Beneath the surface

I lived deep in the backwoods of Tennessee.  Close to my house there was an abandoned phosphate mine. Its long since been flooded since it fell into disrepair when the mines dried up. Its a murky mess of a swampish lake, deeper than I care to imagine. Surely eldritch horrors lurk beneath the surface and look through the window of the bog into our world with curiosity...or perhaps animosity, who knows. Sunken trees and undergrowth are beneath the muck covered film on the water- sight unseen but present to anyone foolish enough to venture into the depths of the lake. Above it smells like a place that wants to be forgotten, as if all life has abandoned this anomaly. Its a place that emanates an uncomfortable vibe with the man-made incursion juxtaposed against the lush landscape around the border of the lake. Nature has erased the scars the mines left on the surface but the gaping wound into the ground never did heal completely.

Enter the actors...

A bro, a lass, said bro's sister, and myself. My bro was one you could count on, muscles to spare and with a considerable intellect despite his coarse approach regarding most matters. The lass was worth more than a passing glance and had curves in all the right places to entice even a saint to look upon her and abandon their vows. Unlike the lake however there was not much to this fine example of beauty, "she would have a tough time of things should she ever lose her looks" I smirked to myself.   Bro's sister was not one for looks to be sure. She detested me and was quick to strike with a comment and a stare. Rightly so as I am quite detestable. Still her sentiment toward me made me all the more appealing as company to her brother. I'm a silent observer myself. I would say I'm shy but that's more of a ruse to stir folk to conversation. I'm passionate about many things but too fickle to get lost in one thing entirely.

Upon the lily pad laden shore there's a layer of muddy gunk holding in place a paddle boat that surely found this place by some terrible mistake. By some similar inclination we venture out into the lake to this paddle boat coated in grime. As we're traipsing across the shore we feel the mud beneath us tugging at our feet as though the very earth itself was trying to draw us in. Insects too light to sink and annoying buzzers in the air danced near the shore and ushered us into the lake on the paddle boat.  I question our motive. Youthful vigor perhaps? Maybe ignorance of that void we were entering. I wonder today what exactly masked our fear. The lake seemed to stretch out the longer we paddled, and the further we paddled the more we became enticed in seeing what there was to see on the decrepit paddle boat in the middle of the lake.

There was nothing to see. I know this now as I let my hand break through an almost viscous film that covered the lake. I was trying to move aside the curtain but there was nothing but murky darkness. An unworldly residue clung to my fingers reminding me of the kind of place I was in. The sun watched us from above. Light seemed to whisper through trees quizzically "What are you looking for?" I had no answer. The girls seemed to sense what I did. Not a fear of imminent danger but something more terrifying. A sense of utter helplessness. We could sink here and never be found. Whatever lay beneath the surface be it so benign as tangled branches and twisting caves deeper than we can comprehend- they would mask our disappearance forever.

The boat refused to move and our will would soon be tested. The Paddle boat had been taking on water the entire time since our departure but it was gradual. "Death by a thousand cuts" I thought, or in our case a thousand drips. The lass was troubled and began to panic. The sister tried to calm her. The Bro had no fear and was inspecting the paddle boat. I could see the gears in his head turning. He got out of the paddle boat and into the water. The lass panicked further, her adolescent nature causing the boat to rock and take on water more quickly than was necessary for our situation. My voice was condescending but my intent was to reassure. Perhaps it was the pattern of the words I chose or my soft deployment of said vocabulary that settled her quickly. I didn't speak for her though. I had no intention plunging into the depths beneath me and I would tell her the world was mine to win her sanity.

The paddle boat was fixed as the bro is like no other. Fingers of a malevolence holding us at bay or perhaps some weed caught in the paddle fins; it makes no difference. The place we were in was one no person should dare venture. We were free and hastily paddled back to the shore with no greater desire than to set food on land once more. Scratching and grinding could be heard on the bottom of the boat as we navigated the the void. The distance to the shore seeming exponentially further than the one that was originally traveled. Water was in the paddle boat and it reached for us the longer we paddled. When the shore was a stones throw away the Lass bailed out along with the Bro's Sis and we went about our day. I didn't bother looking back at the lake. There was nothing to see.

Whatever the bro did he never spoke of that day again. I asked him and he told me simply "I fixed it, don't worry." He never lost his demeanor but I could always see that fear in his eyes. Deep in his soul what he saw in that place would never leave him. Beneath the surface of that lake lurks the fear of every person. Every being that cannot be seen and longs to be made real was in that lake. I dream of that day every so often. On that placid and yet unsettling lake that land is tormented and screams. The soil beneath the surface was ripped and raw.  There is no reflection in that lake in the dream. I know now though I needn't see my reflection to look into the darkness that lies within my heart. I know now...in the heart of every man lies the heart of darkness.