A strange day in July

“He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back”

“Come, gather around youngins,” The old Scottish man said with his old Scottish accent.
“Let me tell you here a story”

‘A little boy and girl came screaming with delight as they chased each other along the narrow dirt pathway in the forest. It was a beautiful summer day in July, with clear skies and it was warm out but not too hot for the children with their light loathing. The little boy and girl both wore simple clothing, a cap, and vest with slacks for the boy and a little dress and a bowtie for the girl. Unknowingly they wandered off the path in their excitement, eventually, they came across a clearing.
A large pond was in the middle, trees bent over it in the shape of a dome but a plentiful amount of light still broke through the branches, along the shore of the pond was gravel, sand, and small flat stones. The pool itself was a clear color and the stones and old wood were visible under its surface, however, it seemed to get darker and deeper the closer to the middle until the bottom wasn't visible. No fish, plants, or bugs seemed to be in the pond strangely enough.

“Hey look! These are perfect for skipping” said the little girl. The little boy saw this and picked up a stone. The little girl ran over and picked up a stone as well. The boy threw it and it skipped perfectly 3 times before sinking into the center of the pond. Then the girl threw a stone, it skipped 3 times before sinking into the pond.
“Let's see who can skip it the farthest!” the little boy suggested, and they each threw another stone. The boy threw another stone, he threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back. He was confused by this, the girl didn't notice.
“Did you see that?” the boy asked.
“See what?” the girl replied
“The stone” he gestured to the smooth gray stone in his hand, she looked at it with confusion and interest.
“What do you mean? It looks like all these others” she gestured to the stones on the ground.
“Yes but it came skipping back” she looked at him with a smirk
“Ohh silly, that can't happen, stones don't skip backward.”
“You throw one than” the boy countered
“Alright then” she threw one and it sunk to the bottom
“See? You're just seeing things”
“No I'm not!” said the boy, he threw the stone and it sank to the bottom. This confused him greatly, he had been sure he'd seen it come skipping back to him that 3rd time.

The children played there for hours until the girl noticed a fog start to form around the clearing, light and thick it encircled them. Soon it was impossible to see outside it.
“We probably should go” suggested the boy, a hint of worry in his voice.
“Yes, but where's the path?” the girl said, she was starting to panic.
“We must've run o of it”
“OH NO! Now we'll never get home!” The girl crumpled onto a flat rock and started to cry profusely. The boy came over and sat next to her and patted her back lovingly.

A splashing noise came through the fog. The two little children looked up to find a beautiful white mair standing in the water. It was lean and strong with long silver hair or its mane. The little boy noticed that the mane was slimy looking though the rest of the body looked clean.
“Hey look!” the boy pointed and the girl lifted her head and wiped her tears and nose with her forearm.
“Oh wow!” her sadness vanished at the sight of the horse. It came out of the water slowly. Its eyes were now visible, dark green with milky veins, they made the little boy uneasy. They seemed to be staring at him as if they knew what he was thinking.
The little girl jumped up and rushed over to the beautiful horse. It gestured from her to its back. She jumped with joy. The mair then gestured to the boy, the boy started but then hesitated.
The mair lowered itself to where it lay on the ground, waiting for the girl to get on. The girl yelled in delight and jumped on, the mair didn't flinch from the impact but instead stared at the boy. It gestured from him onto its back again, the boy knew he shouldn't get on but a part of him wanted to stay with the girl.
“Maybe you should get off, we need to find our way home,” the boy said worried about his sister.
“Oh don't be a party pooper! Just a little longer” the boy did not agree, something was off about the horse.
“Please get off”

The mair turned suddenly and its tail hit the boy across the chest, tearing through his clothing and cutting him. He lay there bleeding as he watched the girl. but the horse had already started into the water, it walked slowly at first, then a Trott, soon it was swimming in the pond with her on its back. She whooped and cried.
The mair suddenly stopped and stared at the boy bleeding on the bank, The girl screamed. Where her body was touching the horses turned a slimy dark green slowly at first then rapidly spread over what was visible of it above the water in a webbed shape, encircling it and showing the decayed body rotten with algae, bone, and muscle. When it came to the head, the mair closed its eyes as the tendrils covered its face and a skull-like head replaced it, dark with sharp teeth and glowing white eyes. It dived suddenly then leaped out of the water, revealing the scaly patches on its legs, as well as the fishlike lower half of itself, tail and all.
Time seemed to freeze as the boy looked at the girl, her face was that of shock and terror as she realized her mistake. The horse dived back into the water and disappeared. The boy struggled over to the pond and looked in, with no sign of the horse or the girl.
He lay there for hours sobbing and calling for her but neither she nor the horse appeared. He made his way back through the forest and to the place where his family was looking for him, they questioned him and punished him. They even made a search party looking for the girl but they never found her.’
'
The old man took a swig of his mug.
“That was a story of the kelpie and how two children met one and how only one came back with a scar like he was whipped across his chest.” he wiped his face and breathed in heavily and spoke no more.
The old man solemnly got up and took out his pipe, his shirt moved as he got tobacco from an inside pocket moving his vest so that for a second it was visible.

Pale Streaks across his chest that looked as if someone had whipped him.