12 November 2012
I sat before Lake Black Mist. Legend had it that this very lake held a dark story. A monster or at least, a myth. I never believed it, of course, for I was a more, well, smart child and didn’t believe in giant black monsters that only appeared to naughty kids and ate them. Lake black mist is a calm lake, used to be part of the sea, but a big dam blocked it off. Yes, there was fish in there, but no two mile long scaly monsters. He had the nickname of the black shark, and many divers wanted to dive deep and murder the black shark. Many have tried, but failed every time.
“Famous diver Keith Jones is coming to Black Mist to kill the black shark!” cries a young boy. Keith Jones? A millionaire diver coming to Black Mist? A small town on an island in the middle of nowhere? And to look for something that doesn’t even exist? Waste of time. A flyer drifts out of nowhere. It read in big red letters, ‘Keith Jones, Famous Diver coming to kill Black Shark!’ and underneath a picture of a young adult with spiky blonde hair and hazel eyes. I walk back over to the lake and trace my fingers in circles on the black water.
A ripple. In the water. It spreads around the big lake with an expanding ring to replace the old one. “Where did that come from?” I say aloud. I put my hand out into the air. No rain. No one around throwing stones. Then it happens. Very quickly, a big dark scaly head with slits on his cheeks and big ears the twice the size of its head. Black eyes the size of tennis balls. It bares his pointy teeth. Bloodstains. Not thinking, I throw a small rock and it lands right between his two black tennis ball eyes. Right where its nose would be if it had one. His eyes squint and his slits close up and it lets out a roar. It slowly rises from the water, revealing a long black neck with more closed slits on it. It lets out another roar and bends its neck towards me.
I run. I look behind me and I see the whole body has emerged from the murky waters. Another roar. I run faster, cutting threw the small town. The beast runs after me on big black legs, its long tail thrashing about. It trips a few times and falls, but still chases me and a few citizens notice the big black creature and run, locking their door behind them. I get to the forest and hide behind a tall tree.
It follows, going into the forest, straight past me. I race back to the lake, gasping for breath. “Hello, darling, what’s your name?” says a west Americans male voice. I turn and see Keith Jones.
“Heather. And I think I just found your monster.” I say.
“That’s cute, Heather Feather, you making up stories to impress old Keith. Another fan, huh? Where do you want an autograph? T-shirt, forehead or phone case?”
“There.” I say as I point towards the scaly monster which was running towards us.
“Oh, I don’t think he’s a fan,” He says, getting a net gun from his shoulder strap, “carry this baby around just in case this happens.”
He shots the net and it binds around the black shark’s neck. It gracefully falls to the earth, and people come to see the damage. Keith takes another net out of his jacket pocket and stuffs it in the gun. I look into the beast’s eyes. It was scared.
“You know what, Keith J, I am a fan, and can I hold your net gun?” I say.
“OK, darling, just for a sec.” He replies with a smile.
I grab it and pull the trigger. A net gropes around Keith as I pull the net off the beast.
“Run, get into the water, HURRY!” and as if it understood me, he steps up and jumps into the water.
It trusted me. It believed me. It wasn’t a best, it was just scared.
The Sea Monster • Opuss № I