A splash of black water unnerved her soul, because she knew it was right there, underneath the boat. It was her only shot, to paddle to the island on a moonless night. She’s was so close, only a few good thrusts away, when the paddle was ripped out of her hand. Swimming and praying weren’t options, only action and bravery. She took a deep breath, and stilled her mind, slowed the world, and started to think.

First thought and second thoughts were easy. ‘I will survive’ and ‘I will outsmart it’ were natural to her nature. An optimist and a person who rarely failed, and never ever the victim, she immediately jumped onto the third thought…’how to beat this?’ And then the flow of everything else came to Za.

This creature attacked on a New Moon, and went to an isolated, wet place. Light and fire could be options. Without hesitation, Za grabbled her phone and turned on the flashlight. Splash! Something happened as she reluctantly, but willingly gazed her phoned into the blackness. The reflection was blinding and made it difficult to see anything in the depths of the lake. She quickly tried to find something to burn, in the boat. Anything she thought. And there, at the edge of seat was her sweatshirt she took off when her friend soaked her with splashes of playfulness. At the time, it annoyed Za, but now it’s clear, ‘everything happens for a reason.’ She grabbed the sweatshirt, thankfully most of it was dry, and placed it on her lap.

Now, how to light this on fire. Her instinct, the phone’s flashlight needed to stay on. Had to stay on. Then she heard it. Another splash. Not as close, but something was there in the dark, biding it’s time, or testing it’s fate. Za immmediately turned the light over to the area where the splash was, to warn whatever is following her, that she’s waiting too. And another helpful thought came to mind. Sunrise can save me. Za looked at the time. 4:43 a.m. And then looked at her battery…19% as the warning came up.

‘Sunrise had to be 5ish’, she thought. The tingling sensation of the thoughts pulled her into a time warp, where she was in a tornado of possibilities. ‘The phone could die, the sun could rise, the shirt could burn, I can drift closer to land’…..but ‘what will happen’ vs. ‘what I can control’ is the current fight. Za decided to take a chance and jump into the blackness, holding her phone in one hand, sweatshirt in the other, and hoping she can make it to the island before the thing could. Death will happen if it’s her time. Foolish thought, of course, but living in fear, and waiting. That just wasn’t her.

Za jumped in the water, the coolness surprised her, but, as she suspected, the land was shallow, and her body was softly stopped by muck. Phone in hand, she tried centering the light around herself. She swam and pushed forward, getting closer to the island. She could feel the lakeweed getting thicker, making it difficult to move forward. She tried to swim, but keeping the phone over her was too difficult. Panic and exhaustion creeped up on her quicker than she could ever have imagined. The adrenaline was fading, as the cold of the water, the entanglement in the weeds, the muck of the mud, and the weight of the night set it.

With every bit of fight in her, she moved forward, but the island was further than she thought. And then she heard it, the splashing. It was closer. It was waiting for her to fade, to lose her fight. She started laughing. Laughing was her defense mechanism. She started to laugh, and yell at herself ‘let’s go, let’s do this!’ Then more splashing. Frantic splashing. Not wanting to look, but she had to see what was coming for her. A black creature was coming closer, and she couldn’t believe it. The closer it got, the slower she became, because she couldn’t comprehend what it was.

To the left of her, it looked like a huge thorn bush floating her way. But through the blackness, the sky became a tint lighter, and dawn was approaching. And with the hope of dawn, and a splashing of chaos, came a most surprising twist. A herd of deer were swimming along side of her. They were all fighting to get to safety.