One Weird Day

The Thing in the Lake

My name is Jennifer.

I live in the lake.

I'm twenty years old. I study business management. I have a boyfriend. I also have tons of friends, and we get together often, drinking beer, chatting about things. It's fun.

Except that I never really do any of that. I just lay at the bottom of the lake, looking up, waiting.

The summer sun is high in the sky, but none of its heat gets down here. Dozens of people move in the water above me. They swim, and play, and splash around, and then they leave, and the night falls, and still I lay, looking up. I'm meant to wait, so I wait.

Today, there are few people in the water. It's still early. One man passes above me, propelling himself with professional, powerful strokes. Then a woman, moving slowly, taking her time.

She looks familiar. Where have I seen her? She's too high above me to tell, so I push myself off the bottom and swim up lazily, following her path like a shadow, only getting higher, higher, closer to her. Her hair is black like mine. Tied in a ponytail, it creates a fan around her shoulders each time her face dips into the water. She wears no swimming goggles, and her eyes are closed. Her round face is full of freckles. I got such freckles, too, and a little spot above my left eyebrow. The one she has as well.

I swim underneath her, within arm's reach now. She looks just like me. I'm confused. Then, I'm upset. Then, I'm angry. She's not me. I'm Jennifer. Who is this imposter?

I reach out, grab her hand, and jerk her down. Her eyes fling open. She sees me. She screams underwater, and her air escapes in a bunch of bubbles. She fights me, trying to raise to the surface, but my hands are strong—not that I have any hands, now that I notice. But that's not the point. I'm Jennifer. She's not.

I drag her down.

Then, I lay at the bottom, feeling empty. For a short while, I don't know who I am, what my purpose is. Then, I remember.

My name is George.

I live in the lake.

I wait.