The Diner

Some of the lakes round here hold some very strange secrets....

The atmosphere in the diner was jittery. People spoke to each other in hushed tones, someone dropped a fork with a noisy clatter, a woman laughed nervously.

The object of interest seemed to be the waitress. A plain slab of a woman with an impassive face, she stopped by my booth to take my order.

``Ham and eggs,” I said.`` She scribbled on her pad, swept the rest of the customers with an icy glance, and walked away.

As she went behind the counter and through the door to the kitchen, a stream of chatter started up around me. I caught snatches of it.

``Did you hear? – hung hisself – not human – he musta known - ”

She came back into the diner and the chatter abruptly stilled. She walked back to my booth with slow, measured steps.

``No ham,” she said. ``Sausage?”

I nodded. The people in the booth opposite were whispering, giving her furtive glances, and she quelled them with a look.

``Take no notice,” she said to me. ``Just passing through, are yer?”

``Yes,” I said. ``I’m stopping over for a day or two to get in some fishing on the lake.”

``You’ll hear talk, `bout my husband killin’ hisself down there.” she said heavily. ``Don’t mind it. Folks got nuthin’ better to do.” She glared around the diner again and made her slow, heavy way back to the kitchen.

One of the women at the opposite booth leaned across to me.

``I wouldn’t go down to the lake, if I were you,” she said. ``We don’t believe it was suicide – there’s something down there.” She slid back into her seat as the waitress returned.

I finished my breakfast and went back to my motel room to collect my fishing gear. The talk in the diner didn’t worry me. I’d taken a fancy to this place, to the neat motel and diner on the banks of a lake where I was told the fishing was good. It was sad to think of the tragedy that had occurred here, but I wasn’t about to let it spoil my one break of the year.

The lake was beautiful and peaceful in the morning sun. I noticed there were only a couple of others fishing there, and those on the far side of the lake, but that just made it more pleasant. At lunchtime, I bought sandwiches from the diner and some takeaway chicken for later, deciding to make a day of it.

As night fell on the lake, I unrolled my sleeping bag, planning to stay for the night, and watch the sun come up.

The Moon rose high, and I ate my cold takeaway, at peace with the world. Then I saw it. A roiling on the still, placid surface of the lake, that suddenly erupted as something leapt out of its depths.

The moonlight shone off its slick body, vaguely human in shape, as it moved slowly toward me. I froze in horror, my chicken falling from my hands.

``Don’t move!” a voice commanded.

I turned and saw the waitress standing behind me. In her arms she held a small child. Its eyes shone like dark slick body of the monster.

``He won’t hurt you,” the woman said. ``He likes chicken.”

Strange webbed hands, with jet black claws, scooped up my fallen chicken. I watched with horrified fascination as the monster carefully, almost daintily, stripped away the meat with sharp rows of teeth like a shark.

The woman and the kid walked down to the water’s edge. The child wriggled out of her arms and staggered to the monster. A clawed, webbed hand rested briefly on the small head.

The woman looked back at me.

``You won’t say nuthin’,” she said. ``No one would believe you anyhow. My darlin’ here– “ she glanced lovingly at the monster - ``he’s not from round these parts. I found him when his ship crashed in the lake, and I nursed him back to health. Someday he’s goin’ home and we’re going with him.”

I started to gather up my belongings prior to flight. But there was one more thing I had to ask.

``Your husband,” I said. ``Did he kill himself because – “

``Yes,” she said, not looking back at me. ``So would you, if you found out your child weren’t yours – weren’t even human.”