Day 104

Sometimes drowning isn't the end.
Sometimes it is a new beginning.
This, she found out the hard way.

She was as average as anyone from a fishing community.
Worked hard and swam well just like the others.
Shame she went too far out.

Thought she saw an island but nobody believed her.
It wasn't on any of the maps but it was right there.
Strangely it didn't show in the photos she took with her phone.

She double and triple checked the weather reports, packed
some food and basic survival supplies.
She set out to prove them wrong, to bring back proof.

She brought back so much more.

The island was smaller than she expected, maybe ten or
twelve miles in length, not much more in width.
Sparsely decorated with some kind of tree and a lake.

Pretty scenic, she thought as she snapped away with her camera.
She headed for the lake to see of there were any inhabitants.
The remains of a wooden hut greeted her, half sunk in the lake.

Nothing remained inside but a rotting set of drawers and strange
looking marks, almost like the claw marks of a cat.
The were all along the floor and started a foot or so above the waterline.

She never noticed the lack of seabirds or insects.
She never noticed the water lapping at her feet.
She was too transfixed by the haunting melody coming from the lake.

Her feet moved of their own accord and she was helpless to resist.
As she moved up to her waist she began to feel cold hands tugging
at her own under the water, laughing childishly at her compliance.

She was up to her shoulders when she saw their faces under the water,
rotting flesh parting to reveal thin, sharp teeth stained red.
They seemed a part of the water and were so beautiful.

As her head was slowly pulled under the song grew louder, faster, darker.
A sharp stabbing pain in her stomach forced her to gasp and water invaded
her lungs.

Her vision began to fade, she felt their teeth tearing into her skin but the pain
was as the back of her mind.
She was more focused on the way the water felt, rushing life into her.

After what felt like an eternity everything stopped.
She opened her eye,the other torn out, and looked around her.
She saw their perfect smiling faces fade away in the midst of the bloody water.

And she began to laugh, lungs full of life and thirst.
How could she bring her family here?
They must come here.