Day 303

They floated about the surface of the lake like clumps of black weed.
Were it not for the occasional face coming past the surface, nobody would have cared.
Mostly it was just the hair though.

Some guy in the bar said he'd seen one get right out of the water and sit on the pier.
Due to the setting and time of night nobody believed him.
They should have.

Children would sit on the pier and poke the bobbing creatures with sticks and fishing rods.
Rumour has it a boy caught one with his fishing pole and it dragged him under.
Then they swarmed around him and he was never seen again.

Like all tales about nameless children, it was hard to prove right.
Especially when the adults were too busy trying to get rid of the lake things to notice the children go.
By the time they realised there were five children left.

There were more lake creatures than ever, you could barely see the water past them.
It didn't take the remaining people long to see the smaller drifters near the edge of the lake.
Their bodies were pure bone wrapped in what appeared to be some kind of plant.

A decision was made - seal the lake for good.
There were few options available: fencing around the lake, shut down the roads, one person even
suggested pouring concrete into the lake and trapping the creature in there for good.

The best they could manage was a wooden fence with barbed wire on top.
But people still go missing and on quiet nights you can hear wet feet walking the pier.
On the far edge of the fence, weeds have been thrown over the barbed wire and it looks flatter.

They aren't finished yet.