Her Safe Haven

Chapter 9 - Lakeside Was A Mystery Indeed

Previously on Her Safe Haven: After the dinner, Lennox, Jacob, and Jonah were surprised to find that Rohan had made plans to go around Lakeside Town with Winter that Saturday. Since Jonah accommodated the guests for their visit in Lakeside, the next morning he picked Winter up for her suspected "date" with Rohan.

Coming to Lakeside Town for the first time, Rohan hadn't expected the place to be so... alive. As they were strolling past downtown Lakeside, he saw children, adults, and even pets crowding the streets. Every corner seemed to be occupied by street buskers with their trumpets, guitars, or magic shows of some sort. Every now and then children would run past him laughing, and some senior citizens even smiled at him from their seats at a café.

Was it just him or was Dews Town really that quiet?

'Sorry for the crowd, Rohan. It's Saturday, everyone is outside at this time of the day,' Winter gestured when she assumed Rohan was staring too uncomfortably at the streets.

Rohan looked at her and shook his head. "No — this is just so different from Dews," he said, musing at the crowd of people walking around a park. "So where do we go first?"

'It's just around the corner,' she gestured, her face lighting up in excitement to tell her guest about the upcoming event. 'Lakeside Festival is held only once every ten years, so the local people are also very excited about it. Right now we're going to see the town park, where the Central Stage is going to be set up; but Lakeside is a town that have rich history and cultural tradition, so the Central Stage is not the only attraction that will be available on the festival.'

They took a turn on another corner and reached a gateway with the word 'LAKESIDE TOWN PARK' printed grandly on it. Winter led them through the park until they reached a small lake at the very far end of the park. 'This here is our one and only Cove of Two Lovers. Despite its small size, the lake is the central tourist attraction of Lakeside Town, hence the name Lakeside,' she grinned.

'If you look at it now, the lake doesn't seem to hold any special value in its appearances. Nevertheless, tourists don't come here to look at it in the afternoon — they come to look at it at night. I'll tell you the reason in a little while; now, come with me.' She led them through a narrow set of stone stairs leading up a hill next to the lake.

From the stone stairs, Rohan glanced down at the lake and noticed that the water was a very clear greenish-blue colour — like the colour of shallow sea water. "Cove of Two Lovers..." he repeated, following Winter up the stairs, "what an odd name."

She chuckled. 'There's a story behind it. I'll tell you once we're uphill.'

The stairs continued for another fifty metres or so, Rohan noted. Nearing the end, the steps got steeper and steeper until they had to use their arms to pull themselves up to a flat opening on the top of the hill. He realised that some three or four people were already walking around there, but other than that, uphill was quiet. A lovely quiet.

Once their breathings slowed down, Rohan looked around and noticed that they could see the entire park from where they were standing. The trees and people in the park looked like small lego miniatures, and the lake looked smaller but still with good clean blue water.

'The name of the lake was derived from the legend behind it,' Winter started, sitting on a bench near the edge of the hill overviewing the park. Rohan sat next to her. 'The story dates back to as old as the American Civil War. During the war, Lakeside Town was a neutral area; fighting wasn't allowed here because this was the place where they would lay out the tents for injured soldiers.