The Pond

As the late summer breeze blows through the dark and quiet forest, a middle-aged man woke up in his log cabin in the woods. He stretched in his bed, sat up, looked at his alarm clock, and saw that it was 3:30 A.M. He turned to have his legs dangling off his bed, yawned, and got up to get ready. He groggily walked to the bathroom. He struggled to stay awake as he relieved himself. As he washed his hands, he realized it was time for a shave. So he put the shaving cream on and started shaving at his chin stubble. He shaved each part of his chin carefully and slowly so as not to cut himself. After he finished shaving, he took a shower and washed his face.

The man stepped out of the shower, put a towel around his waist, and looked in the mirror. The only thing he saw in his reflection was his late wife resting on his shoulders. A few tears fell from his dim, green eyes, but he wiped them away. He sighed deeply and stepped out of his bathroom to get ready to face the day.

After getting dressed, he walked downstairs to make himself breakfast. As he ate, he looked across the small, circle dining table and blankly stared at the empty chair and high chair in front of him. His late wife's and his unborn baby's chairs. He saw them every day and couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness wash over him. But he didn't have the heart to get rid of them. He wasn't ready to move on. Tears continued to streamed from his eyes. They seemed to go on without end. But he wiped them away and tried to only focus on getting ready to go fishing. He took a deep breath in and finished his breakfast. Soon, he decided it was time to venture outside.

The brisk, cold morning air hit his face as he opened the door. He smiled with fond memories of he and his wife setting out in the early morning. The man then closed the door and walked to the pond next to his home. As he got into the pond, he heard the birds, the crickets, and the rustle of leaves from wildlife roaming through the woods. The sun was just barely rising at this time. The way the sun reflected off of the pond was majestic. The man found joy at this moment. So much so that he forgot about his pain from earlier; however, this joy was not long-lived.

Just as he was about to start fishing, everything went silent. There was no noise. No creatures roaming. No birds chirping. Nothing. It was quiet as a grave. The man looked around to see what had caused the silence but saw nothing that could have disturbed the natural peace of this serene moment. But then, he turned to the side, and out in the distance, he saw a woman. Face down in the pond. His eyes widened in fear. The next thing he knew, he ran to get his row boat to save the woman.

He was rowing frantically to make it to her body. But each time he seemed to be getting close, he only seemed further away from it. It was to the point that she looked as if she was simply a spec on the horizon. He looked down at his boat in defeat, but when he looked up, he was beside the body. He was baffled. He had just seen her so far away. But now she was right in front of him. He saw her long black hair, pale blue skin, and long white dress. He picked her up, put her in the boat, and checked her pulse. She was dead. He could've left her body in the river. But he was determined to bring her to shore. As he was rowing, he heard shallow, raspy breathing. But it wasn't his. He looked before him and saw the woman's body standing, facing him at the boat's edge. Her eyes were completely black, and her face was sunken in.

"Steeephheeeennn," she said in a raspy voice. He jumped back from her knowing his name.

"H-how do you..." he studied her pale and lifeless face and saw that it was his late wife. Tears welled up in his eyes and started spilling out. He couldn't control them. But when he wiped at them, the tears were black as if he was crying ink. The black substance started coming from his nose and mouth as it had come from his eyes. He was coughing and gasping for air as the ink-like substance overtook his lungs. His vision blurred, but he suddenly saw his late wife's body contort and spasm. Tentacles escaped her mouth, her feet floating slightly over the boat. Her head creaked until she was facing Stephen. The last thing Stephen saw was his wife lunging for him.

Then he woke up. He shot up in his bed, panicking. Sweat dripped down his forehead as if he had come down with a fever. Tears welled up in his emerald green eyes and obscured his vision. As the tears escaped his eyes and fell down his face, Stephen screamed so loud that birds outside flew away from the shout. He then collapsed on his bed, his arms covering his face.

"Vivida," he said to himself, "If only I could see you again."

He removed his arm and stared up at his ceiling. His gaze was stolen by it. His eyes widened as he stared with no end. He saw his wife Vivida and his unborn baby in the ceiling. Tentacles and ink surrounded them and came from their mouths. As he stared, his eyes started watering again. But as he kept staring, he witnessed a third figure emerge from his ceiling. The paint contorted to show the figure's face until finally, it appeared. It was.....him. His skin was a pale blue, his eyes completely black, and black veins ran through his body. He saw his body's eyes start crying ink. It didn't drip onto him. Instead, it went down his cheeks as if he was sitting up. Stephen then started crying the same ink-like tears his identical body on the ceiling was shedding. His eyes soon turned black, his skin turned pale blue, and his veins turned completely black. He screamed. He screamed so loud that glass could shatter. His corpse on the ceiling screamed with him. Their screams could be heard throughout the woods. But no sound escaped the house. Then they all vanished. Only to appear at the bottom of the pond. Next to the bodies of a pregnant woman and a middle-aged man.