Lake

By the fifteenth month of the drought, the lake no longer held her secrets. Until now it had always served as a reliable keepsake, a liquid locket, a fluid false floorboard. Today it had failed her. Ema stared down from her spot on the hills horrified at what now appeared to be a murky crater instead of a placid watering hole. She would come here as often as she could to ease her mind. She hadn't been sleeping well as of late, her dreams were too jarring to endure so she needed the space to breathe and recuperate. This was her happy place; unlike the fictional ones other people simply envision - hers was a spot on a hill overlooking a giant blue puddle, a puddle she entrusted with things she could trust no one else with. This is where she usually found tranquility but today only brought anxiety. She walked down from her perch and made her way towards the dry spot as the sun raged on relentlessly. She passed patches of grass; no longer lush and emerald but withered with sunstroke. She hadn't once thought that this could ever happen, that her darkest, most closeted aspect of her life could possibly be unearthed, especially by something millions of miles away. And yet here she was, moments away from seeing what she had hidden from the world laid bare and exposed. Luckily she thought, no one would trace it back to her.

Reluctantly Ema approached the site of the lake, indicated mainly by a slightly darker shade of earth and a pile of decaying aquatic vegetation. It stunk. A pocket of gnats hovered overhead as she held her breath and crunched the sun-dried lilies underfoot. What she saw was terrifying - there was nothing here at all. Not even a single dead fish, it didn't make any sense. She kicked at the khaki leaves beneath her with a manic frustration. She kicked and stomped and when that failed, she got down on all fours and scrambled through the natural litter like a forgetful dog digging for its bone.

Nothing. She looked around helpless, hoping someone could explain what had happened here. But even she didn't fully understand what she had entrusted the lake with.

It first happened four years ago, just before her 19th birthday. In a rare and spontaneous use of her day off she decided to unwind naturally. An hour-long drive found her on the borders of a national park; she wandered deep into the woodland blissfully without aim, as the sun began setting. She emerged at a hilltop; unaware of her whereabouts she was completely carefree. The view from the top was breathtaking, misty hills and trees, distant city lights and down below the moon was reflected in a hidden lake. She sat and stared, her daily stresses disintegrated. In some way it made her feel different about herself, she couldn't explain it. She lay there on the hillside, with the summer air still warm, fully relaxed she fell asleep for a while. She woke to the smell of the lake in the air, even though it had gotten no closer to her. Feeling refreshed in all aspects of herself she walked and then drove back in silence with a comforted smile.

That night she awoke mid sleep. Her stomach convulsing, her pelvis aching, bed sheets were sodden with a strange smelling sweat. She was salivating heavily for some reason. Writhing and stirring, kicking off her bed sheets she could only take so much until she was forced to get up and use the bathroom, the urge to vomit became far too close to completion. She ran in nursing her stomach with one hand, holding her mouth with the other. She only made it to the sink. A huge, forceful wave of fluid rose in her throat and made a wet slap in the empty ceramic. It took a few moments for her to catch her breath; she opened her eyes to gauge the mess she had made. The sink wasn't filled with dinner and bile, the fluid was clear and there was plenty of it. What sat in the middle made Ema gasp and clamber towards the door in fear. A shapeless white blob floated just underneath the surface of the liquid and blinked at her. It's eyes were frighteningly vivid. Ema looked back at the thing in a stunned silence. Though with every blink and every minute that went by she became less afraid of the creature and more oddly attached to it. Pitying its situation, it's frailty and in some strange way responsible for it. She edged herself back towards the sink; convinced the invertebrate would cause no harm she felt the urge to comfort it. Her fingers sunk into the transparent goo and the little life form stayed put as she caressed it. Then she held it. Now the feelings flooded in, this wasn't just a monster, she really felt whatever it was. She knew that it couldn't stay with her. Her roommates would freak out, and on top of that the residents weren't allowed pets. Her brain knew what she had to do before she even processed it. Equipped with her robe and a lidded plastic tub she drove. It was much darker now, she wondered if she would be able to navigate to where she felt the blinking blob should reside, the only place that felt right – the lake.