Lake Casper

The smell of smoke from last night's bonfire clung to the fabric of Rebecca Larsen's over sized hoodie as she pulled it over her head and stepped out into the pine scented air. It was half past six in the morning and she was the only person awake in the world. With footsteps muffled by moss, Rebecca winded her way down to the rocky shores of Lake Casper where a sheet of mist hung over the water. It was cool outside but pleasantly so. Rebecca's breathe escaped in tiny clouds. She glanced back towards the tents where her family was sleeping and turned toward the lake.

As she approached the water's edge, a sound cut through the campsite where she stood. A humming sound. She strained her ears. No, a cacophony of humming sounds. High and low, some moving. It was eerie. The quiet forest was coming alive with discordant vibration. Rebecca squinted to see where the sound was coming from but her eyes were only met by fog and branches.

She thought about running back to the tent to wake her parent's but felt glued to the spot. The sound swelled around her. It gave textures to the earth and pulsated down the path to the water's edge. Rebecca tried to speak but found she had no voice. Groping with her mind, she tried to think of some explanation or prayer or something that her fourteen years of life had supplied her with to react to the sound. But the more she thought, the more the humming seemed to drown out her thoughts. Her head throbbed. Her eyes itched. Her heart pounded in her chest. The jarring humming grew louder.

"Move." A clear voice cut through the humming.

Rebecca blinked and focused on the water's edge. The set of kayaks her father had tied up were sitting on the bank. Stumbling, she started towards them. With numb fingers she pulled apart her father's knotted ropes and dragged the kayak into the water. Rebecca scrambled frantically aboard and pushed towards the silence of the lake.