there is something in the water....
I looked out on the lake; there she was, sitting as calm as she always was. Lily was never one to miss out on an afternoon trip to the forest, so she would always drag me out of the cabin and force me to watch as she fished for more salmon (or whatever she caught. I was no marine scientist or whatever). But, regardless of whatever I liked, it was her feelings that mattered to me the most; seeing her happy was miles better than seeing another stupid, Steven Seagal action flick.
Lily wore a gold Rolex, the same one that I had previously decided to wear, in celebration of my late father’s birthday. I could’ve worn it longer, but Lily loved it so bad, she practically begged me for it (she promised she’d give it back, though, as she knew how much it meant to me. Plus, it somewhat matched my bright-yellow hair).
“Hey, babe,” Lily called, holding the fishing rod tightly with both hands, “can you grab me a towel? I’m wet.”
“Since when was that a bad thing?” I joked, cringing soon after. I was never a comedian, but at least seeing her laugh gave me some reassurance that I wasn’t killing her with each word.
I had reached the cabin, not that far from the lake. We had always liked living there; there was something... odd about it. Odd in an alien, almost memorizing way. Apparently, the cabin used to belong to some married couple back in the 70s. Not much is known about them, but the folk around town claimed that they drowned; all their stuff remained untouched, as confirmed by the fact that I had previously chucked all of the old, webbed items belonging to them in the attic.
Searching our room, I grabbed Lily’s favorite, pink towel, the one with yellow stars on it. I made my way out of the cabin, and then... that’s when I heard it.
A scream.
I dropped the towel and instantly began running into the trees, brushing past prickly branches and thorny leaves. By the time I got to the lake, Lily was nowhere to be found. I called out her name over and over, to the point where my throat became extremely sore. I was about to reach for my phone and call 911, only until...
“Hey, babe.”
I spun around, surprised to see Lily standing with her usual smile, holding her fishing rod in one hand. I went up to her, smothering my greasy hands all over her face to check if she was OK.
She gently removed my hands and chuckled. “I’m fine,” she said. “Honest. I just fell.”
Fell? That scream sounded more like a one of terror, not one of slight pain caused by something as simple and as common as a fall. Despite my better judgment, I nodded and allowed her to carry on fishing, but I insisted on staying with her the entire time.
Well, that was something, I thought, as an attempt to get over my little fright. I got comfortable in my usual position on some rocks, watching Lily by the lake as I peckishly ate a fried chicken sandwich. It was only then when I noticed something strange, floating in the water beside me.
A gold Rolex.
I suddenly felt my stomach drop, my appetite for the delicious sandwich gone. Curious, I peeled the layer of bread away, viewing what was stuck to the multiple strips of reddish meat...
Yellow hairs.
