The following morning, Rosalyn woke with a stretch and a smile. Rarely did she come to in a good mood, but this was one of the few occasions. She propelled herself out of bed and into the bathroom to freshen up. After washing her face and combing out her hair, she padded into the kitchen to fry an egg and a few strips of bacon. A peppy hum passed her lips while she worked on the food.
Once she had finishing breakfast on the back porch, her fears from last night mostly settled by her newfound exuberance, she returned to the bedroom to change into a plain salmon tank top and black yoga capris. She found herself going to the garage to fetch a fishing pole and the tackle box, both of which were dusty. The humming continued as she exited the house and made her way down to the dock. By now, the sun was high enough in the sky that the pinkish rays of dawn were bleached out by a pale blue and everything around the lake was easily seen.
Rosalyn collapsed at the end of the dock and began to thread a line through the pole before fastening a decorated hook to the end. It had been ages since she'd fished, but the rhythm of the motion came readily back to her. Blinking up at the sun, she raised the pole up and over her shoulder before charging her arm forward to cast the hook. The hook sunk into the emerald water twenty to thirty feet away, and the red and white bobber took its rest on the surface.
For a few minutes, the only sound was her distracted humming and chirping birds somewhere up in the trees flanking the lake banks. Rosalyn bent one leg at the edge of the dock and allowed her other to hang over and dip slightly into the water. The pole and bobber remained still, and the ripples from her cast had now spread through the lake. Everything felt still.
"Rose."
Her body became more still than all the landscape around her.
"Rose."
She frantically looked around. The voice was distant, dream-like almost, and its source or even general direction couldn't be determined.
Setting the pole down beside her, she pushed her face into her hands. "You are losing your mind, Rosalyn. Stop it. Enjoy the damn peace, because you only have one more day."
She sighed and lifted her face again. Still leery, she glanced around. Nothing was there—in front or behind her—but the spine-crawling sensation of being watched made her instincts itch to flee. She shook her head. This voice she was hearing wasn't going to ruin this. It just wouldn't.
Just as she picked up the pole again, the voice called her name again. She slammed the pole down onto the wood and climbed to her feet.
"Leave me the hell alone!" she yelled. "All I want is some peace and quiet, you stupid voice. So go away!"
Glaring around at everything around her, she angrily dropped back down onto the dock. The pole was reclaimed by her tense palms. Her glare melted into a scowl. She probably scared off all the fish with her hollering. She sighed and slowly reeled the line back in. Halfway to the dock, the hook snagged something in the water. Rosalyn tugged and tried to reel again, but the line wouldn't budge.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. "God so help me before I go even more crazy..."
She was not about to jump in and swim to the obstruction, so she pulled out pliers to cut the line. Of course, the hook miraculously released right before she sawed the line off. After staring at the slack line for a second, she set the pliers back into the tack box and finished reeling in the line. The hook was still attached but there seemed to be something on the sharp tip. She pulled it closer for inspection.
It was meat. Like a small chunk of skin and muscle almost, but it wasn't the right color for a human. Rosalyn gently slid the meat off and accidentally dropped it when it twitched. The chunk rolled across the dock and fell into the water. Mouth parted in surprise, she directed her attention back to the hook. Blood stained the hook where the meat had been.
What the hell did I snag? she wondered, looking back up at the water with suspicious eyes.
Another uncomfortable sensation forced her to withdraw from the dock's edge. She didn't trust the beautiful waters anymore. Not when something with greenish skin of texture like her own was swimming around in it and was now probably pissed that a chunk of its body was gone. She packed up the fishing gear and headed back to the dock at an anxious clip.
Once inside, she locked the door behind her and returned the equipment to the garage for perhaps another day. Doubtful, but maybe. The idea of something lurking under those beautiful waters that she treasured so dearly was completely disheartening. She checked the time and decided it was late enough for lunch, so she started on a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. The house was still and quiet while she cooked, and her paranoia was temporarily put at bay. She spent the next few hours coloring in an adult coloring book, reading the book she brought, and occasionally staring out one of the windows.
By the time the sun was drifting towards the skyline, she realized she only had one day left here. Part of her was relieved. She had plenty of work to get back to in the city. Not to mention the creepy voice she kept hearing yet stubbornly ignoring. What if it followed her back?
No, she shook her head. Don't think like that.
When she considered how afraid she was of a stupid voice that was probably in her head and a weird creature in the lake that probably wasn't even a threat, she got angry. Why had she let such silly things taint her precious relaxation time? Maybe she ought to show these silly things a lesson.
"Damn straight," she muttered under her breath.
She was suddenly struck with an idea. She was going skinny-dipping. After grabbing a towel and slipping her feet into flip flops, she hooked her fingers around an electric lantern and left the house. Though she'd never skinny dipped in this lake, she'd done so in other places in high school and college with friends. The sun had set and the risen moon still basked in its fading violet rays as she reached the end of the dock. Without allowing herself to hesitate, she set her towel and lantern down, turned on the lantern, and stripped out of her lounge clothes.
The humid night air brushed sensually against her bare skin, hardening her nipples into little pink pebbles and drawing little bumps across her skin. She brushed her hair behind her and moved to the small ladder on the side of the dock that stuck into the lake water. From what she knew, there wasn't anything dangerous in this lake. It had even been amoeba rested to make sure it was safe for the kids to swim in. Whatever fleshy green thing she had caught earlier...well, who knew what that was. How was the time to do something impulsive while she had her chance!
Rosalyn turned backwards to descend the ladder. The water was cool, especially compared to the night air, but she got used to it after a few shivers. Once she was completely emerged, she let go of the dock and laid out on her back, floating on the surface. Her tits poked up out of the water like two pointed mountains and her hair swirled around her face in the water. Even her ears were submerged, so weird gurgly noises were all she could hear.
Everything felt so peaceful, finally. The stars were finally emerging, the darkness giving them the comfort they needed to reveal themselves. It was beautiful. Twinkling and contrasting to the rest of the depthless, black sky. A crescent carved itself into that canvas like the lost scythe of a giant. Nature could be so mesmerizing in its all mystery.
"Rose..."
She felt her eyes widen. Where the hell had the voice come from? Her head was under water for Heaven's sake! She tried to ignore it and continue staring straight up at the sky, forget about how vulnerable she was now, naked in this water.
"Rose." It was more adamant now, more impassioned.
She quivered nervously and had half a thought to get the hell out of the water. This place have been haunted or something. How it knew her name, she had no idea.
Just as she started back towards the dock, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.
