Water; it’s unforgiving and ruthless. It does whatever it wants, whenever it wants. It can hurt you or heal you.  It can save you or kill you. Water can make your blood run cold. Even though water can seem scary, it deserves all of your respect. It keeps us alive as well as everything we need alive. But like I said before, it can also kill.
I jolted awake. I was gasping for air and I was so confused, Where was I? Suddenly, the strong smell of smoke collided with my nose. There were only two options, my “house” was on fire or something had been on fire. I smelt it on my cloths; it almost reminded me of camping. That’s where I was, I was camping. I let out a sigh of relief as I laid my head back on my soft pillow. My body felt heavy and tired, except my eyes. They were wide awake and refused to close. I figured I’d better get some fresh air. I placed my feet on the surprisingly warm floor and began to walk.

The air was cold, my nose began to lose feeling but I didn’t mind. The sky was clear and I saw millions of stars. There was a slight breeze and my golden hair, which now looked grey in the moonlight, got caught in my eyelashes. Once I removed it, I pulled it back; now I could see. The trees in front of me looked different than those to my right and left, and only then did I see the fence.

There was a delicate, white, split rail fence that kept the dark trees confined. I turned around and noticed that I no longer saw my cabin; I didn’t realize I had moved anywhere. My body followed my head until my back was to the trees. I started to walk back towards where I assumed my campsite was, but then I heard it. A twig broke, just one. I slowly turned to face the trees and then I saw two glowing dots. They looked like eyes but then they separated, they were only two fireflies. That didn’t reveal what or who broke that twig. It must have been a deer or a raccoon or something. My heart began to race and the longer I stood there, the more frightened I got. I felt like if I stayed still nothing could see me and if I moved that something would find me. I decided to not move, I breathed as little as possible even though my lungs screamed for air. My eyes scanned the forest and I saw a movement. I wanted to know what was stalking me but at the same time I didn’t. It got closer, and closer. It was so close but I still couldn’t see it. Then, suddenly a rabbit jumped out of the bushes. He seemed even more frightened than me and darted back to the forest. Once again, I sighed with relief. This forest was sketchy, but intriguing. Why was there a fence around it? I began to walk around to a different part of the fence and saw a sign. It read:

RESTRICTED
AREA
AUTHORIZED
PERSONNEL ONLY

Well if they thought that would keep me away, they were wrong.

I climbed the fence and landed softly on the ground which was carpeted by vines. I stopped myself before taking another step. Maybe this was protected land and they didn’t want me to crush any of the plants, or maybe they were hiding something. I continued to walk except this time I was on my tip-toes, I stepped only on dirt. I wasn’t going very fast; I had taken about a hundred steps but only moved five feet. Then I saw a trail, boy did I feel smart! I tip-toed my way over to the trail and began to walk like a normal person. This trail seemed to be leading me to the center of the forest which wasn’t too comforting. I continued to walk into the depth of the forest and it got darker and darker. I saw a wooden sign up the trail a little bit and I got excited. I picked up my pace until I got there. It read:

BEWARE
DEAD LAKE
AHEAD
2 MILES

This intrigued me more than ever. I was scared but strangely attracted to the deathly sounding lake. At the sight of the sign I felt a chill run down my back and I started running. I had never even run a mile before so I don’t know why I thought I could run two miles. I don’t run much so naturally in my condition I could only make it about 100 feet. Once I slowed down, I thought to myself, the lake isn’t going anywhere; so I walked. I could only imagine why this lake would be called such a terrible name. Water can’t be alive or dead, so why would it be called that? I was still walking and could almost see the shimmer of the water and there it was. The moon’s perfect reflection lay on the stagnant water of the lake. It seemed so peaceful, the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking, everything was perfect.

I was still a significant distance away from the lake when it turned silent. From where I stood, I could smell the old sad smell of the water; it was almost like chlorine. The crickets no longer chirped and the frogs no longer croaked. I didn’t know if this was because of me or someone else. I saw a movement in the lake. I, being frightened of everything, retreated back to a big tree. I watched the lake with fascination as a body emerged from its still surface. This body was pale but not sickly looking. It had long dark hair that ran down its back; this body was that of a woman’s. She glided across the water and sat on a log that had fallen in the lake. I had never seen such a thing happen before. This was sort of scary, what was going to happen to me? Would I ever leave this forest?

This mysterious woman had shiny skin, it could have been from the moon’s reflection but it looked like much more than that. She had her eyes closed this entire time and when she opened them, they glowed green. They were two green fireflies. She looked into the forest, raised her chin, and began to sing. This song of hers was magnificent, it almost didn’t sound real. There were high notes and low notes, crescendos and decrescendos. She had an opera singer’s dream voice. It was something I had never heard before and have never heard since.
Minutes after she began her melodious song, a thick cloud of fog rolled over the forest; its fingers reaching out and engulfing everything in its path. I watched from my tree and looked down to see my feet disappear in the white haze. I had no idea what was happening but I continued to listen to her song, it relaxed me.
I don’t know how long I was standing there but after some time, I felt like there was someone watching me. I looked over my shoulder and I saw a man. He was distant from me but I still gasped and fell down. This lake scared me a lot and I wanted to leave. I slowly stood up, not knowing who to look at the man or the woman, who would be more dangerous? Did the man work for the woman? Did the woman even know he was there? So many questions raced through my head, none of which I had the answer to.

The man was walking towards me. I didn’t know if he knew I was there or not but I didn’t want to give my position away. I was sort of hunched over by a bush and I decided to duck into it. Once safely in the bush, I watched the man. I constantly looked over at the woman to make sure she was still on her log, she was, so my eyes returned to the man. I watched him closely but he was still so far away. I squinted hoping that would help me see farther and it did; I saw another man.

They were both walking in to the forest on the same trail I used, I needed to move or else they would see me. I lurked across the ground until I found a secluded spot away from the trail and I still had a clear view of the lake. I heard more and more twigs break they were coming from all around me. I saw faces appear in the shadows and bodies appear in the clearing by the lake. More and more men were walking towards the lake. They seemed in a trance. My eyes returned to the woman, she looked angry and while she sang, she scanned their faces. The first man to step in the water was short and fat. He had a buzz cut and looked so funny because he was wearing a sleeping cap. He continued to walk further in to the lake and the other men followed him. The water was up to his chest now but he didn’t stop. This man would not stop, finally his head went under; it just disappeared. His head was followed by another man and another until all that was left was a rippling lake. The woman did not stop singing but her eyes locked on something. I whipped my head around to see one man standing at the water’s edge. He did not move but the woman sang louder, it hurt my ears. When she realized the man would not move she ceased her song. She left her log and glided across the water to him. She looked him in the eye and said “Hello, Peter what brings you here today?” He hesitated before answering, “Well I heard you singing and figured I‘d better go see the show.” “I can assume you know why I sing every night. In case you don’t, I do it hoping you will be drawn into its trance and you will die with every other man in this lake” she said with surprising calmness to her voice. “Oh dearie, are you angry” he asked in an evil voice. “Angry, why would I be angry? I mean you only changed me in to a siren, made me kill my true love, and imprisoned me in this horrific lake for 50 years. Actually, you know what? I am angry” she said with a raised voice. All of her movements were swift, including the one where she punched Peter square in the nose. This blow knocked him to the ground and at this moment the girl lunged on him. He knew what was going to happen but instead of fighting back her just screamed. “Sarina no don’t do this.” But it was too late. She had dragged him into the water. At first there was a struggle but then the lake became stagnant again. Sarina’s head emerged from the water, but not Peter. The woman looked exhausted but somewhat happy. She swam over to land and got out of the water. Her eyes no longer glowed and her skin no longer shined. She gasped at the sudden change and then turned to face the water. She opened her mouth and tried to sing her beautiful song but all that came out was a pitiful squeak. She laughed at this and then sat on the ground. “I’m free; oh my God I’m free. Yes oh man YES” she exclaimed. She stood up and walked out of the forest; she never looked back. All that was left was me and the lake; it held the bodies of countless numbers of men. This truly was a dead lake.

This night has been eventful. Once I thought the coast was clear, I left the cover of my bushes. I walked to the water’s edge, I wanted to put my fingers in the water but I hesitated. What had caused that woman, Sarina, to turn into that creature? Was that man a weird creature too?  What had just happened? I sat there thinking about tonight, why not just put my hand in the water? My pale fingers cut through the glass-like surface. The water was brisk and clean, I liked it. I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly, just then a hand grabbed me and pulled me in the water.

“You have seen too much dearie. I don’t think I can let you leave,” Peter said.
13

He waved his hand above my head and said some weird Greek or Latin words, blue smoke appeared all around me. My clothes were ripped off of my body. My skin started to glow and my eyes brightened.

“There, now that you are stuck here, I have a naked wench to find,” he said and then walked away.
               

I didn’t know what to do. He said I’m stuck here. How long will I be here? All of these thoughts ran through my head and I barely noticed something floating on the far side of the lake. I swam over to it and saw that it was a dead man. It was the short pudgy man; his sleeping cap was no longer planed on his head. I screamed and swam away only to bump into another floating man. I didn’t know what to do. I swam in circles in the middle of the lake and screamed until my head hurt. The bodies would not stop surfacing. I closed my eyes.
               

When I opened them, I no longer saw floating bodies. I saw trees, all around me. It was still dark outside and I looked around. I saw a bottle next to me and it was Whiskey. I just got drunk that’s all. I stood up and got my bearings. I looked around and the last thing I remember seeing was two glowing dots in the bush next to me.