Sorrow

Chapter 1 - Girl in The Water

Chapter 1 - Girl In the Water

November 12th 2015

Mr Bennett was a contented man, happily married for 42 years with 3 children and 5 grandchildren he was happy to tell his neighbours he couldn't want anything more.

However, he found himself (as all men do) in need of an escape from time to time. A place where he can be left to his thoughts and escape from the occasional nagging of his wife.

This personal paradise he found in fishing from his boat. It wasn't a large boat, more like a bigger than average rowing boat. But it was more than perfect for fishing on the lake.

That morning on the 12th November he drove down to Sayna Lake, twenty minutes later than normal due to a disagreement with his wife over last nights dishes, parked his car and looked towards his precious boat.

It wasn't there.

Panic filled his heart and his blood froze. His boat, although small, cost him a few pretty pennies from his retirement plan. His eyes frantically scanned the waters of the lake, searching for its shape in the early morning mist.

There it was, right in the middle of the lake. The ropes had probably just come loose.

He would have to call Old Bill then.

Bill was a good man, he owned the only other fishing boat on the lake. It was bigger than Mr Bennett's, and Bill always like to remind him of this. But Bill had a good heart.

Five minutes later, he was waiting in the mist looking towards his boat waiting for Old Bill to come. But knowing Bill, the man would probably take his fine time just to mock him, after all, it wasn't a good thing for a man to lose his boat to the waters. He might not be a sailor, but he knew this was shameful. Mr Bennett had been fishing since he was a small boy and knew how to tie a good knot, so he couldn't really understand what went wrong this time.

Finally Bill pulled up in his truck, it took him a good 20 minutes to cover a 10 minute journey, but Mr Bennett wouldn't complain. Bill was helping him.

The two climbed into Bills boat, considering the state of the man it was surprisingly well kept and polished. But boats in this town were most men's pride, some of the boats down in the marina were so spectacular they could be considered ships which is why he and Old Bill preferred to fish at the lake in the mountains, nobody came here.

Bill started the motor, the hum of it vibrating throughout the wood. It was only then that Mr Bennett noticed the silence surrounding the area. Not even the early morning birds were cooing, and the only movement came from the morning mist dancing on the waters surface. Something was wrong, and this chilled him through to the bone.

As they travelled across the waters the mist thinned out, revealing his darling boat. It was still, too still. Like it had been anchored down. But how could his boat be anchored down to the middle of the lake? His optimistic side hoped that it was just a prank from the local teens. However his inner gut twisted with dread, whispering to him that something bad was going to happen. Something sinister there was a darkness thick in the air, something that would change everything.

The boat drew nearer, 20ft away, And Mr Bennett saw it, a rope tied from the boats front to the water, pulled tight. So it had been anchored?

15ft, and he could see a stringy weed wrapped around the rope near the waters surface. It was a golden colour, not like any weed he'd seen.

10ft, there was a shadow under the golden weed.

5ft, there was a hand. A hand just below the waters surface. A dainty pale hand. It wasn't moving.