I lumbered up the slight incline of the trail as it came to an end at the shoreline. The lake covered only ten acres, if that.
A bench, placed at trail’s end by an environmental organization, invited me to sit and stare across the still water. Though I had walked nearly five miles, the brisk air kept me cool. I felt fresh and comfortable, but the allure of the bench told me I needed to rest my muscles.
The sun was high enough by the time I reached the water that only a trace of morning haze remained on the margins of the lake. Across the reflective expanse of water, directly in front of me, I saw a doe and her fawn step out of the woods for a drink. Suddenly, the mother raised her head and froze. I think she saw them at the same moment I did. The deer darted back into the woods as two figures rose slowly from the water in the middle of the lake. At first, I couldn’t make out what they were; I thought they must be large turtles but quickly determined, as they rose higher and higher from the water, that could not be.
My eyes told me the figures were two young children, a boy and a girl, but my mind instantly dismissed the idea as sheer illusion. Yet my vision would not yield to another explanation. I continued to look in their direction, my eyes fixed on the two figures. Slowly, the figures moved in my direction. I was undecided; should I run from whatever this was? Should I stay?
The closer they came, the more certain I was that my imagination was not responsible for what I saw. The figures rose out of the water far enough so only their calves remained submerged. I could discern no movement of their legs; they seemed to be drifting toward me on an unseen current.
The girl, slightly taller than the boy, had blonde hair and the boy’s hair looked brown. Their faces, with the looks of innocence one associates with young children, had neither frowns nor smiles on them; rather, they appeared vacant and angelic as they approached.
I could not bring myself to say anything, for what I witnessed was too odd and too unnatural to allow my brain to function the way it normally would. Finally, just thirty feet from me, they stopped. The girl spoke.
“Can you help us find our way home? We’re lost”
Still, my voice refused to leave my mouth.
“Sir, will you please help?”
I was unable to talk, unable to answer. From my seat on the bench, I watched, trying to comprehend the scenes and the sounds before me. I tried to move my legs, my arms, but they would not respond to me.
The boy’s eyes filled with tears. The girl put her arm around his shoulder and drew him closer to her. The ethereal radiance of her face dissolved into a hard glower. I saw the anger well up in her chest. Her face flushed and her lips curled into a sneer, a scowl that cut into me with the ferocity of a knife wielded by a madman.
“Damn you, sir! God damn you! May you rot in hell and burn for all eternity!”
With that, the children turned their backs to me and moved toward the center of the lake. The girl turned around and cast her eyes in my direction. Her glare was so hot it burned my cheeks. I felt and smelled my eyebrows shrivel and singe from the focus of her gaze.
Just as the children slipped beneath the surface, my voice returned to me. The paralysis that gripped me, that help me fast to the bench, released me.
I leapt into the water and swam to the spot where they had appeared, then disappeared. Taking a deep breath, I dived straight down, intent on finding the children and bringing them to the surface. The water was clear, but the commotion of my arms and legs thrashing the surface caused light to reflect on the waves and ripples.
Finally, when my eyes adjusted to the water, I saw two figures below me. I made my way down to them. Two headstones, both upright, jutted up from the bottom of the lake. A chiseled inscription was legible on each: “Samantha Marks, Age 9, Lost.” “Jeremiah Marks, Age 8, Lost.”
I needed to breathe, so I turned my face up toward the surface of the water, but I could not go. So I stayed and touched the markers and spoke to the children.
“I am sorry I did not help you before, children. I am here to help you now, though. You are no longer lost. You are found.”
As I lost consciousness, I saw Samantha’s gaze again. Her lips turned up into a smile, her eyes were gentle and forgiving. I felt her hand on my shoulder as my eyes filled with tears.
