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 Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 2:04 pm
Quote: In the Water (8 ): The Destiny City Reservoir is open year round but without fail always gets the most attention in the summer. It's a nice escape from the big city; it’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but recently something strange has been happening under the water. Sometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually.
“Be careful,” Paris warned her, ankle deep in the water, helping Elsie back to her feet.
It was another beautiful day. Hot, but not too hot, and sunny without being blinding, as puffy white clouds stretched across a blue sky, offering just the right amount of shade. Behind them, they had towels and blankets laid out beneath colorful umbrellas, with a cooler of drinks and a picnic basket for their lunch, and a couple of large tote bags full of beach toys.
At the moment, the kids seemed content to splash around in the water — as if they didn’t have their own pool at home.
“Don’t go out too far!” she called to Abby and Henry, who were in the midst of a spirited game of tag with a couple of other kids their age, dashing here and there through the water as they chased one another.
“A fishy touched my foot!” Elsie said. She splashed around in the water for a few moments, grabbing at a tiny object floating by, which turned out to be a pair of gold star charm.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 5:15 pm
They might have their own pool at home, but it was nice to get out in public every now and then. The kids needed to socialize with others their age, and they needed to explore the world outside their backyard. Although their backyard was quite impressive and they could probably spend quite a bit of time exploring without getting bored.
Chris stood by Paris in the water, smiling down at Elsie as she told them about her experience with the fish. “I wish the water was clearer,” he said quietly to Paris as he crossed his arms over his chest, watching as Henry and Abby splashed around. Not being able to see the bottom was a little concerning. He couldn’t even see the fish in the water, so he really hoped it had been a fish and not something else that touched Elsie’s foot.
“But this is nice. We should try to come out here or… go to other places more often. I think the kids are having fun,” Chris said with the optimism he was known for. Thankfully he had Paris to pull him back down if he floated too high up in the clouds.
“Did you just want to do pizza for dinner? I know I’ll be exhausted after today.”
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 5:53 pm
Paris had to agree. This was nice, even if it was a bit of a hassle packing everything up in the car, not to mention getting the kids to behave long enough to go anywhere. While they were all babies, she hadn’t minded being a homebody, but now that they were getting older, she liked that they could all get out more.
If only Chris’s schedule allowed for more than a day or two here and there.
“We can plan a vacation for the off season,” Paris suggested. “It’ll be cold here, but the other half of the world will still be warm.”
As for the topic of dinner...
“I want pizza,” Elsie answered for her, earning a laugh from Paris.
“What kind of pizza?”
“Cheese!” Elsie cheered, throwing her arms up in the air as she did so. She jumped and splashed again, then squealed and grabbed onto Chris’s leg. “Daddy, a fish again!”
Paris moved one of her feet through the water, but didn’t feel any fish. It probably swam away as soon as it made contact.
“Maybe the fishies think you taste good,” she teased.
A little further out, Henry splashed his twin sister in the face, and got splashed back twice as hard. He sputtered, rubbing water out of his eyes, but he was laughing as he did so. There was a brief lull as the kids taunted one another, making faces and encouraging each other to more mischief.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Henry disappeared beneath the water.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:55 pm
“A vacation away from this city would be great,” Chris admitted, sounding a little exasperated with how crazy things have been. Now that his mother was involved on top of everything else… Things could have been worse, of course. Chris was happy that his family was a safe haven for those trying to escape the Negaverse, but it meant very little time for them to relax.
Which… sounded incredibly selfish when he thought of it like that. There were others in pain and forced to do things they didn’t want to, and he was thinking about how he wanted to relax.
But the moment of shame he felt quickly disappeared when he heard Abby shriek for her twin, who had not resurfaced after going under the water.
“Elsie, stay with your mother,” he said, gently, but quickly picking her up from where she held onto his leg to pass to Paris before darting as quickly as he could out to where Abby and Henry were playing.
“Henry!” he tried calling, reaching the spot and dropping into the water so he could reach around with his arms. He used one to pull Abby behind him and out of the way, and to keep her from getting pulled under by whatever might have pulled Henry down.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:11 pm
“Henry!”
Paris took Elsie from Chris. Their youngest immediately wrapped her arms tight around Paris, scared by the loud, panicked voices and her missing older brother. Paris tried to shush her, rubbing Elsie’s back while she held her close, but it was difficult to be calm when Henry did not immediately reappear.
Abby was clearly distressed. The other kids were shouting. Water splashed everywhere. Paris hated standing there, hated waiting, hated not doing anything, but she had a three year old who was near tears that she couldn’t leave. Chris could handle it. He would pluck Henry right out of the water, and…
Henry popped up on his own, a few yards away from where he’d gone under. He sputtered again, and coughed up a little water, looking scared at first, and a little bedraggled, but when he noticed all the fuss being made, he offered up a smile.
“I’m here!” he said, and swam easily over to his father.
Thank God for swim lessons.
“Something grabbed my leg,” he explained, “but I kicked it and it let go!”
Paris willed her heart to slow down. She held Elsie tighter and walked further into the water, wanting to pull the twins out and away, but she stopped when she was knee deep, wary now of trickster fingers.
If one of the kids they were playing with was missing, she’d blame them, but they were all accounted for.
“Jesus, Henry,” Paris said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?”
Henry’s only response was a proud exclamation, “I can swim!”
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:30 pm
When Henry popped up out of the water, Chris felt like he could breathe again. He pushed himself out of the water and scooped Abby up under one arm, not wanting to take any chances with things grabbing ankles in water. He had no idea if whatever grabbed Henry was the same thing that was tickling Elsie’s ankles, but he knew they would be spending the rest of their outing out of the water.
“Swim over here, Henry,” Chris requested, holding out his hand for his son to make his way over, keeping a careful eye on him the entire time, and closing the distance between them until he could scoop Henry out with his other arm.
“You’re very good at swimming,” Chris agreed. Abby seemed a little more traumatized and had her face hiding against his shoulder as he carried them both over to Paris and Elsie. “Come on, I think it’s time for lunch and then… how about we get some ice cream after?”
Because he was hoping bribing them with something fun would lessen the disappointment of getting out of the water so soon.
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2021 7:22 am
Paris would be glad to get out of the water after that. Even as short as the time had been, it was still a fright. Henry didn’t seem any worse for wear, but the same could not be said for Abby, who was uncommonly quiet in the aftermath.
“I want a snow cone!” Henry decided, allowing his father to carry him, but squirming a little more than he might have otherwise, like he wanted to prove he could do it on his own, too.
“Lunch first,” Paris reminded him, before any of the children got carried away with sugary treats.
She shared a look with Chris, then stared suspiciously into the water as they all made their way back to the squeaky sand. The other children dispersed as well, returning to their parents with tales of fish and sharks and hands tickling their feet beneath the water.
Paris ********> Destiny City.
She half expected some monstrous Leviathan to rear out of the depths and attack.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort occurred, but the rest of their trip to the reservoir (despite Henry’s repeated pleas) was spent out of the water — eating their picnic lunch, hunting down snow cones, building sandcastles, and tossing a beach ball around.
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