It Came From the Lake

“Not a good idea?” Jeff chastised me in a whisper behind our cabin. “Was your first clue when you discovered a creature that looked like it crawled out of a nightmare and picked it up, or when we saw it grab that raccoon with its tentacles and cram it in that razor hole of a mouth?”

An hour ago I had been, as usual, the first in our cabin to wake up. There was only so much snoring and sleep farting stink from ten boys I could take before I needed to escape, so I strolled down to the banks of Lake Arrihappe.

I stood there skipping rocks when I heard a splashing sound down the lake a few hundred feet and decided to investigate. As I approached the place where the splashing was coming from, I couldn’t find the source because the reeds were high in this part of the lake. Kicking off my crocs, I waded out knee deep parting the thick green reeds as I looked around trying to close in on the source.

At last, as I parted one last group of reeds, I found the source of the splashing. Bobbing up and down in the water was the strangest creature I had ever seen. Its body was just a giant bulb of a head, one big eye, and with multiple tentacles flailing around. The bulb head was a light brown color that transitioned to streaks of gray along the tentacles.

The little thing seemed to be drowning so, without thinking, I scooped it up and carried it up on the shoreline. It was the size of the pumpkins that we carved every Halloween and seemed to calm down in my arms. A slimy tentacle arched up and caressed the side of my face, its one eye transfixed on me as its savior. How hideously cute this little creature was.

I carried it up and set him down in the shade of the trees behind our cabin, laughing as he playfully rolled around with his tentacles flicking out and back. I was thinking it was interesting how far his tentacles could stretch out when Jeff came around the corner. He jumped in surprise at seeing the creature there.

“Matt,” he said, “What the hell is that?”

“Calm down,” I told him, “I just rescued it from the lake.”

“I have seen enough horror movies to know that what you have done will doom us all,” Jeff said as he moved closer to the back wall of the cabin.

“You are being really overdramatic,” I replied, “Just look at it.”

The creature had rolled around to the edge of where the trees began to grow thick. A raccoon had emerged and upon seeing the creature began to hiss.

“See, look,” I motioned to Jeff, “he has made a nature friend.”

Just as the words came out, two tentacles flicked out and snatched the raccoon dragging it along the dirt. As the raccoon came close, the creature opened its mouth unnaturally wide and began to stuff the raccoon inside. The mouth was a dark abyss full of hundreds of razor sharp pointed teeth. Within seconds it was all over and the little creature made a happy cooing sound.

“Maybe bringing this little fellow up to camp was not a good idea,” was all I got out before Jeff started in with the whisper chastising.

Now, I sit here pondering my next move.

“Well, what should I do?” I ask Jeff.

“It came from the lake, it should be returned to the lake,” Jeff says.

I walk over and pick up the creature. “I am going to name him Charlie,” I say. Little Charlie reaches up with a tentacle and tussels the hair on my head. I was nervous of the tentacles after what I had witnessed with the raccoon.

“Naming it is a big mistake,” Jeff cautions me. “That’s always a bad idea in the movies.”

“Enough with the movie comparison,” I fire back, “This isn’t some horror movie. So Charlie ate a raccoon, that’s no different if a wolf or mountain lion had done the same. It’s just nature.”

Jeff seems to be contemplating my words when Kevin comes around the corner and discovers us. Kevin was our cabin’s counselor and very much a butthole to all of us boys. The rumor around camp was that Kevin was there as a counselor to work off community service hours for some trouble he got in at a frat party he threw over spring break.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber,” Kevin laughs at his own joke. “What are you two weirdos doing back here?”

“Nothing,” Jeff says a little too quickly.

“Must be something,” Kevin sneers, “you two look pretty suspicious.”

When neither of us answer, Kevin reaches out and punches Jeff in the arm. Charlie stirs in my arms as if sensing the evil that Kevin truly is. The movement catches Kevin’s eye.

He walks over to me. “What the hell do we have here?” Kevin says looking over the bundle of bulb head and tentacles writhing in my arms.

“It’s nothing,” I reply, trying to spin away.

“Oh, this is definitely something,” Kevin laughs, “Looks like sushi for supper tonight.”

He jerks Charlie from my arms and holds him out at arms length looking him over. “What in the hell did you boys find?”

As Kevin holds Charlie, I notice his tentacles have extended down an extra length. Suddenly two tentacles shoot out and wrap around Kevin’s head and begin to pull its body toward Kevin.

Kevin begins screaming when he sees Charlie’s open razor mouth closing in on him. A second later, Charlie chomps down on Kevin’s head and sends his other tentacles down Kevin’s body. It is the single most grotesque sight I have ever witnessed. Charlie slowly moves inch by inch down the length of Kevin engulfing him. The sound of Kevin’s bones snapping and his body being compacted makes me lightheaded.

Charlie’s size has more than tripled and he lets out the little cooing sound to show his satisfaction. A tentacle extends over and pats me on the back. Jeff and I look at each other unsure what to do next.

That decision is made when two more counselors, and Kevin's closest friends, come to see what all the commotion is about. Without hesitation Charlie’s tentacles reach out grab the pair and smash them together and then it is the humans-for-food show part two.

As before, Charlie seems very content and has grown again in size, now as large as a small couch.

“We have got to do something,” Jeff stammers.

“Maybe if we can get him back down to the lake,” I reply.

Before we can put a plan into action, a loud roar reverberates across the camp. Panic ensues in the camp as larger tentacles swing up out of the lake and begin to smash the cabins and drag campers into the water.

“Those tentacles look extremely familiar,” Jeff says, “Wouldn’t you agree, Matt?”

I wholeheartedly agree. “Do you think it might be his momma? Momma Charlie,” I answer.

A very large bulb shaped head emerges from beneath the water surface, its one eye begins to sweep across the campgrounds. Anything or anybody that had been left standing is being swept aside in the creature's search. Our cabin is torn apart like matchsticks and Momma Charlie stares intently at us hiding behind its remains.

Charlie reaches out with his tentacles and lifts us up, setting us down protectively behind him. He then lets out a series of calls that are somewhere between a bark and a screech.

Momma snaps back a couple of similar calls at Charlie then slides a long tentacle upon the shore and wraps it gently around the little creature and guides him back into the water. The enormous bulb head slides back underwater and we watch the wake of the water as she heads back toward the middle of the lake.

It looks like a warzone around us.

“Well, my mom will be happy, Jeff says. “She told me before the trip she wanted me to make some memories that I will carry with me for a lifetime. I’m sure after this, a lifetime sharing this memory with a therapist will be in order.”

“Well,” I reply, “my mom is not going to be happy. She told me before the trip not to get into trouble and cause any damage.”