One day, many years ago, when horses were more common than cars, a woman sat at the edge of the lake, watching the moon drift lazily across the sky. She was a curiosity to the old-fashioned villagers who believed women should only be out at night with a man to protect them. She had arrived that morning, and in a small village, news travels quickly. She hadn’t been carrying anything. She just showed up out of the mist, and headed straight towards the lake, where shes been ever since.

The villagers had been watching her all day, but now, in the absence of light, they had all gone to bed, leaving the woman to stare at the water in peace. So that’s what the woman did. She stayed put, shifting only slightly to gaze dreamily at something else, or very occasionally to move her leg or arm. But other than that she stayed perfectly still.

When the villagers woke up the woman was right where she was when they fell asleep. The women in the village never did anything without their husbands or fathers permission, and that was something the men rarely gave unless it benefited them. And this did not benefit them.

So the villagers watched from the windows or the fields they worked at. The villagers watched the woman, the woman watched the lake.

Then, the mist slowly crawled over the mountains toward the woman. A white cloak, obscuring everything it passed over.

As the mist inched closer to the woman, she stood up and spread her arms wide, inviting the mist towards her. When the mist finished embracing the woman in its tight hug, it began to leave. To wherever it came from. It left the lake and the village, hiding behind the mountains. And it took the woman with it. The woman disappeared.

She came with the mist and left with it.

So she was passed down for generations, “If you’re naughty the lady by the lake will get you.” A threat to get the children to brush their teeth.

The story evevolved over they years, growing arms and legs. Eventually the woman adopted the name ‘The Lady By The Lake.’ Nobody knows where she dissapeared too.

Just a children’s tale.

The lady by the lake.