“It was only a duck pond, at the back of the farm.”
Standing in the middle of the packed-dirt lane, his demeanor said more than his words. If he made that benign assertion often enough, people would believe him, or he would believe it too.
Old folks, like Miz Rose, swore there was a prehistoric creature lurking in its depths. Proud of having a local cousin of Loch Ness’ monster, they kept petitioning the city board to have an annual festival. The resulting tourism, they said, would breathe some life into this dying town.
Die-hard anglers put more credence in stories of a mammoth catfish. Ugly as sin at frying size, if a granddaddy could escape their nets long enough, he could get to the size of a full-grown man. Anyone seeing a cat that big wouldn’t be blamed for claiming he saw the devil.
Under the full-moon sky, the water was smooth as glass and reflected the pale, yellow light back to the night. Huge bubbles broke the surface on the far shore. A trail of froth moved across the pond in a lazy zigzag.
As we watched the bubbles and ripples churning the dark water, I took his hand. I gripped his fingers so tightly I heard him gasp, but he didn’t pull away.
A wave was building as it neared our shore, as if a massive creature was moving under the water. Its wide shoulders surging forward, pushing a wall of evil toward us.
I held tight to his hand and buried my face in his chest. He wrapped his other arm protectively around me, pulling me in close. I could hear the rapid beating of his heart, and turned toward the pond, afraid of what was coming, but still needing to see.
As the wave built to its crescendo, just as it crested, it flatten out to nothing. The pond once again glassy smooth and flawless.
Willing our hearts to calm, our breath to still, we finally loosened our hold. Only then did we notice how quiet it was. The first chirp of a frog broke the silence and we shook off the spell we fell under.
“See, I told you.” He ran his fingers through his sweat drenched hair. “It’s only a duck pond.”
Thin spiral notebook 
Wow! Not only was the descriptions and the imagery associated with the pond incredible, I loved (like a lot of other people obviously) the relationship between these characters. And the tension does ratchet up quickly.
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I love the line “cat that big…. saw the devil.” Paints a great image of some horrific beast swimming beneath the waters.
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that feels like how love feels at the beginning, Terrifying, exciting, you can’t let go even when you think you ought to, move away but you’re rooted and once it’s over..you’re all sweat soaked and making “no big deal” out of it. I loved the bubbles and the heart pounding.
WOW.
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This is what I enjoy about our writing groups… that there can be so many interpretations and each one is valid and intriguing on its own. I love your take on this piece.
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🙂
I am at the heart of me, A hopeless (hopeful) romantic.
I just wish my muse would come back, speak to me, inspire me…I feel so sad that I can read everyone’s words and have so many feelings about them and yet not have words for my own, of my own.
but I do love thinking that my take on this was worthy of a smile.
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I really love the way the description fits the pond. I also love the illusions you weave through the story to build suspense until my heart is beating as rapidly as theirs were.
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And, of course, just as he says that the monster leaps from the water, slurps him up in a single gulp, and slowly slides back toward the depths – leaving you to leap with both feet upon its tail, stopping it dead in its slimy track, you grab it and fling it, with superhuman strength, over you head and onto the ground which causes the monster to burp him up, all covered with slime, but alive. At which point you allow the poor creature to slither away to consider its misfortune.
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You are such a romantic, Lou. Fighting sea monsters for the one you love, that’s devotion. ox
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I so love where you went with this prompt. Bubbles to a potential monster living in a pond. Wow! I couldn’t help but think of the whales around me when I go paddle boarding in the wintertime.
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I’m so glad you liked it. I was playing around with possible ‘bubble’ options, and this is what wormed its way out of my brain.
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Quite a tension build-up! Animal Planet’s Jeremy Wade (of “River Monsters”) would be disappointed. 😉
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Jeremy should give up so soon, the calm could be deceptive.
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A great response to a one word prompt.
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Thanks! And thanks for stopping by.
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only a duck pond, but obviously so much more. beautiful story, will there be a chapter 2?
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