Legend of FIVE: Shadow in the Lake

Anything But Normal

Image from betexion on pixabay.com

He was five years old.

He liked playing with the toys his parents bought for him from different stores.

He tucked away his favorite ones in his jackets, or coats, or in the pockets of his overalls where so many items fit in.

When his parents wandered off to the best parts of Oak Shire, he naturally came along. He held his parents' hands until they reached a space where he was free to roam wherever he wished.

Oak Shire had a festive town square. Many stores encircled a cobblestone roundabout with three shallow levels. A fountain stood at the top of the roundabout, in the very center.

A sculpture helmed the fountain, consisting of three maidens from a bygone time holding a large jar. The jar's open mouth guided a downpour of water into the fountain, which sloshed into the large disc and flowed within its boundaries.

Trevor often heard the water bubbling and gurgling. He also felt the gritty surface at the bottom of the fountain.

A rush scraped against his skin. It felt like a strong wind with the way it breezed about his person.

At age five, they were just feelings, sensations. Little Trevor Berenson could sense it all, but didn't really understand it all at the same time.

One day in the square, Trevor trotted to the edge of the fountain while his parents weren't looking. They were busy comparing fruits to one another, plopping the best ones in a paper bag they received from a grocery clerk.

Trevor held an action figure of one of his favorite heroes—he forgot which one, but it was someone important, someone special to him. He made the hero fly. Then, the hero slipped away from his fingers and fell into the water.

Trevor's heart leapt as the action figure sank to the bottom of the fountain. He made out the toy's shape, seeing it drowned amongst scores of pennies people flipped into the fountain while making a wish.

Trevor wanted a coin of his own, a way to bring the possession he prized back into his hands. He reached out with tears in his eyes. He was about to call his parents to his side.

He felt the action figure's smooth surface.

It was hard to explain at the time. The action figure just rose.

Trevor sensed the lift against its back. The toy spun upward as a part of the water's surface split open.

Trevor felt the water on his fingertips, though not a drop touched his hands. Suddenly, the action figure was there, back in his grasp.

The water went back to normal. Trevor was silent.

"Trevor Bernard Berenson!"

Trevor's mother scolded the boy as she pulled him away from the fountain. She made guilt-causing statements about kidnapping and strangers, about running into the wrong people or even drowning in the fountain's shallow water.

She told her son to stay close to her or her father next time. It wasn't good for him to be lost.

The boy nodded and stayed silent. He looked back at the fountain as he and his mother joined his stern-looking father at the bottom of the cobblestone roundabout's steps. The fountain's water was normal again.

On that day, Trevor realized that he was anything but normal and wasn't sure what to make of it. Even at age five, it was easy to say something like that.