For days I have followed her… hoping I had chosen the right person… hoping to get to the bottom of this once and for all. And now, here I am…standing on the edge of a murky body of water… and not at all sure that I should be here…
Let me introduce myself… I am in my early thirties, but still consider myself fairly young… and still struggling to find a reliable source of regular income.
Currently, I live – and travel – in a dilapidated old motor home… mostly because it’s convenient and cheap.
All I need is that one big story… the one that will bring my name to the attention of those who make the decisions on hiring… at all the big news outlets.
I guess I’m really looking to fulfill a dream… a chance to live in one place with a stable income.
And that’s why I’m out here in the middle of nowhere… a place I’ve never been before… trying to find that big story… with the potential to change my life.
So, to get back on track… it’s supposed to be a lake, but I’ve never come across a name for it.
The water in the lake is dark… almost black… appearing to be bottomless, just as the legend claims.
Not far from shore is a small island… which also looks dark… cold… mysterious… and uninviting… to say the least.
Trees and other growth have become thick and tangled with the passage of time… appearing to be impenetrable.
It is impossible to see where the edge of the lake is… making it dangerous to move too close for fear of falling into its dark, brooding depths.
Imagination gives birth to all sorts of horrors that might possibly dwell beneath the surface.
The huge, towering archway that frames the entrance on the island is still intact… everything else looks to be in various stages of decay and ruin.
Several floating platforms… their ends loosely tied together… span the surface of the water between the island and the mainland.
The water is calm… the surrounding forest is still and silent… an almost tangible silence… that sits heavy on the land.
The woman is standing at the outer edge of the first dock… arms hanging loosely at her sides… long white hair falling freely to her waist.
She carries a long case of some sort on her back… seemingly held in place by a strap going diagonally across the front of her body.
Is she waiting for something…. looking for something… or perhaps here to meet someone?
From what little I’d heard and read… I thought the place was deserted long ago.
I keep to the shadows… watching… wondering… and waiting. I thought I was well camouflaged… and yet… a shiver runs up my spine.
She turns around, facing towards the shore… looking at the spot where I am hiding… and I freeze.
Her face is ghostly white… almost translucent.
She gives no indication that she has seen me, and yet… somehow I know that she is fully aware of my presence… that she has known I was here from the beginning.
“You may look… satisfy your curiosity… but heed my words. This place is not for normal eyes. It is meant only for those who will always belong here… for those who live in the realm of dream worlds. What you see… you will never be able to un-see. It will haunt you forever, whether you are awake or asleep. It will torture you, and consume you, until you are nothing more than a ghost of what you used to be… a walking shadow of your former self.” Her voice seems to echo around me in the silence.
My mouth falls open… but words fail me… I am unable to form a coherent thought… I simply do not know what to say.
