Beneath still waters

Others Stories | Nov 9, 2011 | 10 min read
72 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Others Stories

Beneath still waters

Once when I was fourteen, my uncle took me away for the summer.  He had purchased some property by the Allegany river, and asked me to help with some of the remodeling.  The house was quite run down, for someone of his financial means, but river property was hard to come by.  My uncle was still a bachelor at the time, but was living with a woman, named Sandy.  She was a beautiful young woman, with long dark hair and green eyes.  I'm not ashamed to admit, that at fourteen I thought of her quite frequently.
Anyhow, unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a hidden agenda for my visit.  My parents had been  brutally at each other's throats, ever since I could remember.  And, after fourteen years they finally decided to call it quits.  But the fighting did not end there… in fact, it had only just begun.  So everyone, including my uncle agreed, that I should spend that summer away from home.  Sandy, in her attempts to council me, insisted that it wasn't my fault.  I understood this, but it was hard to ignore the fact, that the only reason they ever got married in the first place, was because of me.
We arrived at his new place just before noon.  My uncle helped me with my bags, and showed me to the upstairs room, that he had prepared for me.  Again, it was a little run down, but far better than the mobile home living I was use to.  Here, I had a walk in closet, hardwood floors, and a large bay window, that overlooked the river.  Being the pessimist that I am, I had already dreaded the thought of leaving this place, and going back to, what ever awkward living arrangement, my parents would have worked out for me.
At dinner, I noticed that my uncle's mind was a bit preoccupied.  Sandy kept trying to have a conversation with him, but his eyes would just keep wondering out the sliding glass doors.  He had docked his boat, last night and was eager to try it out.  In fact, his anticipation was to the point, that his palms literally became itchy.  Its funny to think about it now, but the only part I dreaded about staying with my uncle, was that boat.  He was a different person behind the wheel of a boat, as appose to a car.  In a car, he drove so agonizingly slow.  In fact, I counted eight cars, that passed us on the ride over.  Each one had passed us, blaring there horns, and flipping us off.  Yet somehow… he never seemed to notice.  Ah, but it was behind the wheel of that boat, when the transformation, from old granny driver to dare devil occurred.
No sooner did I put the last bite of Sandy's dry, hard meatloaf into my mouth, that my uncle, (by the way his name was Richard, but everyone called him Dick,)  stood up from his chair, and announced that we were taking the boat for spin.  I grabbed what I had for swimming trunks, which were a pair jeans, cut off at the knees, and helped him untie his boat from the dock.  We made a few laps, up and down the river, and surprisingly he was quite conservative,  in the way he handled the boat.
After a spell, he then cut the engine, and allowed the boat to drift calmly down stream.  He asked if I had ever skied before?  "No," I replied, I could barely swim, let alone ski.  But as always, he convinced me to try something, that I would never do, other wise.  He gave me a quick demonstration, with Sandy at the wheel, then swam back to the boat, saying, "See how easy that was?  Now you try it."
At first, it seemed that he was right.  It was tearing the hell out of my arms, but I must admit.. I was beginning to get the hang of it.  But as always, my uncle began to drive faster and faster, and it wasn't long before his reckless behavior would get the better of him.  I remember being worried, that he was spending too much time looking back at me, and not in front of him.  Suddenly, I heard Sandy cried out, "Boat!"  my uncle quickly swerved to the left, to avoid hitting the larger pontoon boat, that was quietly drifting afloat.
The sudden jerk was more than I was ready for.  The handle bar ripped from my fingers, sending me speeding, uncontrollably across the river.  With what little control I had, I managed to steer myself towards the river bank, and avoid colliding with the other boat.  I should of just bit the water, right there.  But I was stunned over my situation, and wasn't able to think in time, to avoid hitting the high dock, that stretched ten yards into the river.  Of course I can't honestly say, that was the whole truth.  I do recall this strange fascination, that lasted for only a split second.  I wondered, what it would be like to collide with that dock.  It was almost as if, part of me wanted to.

I did not understand the impulse… what it meant, nor where it came from.  I only know, that the morbid thought had crossed my mind.  I finally managed to fall backwards.  And for a moment, I thought I was going to avoid it completely.  But somehow, the base of the walkway intercepted with my forehead.  I heard a loud pop, as a bright light, flashed before my eyes.
I know that I was not unconscious for very long.  I was quickly rescued, by the passengers from the pontoon boat, and brought to shore.  But I swear that what I saw in those few short minutes, was enough to institutionalize the most soundest of minds.
At first I saw nothing…  nothing but the deep watery depths, that distorted what little light could slip between the planks of the dock.  But even at that moment, I had the queer sense that something out there was lurking.  Soon I became aware of these pale misshapen bodies swimming towards me.  I thought that they were swimmers, coming to rescue me, but then I noticed something, in the way they moved.  They were feminine in nature, yes.  But, they swam as if they were eels, with no spines… much in the same way, the tail of a kite, dangles freely in the air.
As they drew closer, I could count five of them.  They had milky silhouettes of young, slender women.  But…  their legs never kicked… not once; nor did their arms ever leave their side.  Their long straight hair, was as white, as their skin.  Their lips were pale blue and their eyes, blood red.  Now only inches away from me, they for the first time, extended their arms out, and grabbed me by every limb.  Their humanlike expressions seemed playful, but I could sense devious intent, behind their smirking faces.
Gently, they began to nudge me, deeper and deeper into the dark abyss.  I felt the air, escaping from lungs, as they filled with water.  My fear was uncontainable now, as I struggled to free myself.  But their grip only tightened, as wicked scowls grew upon there faces.  And soon there nails, like those of  wild animals, began to puncture into my skin.  The pain was enough to convince me that I wasn‘t dreaming.  I could even taste my blood, in the water.
Wile dragging me down to their place of origin, they suddenly became distracted,  perhaps even frightened by something above us.  They were reluctant to loosen there grip at first, but what ever it was, seemed to be drawling nearer.  One by one, they abandon me, until I was finally free of them all.  I tried to swim, as I watched them fade into the black canvas of unforeseeable depths.  I felt someone from behind, grab me from my waist and assist me.
When we broke the surface, we were met with eager arms, that stretched out from the docks, to pull us up.  Delirious, I laid there until the low muffles became clear voices.  I peeled open my eyes and saw a man over me. As water dripped from his hair, he asked, in between breaths, "you…  okay?"  I nodded slightly,but did not vocalize my answer.  "Christ!" someone else shouted, "Look at that knot on his head!"  Then I heard my uncle's voice call out, as bare feet pounded the dock, "Move over!"   His head now, eclipsing the sun, my uncle asked me, "Do you need a doctor?"
Ignoring him, I asked my rescuer, "Did you see them?"  "See who?" he asked, calking his head to one side."What did they look like?""I don't know…  like albino mermaids or something!"The man looked at me with a bewildered face, not knowing whether to call an ambulance or bust out  laughing.  Of course, the others chose the obvious, snickering as they wondered off.  "You were unconscious," he continued in a stern voice.  "No I wasn't.  I was swimming back up when you got to me."
The man looked up at my uncle, as if looking for some explanation, to which he simply stated," He doesn't even know how to swim."  "Then what was he doing in the water, without a life jacket?" the man bellowed back.  "I can swim," I interjected, "I just cant float!"
That night, I laid with an ice pack over my head.  I heard them arguing so loudly from the down stairs, that I was almost fooled into thinking, that I was back home.  "Yet another happy relationship, ruined because of me,"  I mumbled to myself, before gradually slipping off to sleep.
That night I had an unusual dream…  It wasn't the dream it's self that was so unusual, in fact I had these dreams quite often at that age…  (More than I care to admit) but never before, was I so convinced that it was real.  I dreamt that Sandy had snuck into my room, wile my uncle was fast asleep.  I awoke to find her hands upon me, to which she said, "I was just checking to see how your head was doing."  "It's fine," I replied, "The swelling has gone down a lot."  But she only chuckled, as she sat down on the edge of my bed.  "I wasn't talking about that head, Silly," she whispered, wile slowly unbuttoning her blouse.
Of course I felt guilty!  I mean my poor sweat uncle, (who damn near, splattered my brains all over the docks) was fast asleep down stairs, wile his girlfriend was up here, trying to seduce me.  And might I say…  she wasn't doing a half bad job either.  But just as she had opened her silk blouse, (revealing a bosom, that seemed much larger, than in real life) I heard a tapping noise coming from somewhere outside.  I awoke and realized that, yet again… I was only dreaming.   But the tapping noise only continued.  I searched the room for the source of this faint noise, and bestowed an ere sight.
Outside my window, a long, bleached arm stretched across and tapped it's nail on the glass…  tap, tap, tap.   I leaped up and tried to scream, but not a word could I form.  The tapping continued, only now with the accompaniment of a low, soft voice, "Little pig, little pig, let us in."  I then heard the faint giggles of others as well.  I didn't need to see the rest of her, to know who she was.  Those strange creatures from the deep, had not forgotten me.  In a deep growl, I forced these words through my throat, "No! Go away!"  To which the voice responded," Then we'll huff… and we'll puff… and open the window."
To my horror, I saw that the latch to the window, was indeed open.  I scurried over and locked it before they could enter.  From this distance, I saw all five of them.  Vanilla nude bodies, perched upon the shingles of the intersecting, slanted roofs.  The alpha then pressed her palms against the glass, and gave me a chilling  stare.  "Go away!" I shouted again.  But she simply rolled her eyes, pretending to contemplate the notion, then sneered at me, wile shaking her head, "Uh ah!"  The fear had overcome my rage, and now my voice shuttered with every syllable, "What do you want with me?  What did I ever do to you?"
"Did you like your dream?" she asked, as the others giggled once more.  "You can dream like that forever… if you would only open this window."   "Why?  Why are you doing this?"  I pressed on."Because you saw something, you weren't supposed to see…"Dumbfounded, I looked at her as she leaned into the glass.  Her red eyes, burned holes into me… " What Did I see?""Us…" was her simple reply.
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I raced out of the bedroom, and down the stairs.  I went to my uncles room and flicked on the lights.  But the bed was empty…  it hadn't even been slept in.  I searched every room, calling out to them, but the only response was from the river creatures, as they somehow entered my room without breaking the window.  "They're not here… they're at the hospital," they calmly spoke as they strutted down the stairs.  "What are they doing there?" I demanded.  "Watching you die…"
In that very moment, I could see myself lying on a hospital bed, as if I were having some kind of premonition.  There was a breathing machine next to me, wile nurses and doctors scurried around the room.  From behind a long window, I saw my parents and uncle.  They had grim looks upon there faces, but oddly, none of them were crying.  They simply just stood there for a wile, then quietly walked away.  I then found myself back at the river.  It was still dark out, and I was being led by the Strange girls, down the long, moonlit dock.  I seemed to no longer have any will, as we slowly crept down off the dock and into the still waters
The temperature was so painfully cold, that a chill raced up and down my spine, and tingled the top of my head.  Yet, I did not even flinch.  We continued to wade in the murky river, until the water was up to our chins.  I never took my eyes off them, as one whispered, "Sleep now and forever… and when you dream… you will dream of us."  Then, so gently… into these silent waters, we sank like stones…
I must have dreamed a thousand lives, with my soul upon that river bed.  Dreams of happier times, with forgotten friends… surreal quiet moments, in my mother's arms.  Even a trip to the museum, with my father.But mostly… I dreamt of them.
Then one day I awoke, and found myself back in the hospital.  Very delicately, a nurse broke the news to me.  The skiing accident had left me in a state of a coma for almost two years.  In which time, my mother and father had died, running a red light, wile on there way to the hospital, to see me.  Sandy had left my uncle a broken man.  And with deep regret for his careless actions, he decided that he couldn't live with himself anymore, and put a gun to his head.  They say that the blood stain never came out of the carpet… and that the house still stands empty today.  I myself had tried to put my life back together, and move on.  But there is this constant lingering of guilt, that surrounds me everywhere I go.  My fault or not, it still persists…  So many nights, I would lie awake, wondering if I was happier at the bottom of that river, at least in spirit…  neither dead nor alive, simply dreaming.
Understand, that this decision was not made without a heavy heart.  For tomorrow, I will be returning to the river.  And back into the arms of those beautiful demons, who guard the gateway from this realm, to the realms beyond…  Beneath still waters

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Reviews

Gabriela Nov 11, 2011

I liked it!!

Jagrit Nov 11, 2011

A very simple and nice way of telling the story... Keep it up Richard..

Jerry W. McKinney Nov 10, 2011

A jet ski is a water vehicle. Sounds like he was waterskiing, ya might want to fix that.

Amit Nov 10, 2011

interesting..

Rob Read Nov 10, 2011

A very good story. A few unexpected twists make it all the more readable.

Hughie S Nov 10, 2011

A spooky,haunting story.

Richard Schnelzer Nov 10, 2011

oops! thanx...

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