Submerged

Back Again

After dropping Nate off at dad's, the rest of the ride was horrific. Mom and her boyfriend, Andrew, singing songs on the radio together and trying to get me to chime in. I thought my head was going to melt off. My headphones couldn't go any louder and I hummed to myself to drown out the off key duo. The ride lasted three and a half grueling hours, until finally I saw our lovely little cottage peep out of the woods. Its dark brown logs stacked on top of one another and surrounding greens made me feel like I was right at home. For a short moment I forgot about the two babbling idiots in the front seats.

"Oh! It looks more and more beautiful every year." She cranked her head around the seat and gazed at me lovingly, "Sophia, isn't it wonderful?" she smiled and stared out the front window. Andrew's voice boomed through the car, "Wow, you have been hiding this place from me all this time, darling?" He chuckled. "Well, you were a secret until just recently, after all." I said under my breath. Mom looked back at me through her mirror and gave me a silent, 'shut the hell up' glare. I smiled and took my headphones out, wrapped my ipod up and stuffed it deep into my bag. I wouldn't be needing it for a while. Not once I got acquainted with the memories of summers past.

The air was thick with moss and dirt. I took a deep breath in, then out. As much of a city girl as I was, I absolutely loved being out here. I could live out here.

I was the first through the door to the cottage, stirring the dust into waves with the sunbeaming through the windows. The table to the left, the couches and bookcase to the right, everything was so covered in dust it looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. In reality, it had only been a year. I just wish Nate didn't have to miss it, he loved this place more than me, if that was possible. But his internship wouldn't wait, and neither would summer.

Both gym bags in arm, I ran up the rickety staircase to the loft that I claimed every year. Nate and I usually fought over it, but not this time. I skipped every other step and made it to the top, dropping the bags on the bed, sending a cloud of dust into the air. I coughed a bit and smiled. Oh, good old asthmatic living quarters. I looked down the stairs to see mom and Andrew leaning on the table, sucking face. I cleared my throat and stomped down the steps,

"Get a room you too, jesus christ," I walked by them and almost made it out the door, but turned back to say, "and not mine." With that, I started down to the dock. My favorite part of camping was sitting down on the dock and listening to the water swash on the shore, and watching the sun go down behind the tree line.

Everything was just how we left it a year ago. The dock was small, but big enough to fit a few chairs, plus a towel to tan on. I stepped onto the wooden planks and kicked off my flip flops. It felt dry and hot under my bare feet. I walked slowly to the edge, being careful to not get a splinter. Lowering myself to a sitting position, I dipped my toes into the water. It was a little chilled so I smiled and cried out, my butt hitting the wooden planks, and my feet now in the water up to my ankles. My smile grew as I gazed out at the lake, expanding for what looked like miles, the sun just reaching the trees on the far side. I was in paradise.

About twenty minutes with my head tipped back and my feet going numb in the water, I felt something touch my big toe. I flinched and yanked my feet out of the water, looking down like something had bit me. All I saw was my own reflection, with a stupidly frightened look on my face. I laughed out loud, "Sunfish," I said, as a little shiny fish swam under the dock. Then I heard my mother holler, "Sophie, come get something to eat!" I sighed and pulled myself up with stiff muscles. Grabbing my shoes, I walked up the path, letting the dirt and leaves stick to the bottom of my wet feet.

~~~~~~~

I let a few small fish go by me while my eyes adjusted to the sun, beaming through the water in rays, catching weeds and small creatures in its path. The sun would soon be down for the night, so I was waking up. It was a nice day of rest after my meal last night. It ended up being a baby fox. Delicious and tender when killed just right. I swayed through the water towards my favorite hiding place, where I have seen a very large turtle and some bull frogs, staying a safe ten or twelve feet under the surface. As I got closer to the dock, the water got more shallow, which meant the sun got brighter. I didn't mind, as long as I didn't get hit with a ray directly, and it was getting just dim enough to not reach me, even in the shallows. The closer I got, the more small fish i could see, dancing about above the muck and decayed leaves on the lake floor. I smiled. They are just living, like me.

I could hear the water slapping off the dock now, where I would soon be holding down the fort waiting for another meal worth expending energy for, when I spotted it. Something dangling just at the surface of the water, slowly, back and forth.Two somethings, I noticed, as I got closer. Then my heart stopped, and I was suspened in the water.

Feet.

Two human, wiggly-toed feet.

I stretched out my hand gently, reaching for a toe to touch. My hand trembled a little as I reached through the water, exposing my hand from the darker part of the water. Suddenly a small sunfish popped up out of nowhere and nibbled on the biggest toe. The feet disappeared, and I backed off into the shadow enough to not be seen, and looked up through the still surface. Looking back at me, with a smile, was the most beautiful girl I had seen my whole lifetime in the lake. I took a deep breath, feeling the water move thick through my lungs, and pushed it out.

Like that, she was gone.