What Lies Beneath

Here's my contribution to the "creepy lake" theme......

What Lies Beneath

It was more than the absence of light that gave being to the water's darkness. The darkness was palpable. It was like a sludge that eddied and swirled, a cold ooze that reeked of rot and death. The darkness held within itself all the suffering of the world since the beginning, and legions lurked in its vast depths. The denizens frequently broke through the surface, enduring the light long enough to torment those who lived in the light.

Some creatures of the darkness emerged less often than the others. These ancient ones, enormous and fearsome, slithered near the bottom of the darkness, emerging only once in while to wreck the most horrific crimes against the world. Many others, smaller and more eager to venture into the light, swam near the surface. Though not as powerful as their deeper cousins, nonetheless they plotted.

They plotted against of the Foolish, the Naive who cannot resist them. They plotted against the Elders who talk too much to the creatures' Enemy, the wise ones who send them all shrieking into the depths with just one prayer. They considered them. Some of the Elders were growing weary and were faltering. The creatures stirred and rippled in their silty nests at the thought of this. But there were those who are still strong, who could resist and prevail.

So the denizens of the deep water plotted against the Strong and the Wise to use their own inherent failings and flaws to bring them down. They have hurt them and they will hurt them more. They will drag them down to the depths of the Lake and torment them for their own amusement.

So they schemed, and if laughter were permitted, it would have pealed through the darkness.

L.Gloyd (c) July 7, 2006