The Lake - Horror Fiction

The fog hung low to the water surface almost as if it wanted to hug it to escape the bitter cold weather. I zipped the jacket all the way up to the bottom of my neck and pulled up the hoodie to take refuge under the warmth of the woolen material.

Maybe I should have came out a little later when the sun was fully up

But then I had been impatient ever since I reached the bungalow the previous night, dying to check out the private boat deck. The deck came with the house, the real estate agent had proudly announced in a booming voice, very proud and almost counting on it to close the sale. Well, it did. Being a writer, the charm of a place like this was just impossible to resist.

And I needed this. I really needed this. It would be three years this November since my nationwide best seller, The House by the Lake, hit the stores and a debut author became a hit overnight.

Come to think of it, I do own 'The House by the Lake' in more ways than one.

I grinned at the lake, barely able to contain my childish delight at the thought of the being the proud owner of this delightful place.

But it had also been three years since I was able to write anything else. Everything I wrote turned out to be absolute trash, like some of the popular writer than we know. Ahem!

The money was dwindling too. I had realized then that a change was probably all that I needed and looked like that was the case. Last night I came up with something promising. Too early to decide right now but surely better than all the garbage that I was coming up with all this while.

A crow flew down to sit on the red tiled roof above the deck. I tried to shoo it away, just for the heck of it. He did not budge.

I turned around to leave when I noticed a small wooden boat to the corner of the deck. I surely hadn't seen it before. The agent hadn't mentioned it too. Maybe he missed to notice it as well as there is no reason why he would not add this proudly to his pitch.

The wooden floorboards on the deck creaked as I walked over to the boat. The boat was dusty but looked to be in good shape.

Holding onto the wooden pillar I stepped onto the boat. It was a paddle boat meant to be used only for a fun ride. I sat down on the seat, turned around to untie the rotting rope holding the boat to the deck and set out.

It was pure bliss. I found peace paddling the tiny boat out onto the lake that I had never been able to find living in the city. For the first time in a long time, I was happy.

We went cutting through the dense fog as I paddled faster trying to hit the cuddled fog at the maximum speed I could make it go.

When I turned around to look back, the deck seemed so far behind.

*'I should head back.'

And I almost did.

But then, there it was.

The most beautiful fog pattern in front of me. It seemed to be made of silver. It made you want to reach out to pick a handful and eat it. It seemed like a mermaid to a sailor. I had to paddle Susie into it.

Yes, I named the boat. She is Susie. She looks like a Susie.

I paddled faster towards it. When the tip of the boat touched the edge of the fog, the boat shuddered. I held onto the sides of the boat and stopped paddling but the boat went deeper into the fog.

Inch by Inch.

Shaking violently the whole time.

I held onto the boat with all my strength, but that did not stop the boat from jerking violently. Almost as if hit by a violent storm. Almost as if.... it wanted to throw me off.

The fog had swallowed the front portion of the boat. Something started smelling foul. I gagged and almost threw up as the smell hit me.

The fog seemed to crunch through the boat inching closer towards me. The air seemed a lot colder now. My body was screaming in pain as it tasted the cold ice on the skin. I felt as if I had kept my body bare naked on a block of ice. I cried out in pain and fear.

Inch by Inch the fog was munching it's way towards me. Taking it's time. Savoring the meal it was going to have.

The boat shook violently and vibrated now sending shivers of jittery razing pain up my spine.

I wailed as I plead for mercy as the fog was only at an arms distance from my face.

The last thing I remember before blacking out was a beautiful female face that seemed to peer out at me from inside the fog, smiling.

Photo by Wes Carr on Unsplash