and broke though the surface of the water to take a deep breath in. I stayed on the surface for a minute, gazing around at my surroundings. I hadn’t noticed how dark it began to get. Probably best for me to get back to the hotel room.
I began my swim to the edge, and was able to walk up to the grassy shore, shivering as I stepped up, and made my way to my belongings. I probably should come back tomorrow…
A growl caught my attention, causing me to whip back and freeze with fear. A large cat stood there, amber eyes locked on me as I stood like a deer, staring at it. Dry Wash was just off the mountains, a little way from civilization, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was there, but why was it here? I took a step back, which was a mistake, as it charged me. I shrieked, whipping up my towel to distract it, which did very little. It bought me a little time though, which I used to race back to my vehicle, which wasn’t parked that far away. I could hear the gravel kick up as it chased me, and before I knew it, I was on the ground, screaming and gripping it’s neck, pushing it away from me as best I could. My shoulder ached from where it bit me, but the adrenaline kicked in, and I was in a death lock with the damn creature. It pressed harder on me, baring its fangs and going for my throat. I couldn’t do anything… I had no weapons… no real plans… I was going to die…
I closed my eyes, ready to just let go, and let the thing eat me, when the weight of it became lighter, and a cry pierced my ear. I heard a loud thud beside me, my eyes shooting open as I spotted the big cat laying beside me, in a pool of blood. I panted, staring at it for a second, before scrambling to my feet, and turned… only to face two glowing orbs. I froze, staring into the familiar eyes, a smooth head slowly moving closer to me. I was paralyzed. I did nothing as two clawed hands rested on my injuries shoulder and hip, and before I knew it, I was staring at the face… of a man. He was dressed in skins, mud painting his face as the two orbs shifted into golden eyes, hair that was filled with sticks and leaves. I continued to stare as he stepped back, never uttering a word, taking one of the skins from his body, and wrapping it around my shoulders. He put his hand beneath my chin, petting my lips, before he turned back to the lake. It was dark now, too dark to explain what happened, but before I knew it, his body changed to that of a large creature, large antlers forming on top of his head, and he disappeared into the forest line…
I’ve told this story to many, but everyone brushed it off as one of my strange hallucinations. I’ve even tried to show them, I took them to Dry Wash, and had them stay for hours, sitting and waiting for it to return… but it never did. Nobody would believe me… so nobody went with me anymore. I’ve stopped talking about it, but I know it’s still out there… whatever it is… I’m not sure if it’s good or bad… so here’s to hoping…
