The Lake part 1
I remember the first time I went camping. The way I used to play among the trees, the smell of the fire, the stories. I went camping a lot after that. Not anymore. I can't. It's too much.
Back after I graduated from high school, my friends and I wanted to go camping to celebrate. Two days away from our parents sounded fun, so I agreed. I wasn't the most responsible, but I also wasn't about to disappear into the woods to die, so I told my parents where I was going and how long.
I packed 3 sets of clothes just in case and made sure we had basic medical supplies like bandaids and antiseptics. I also brought what I needed to go fishing. I didn't bring a tent. That wasn't my job.
Loading everything into my piece of shit suzuki samurai was a chore, but I did it. Kind of. I could barely see out the back window.
Just before I left, my dad walked out to me. "I wanted to make sure that you had everything." He was acting weird. "You uhm... you don't have to go if you don't want to. I know Xander can be a bit pushy."
"I'm fine, dad. Are you doing alright? You've been acting odd all morning."
"I'm just worried about you. The woods are dangerous. Bears and wolves and the like"
He was hiding something.
"And Enid?" He continued. "Don't go swimming in the lake. Not without a life jacket, at least. And-" I held up a hand.
"Dad, Alex is coming with us. You know he's responsible enough for all of us." That made him a bit more comfortable with our idea. I'm not good at reading people, especially not him, but the sigh of relief was unmistakable.
I guess I should say who went on this stupid fucking trip.
Alex was an eagle scout. He went camping a lot and it was his idea.
Xander and I didn't get along in any way. He was a loudmouth, a narcissist, a creep, an obnoxious flirt, and all together the worst part of the trip. At first, anyway.
Jessica was Alex's girlfriend. I had only met her once before, but I thought she was nice.
Punky was my girlfriend. We called her Punky because she listened exclusively to punk rock, but you would never know by looking at her. She was gorgeous.
Anyway, I did the ritual of trying to start my five hundred times, checking the gas, trying again, and giving a fucking blood sample before my inbred jeep would start.
It took about an hour. I hate that car.
It was a two hour drive to our camp site. My glorified shopping cart of a car didn't have a working radio, so just drove in silence. Punky was already there, as were Alex and the antichrist. I mean Xander. Hitting on my fucking girlfriend. She ran to me as soon as I got out of the car and smothered me in kisses. I returned it until Alex cleared his throat.
"Oh, sorry." I said. Punky didn't apologize. She was like that.
From here on out I'll be formatting what people say in a different way. Easier for all of us.
Xander: "What, no hug for me? C'mon Enid"
I just looked at him. No way in hell.
Alex: "You aren't her boyfriend."
That's when we heard the first strange thing. A woman screaming. Shrill and sharp. It sounded far away.
Alex: "That's probably just a fox."
He sounded uncertain, but we went along with it.
A few hours later, Jessica drove up. Her car was the opposite of mine. I slowly died inside. She opened the door and held up a case of beer. None of us were of age, but since when did we care.
Very quickly, Xander was drunk. Then Jess. The two had gotten a little too loud for me, so I told Punky I was going to walk away for a sec.
Punky: "Don't be stupid. I like my girlfriend unmauled."
Me: "So I should leave my honey and salmon here?"
We laughed, and I walked a little closer to the lake. I could hear Xander and Jess from between the trees. I was so far away. My God, they were loud.
Maybe that was why I didn't notice at first.
I walked a bit farther from them when I realized that the forest was quiet. Dead silent. No bird calls, no screaming fox, no noise at all. It made them blood in my spine freeze. I felt like I was being watched.
I looked at the trees. The birds were all staring at me. Like a security camera. The deer, too. Standing frozen, head pointing in my direction. Their eyes looked glassy. Like I was in a forest of ghosts. I looked at the camp. The sound came back. I wanted to vomit.
When I got back to the camp site, everyone was drunk but Alex. I think he knew one of us had to be responsible. They could all see my panic.
Alex: "Woah! Are you ok? What happened?"
Punky: "Was the fresh air like... fuckn... uh... you ok?"
Luckily, Xander passed out. Jessica was taking care of him. I don't know why. He was dead weight.
I tried to explain what happened. I don't think they understood. I probably sounded crazy. Maybe I was.
I drank now, too. It's easier to forget.
End of part 1
Author's note. Thank you for reading! This was my first time writing much of anything, so advice would be greatly appreciated.