So there she sat and there she would stay. Her toes skimmed the surface of the placid water. Her eyes watched the ripples radiating around her while a small fish, swimming in the shade of the dock, continued to swim calmly, undisturbed by the commotion above. The girl looked out across the vast lake sparkling in the sunlight and wondered if the story her father used to tell her was true. She looked up at the sky and squinted her green eyes. An elephant cloud stepped gracefully through the sky then twisted into a candy cane, which cracked into three pieces before dissolving into nothing.
And as the old fisherman lay on his deathbed, he whispered to his youngest son, “I’ve spent all my life fishing in these waters. They’ve supported us for years now; haven’t once let this family down. I want to tell you a story, son. Years ago, when your mother and I first moved to this here cabin, I caught a large fish. This fish was as long as my arm and as wide as your mother at the time; she was eight months pregnant. This was no ordinary fish, mind you. Once I had captured it after a great battle of tug of war, I held it in my arms and prepared to gut it. The second I drew my blade, the fish began wheezing. I was quite startled and my blade fell to the ground. The fish began wheezing louder and louder and I could swear it was saying “please” over and over again. I shook my head and whispered, “No, no, fish don’t talk.” I was quickly proved wrong as the fish started explaining how it was a fish god that looked after and took care of the lake and that if I were to kill it, all the other fish would die and the lake would dry up and be no more. The fish continued to explain that if I were to spare its life, it would make sure there were always enough fish to feed my family and that I would never have to worry about money ever again. I trusted this fish, maybe because I was in shock, maybe simply because it looked like an honest fish, and so I threw it back into the water. Before this strange fish swam away, it gave me a warning. It told me that it would provide for my family and me as long as I wasn’t greedy and only took what I needed. I agreed and the fish disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
“I spent the rest of this day pondering about whether this fish told me the truth. The very next day I discovered it had. I didn’t have to wait more than three minutes before I had a bite on my line. The fish I caught seemed, at first, to be just a regular, healthy fish, but when I sliced it open, I found a diamond inside. This continued day after day; every fish contained a diamond. I put these diamonds in a bag and, over the years, the bag became very full because, living out here, I didn’t have much need for money, and I couldn’t be greedy like the fish said.
“Son, now that I am dying, I need you to return the diamonds to the lake, for keeping them would be greedy. Just go to the end of the dock and sprinkle them all around so that the lake will forever sparkle in the sun.”
The son listened. He immediately found the large sack of diamonds and ran to the lake. His toes curled around the edge of the dock as he opened the bag and let his hand plunge into the collection of small stones. He stood silently for a moment before releasing the gems he clutched in his fist. The second the gems touched the water, the boy could see the lake sparkling like never before. When the bag was empty the boy looked out at the water and smiled.
The girl felt the water splash up against her naked ankles. She then watched as the cool lake settled once more. To her great surprise, she soon felt the water lick her ankles yet again. The small waves soon grew to great swells and the girl was only left enough time to let out a quick gasp before she was engulfed by the tidal wave that, for just a few seconds, hovered in the air and made it impossible to see the clouds that had just formed into what seemed to be a checker board. A large fish swam next to the girl and chuckled to itself as it watched her swirl around in the water. The next moment, the girl found herself soaking wet, on the floor of the forest that wrapped around the lake, surrounded by a fair amount of small diamonds scattered about the wet dirt she was sitting in. Two voices could be heard, echoing softly through the trees. Somewhere nearby, a tree branch cracked and fell to the ground, not at all disrupting the bird napping in its nest that sat upon the branch.
The warm breeze moved quietly through the calm grove, causing gentle waves to roll across the long soft grass. It was an ocean in itself, yet nothing like an ocean at all. There were no fish, but there were bugs, no gulls, but butterflies, no eels, but snakes, and no sand, only rich soil. This peaceful community was disrupted only by two lumberjacks, standing stiff like trees, shin-deep in the long grass, separated by about ten feet, six thousand bugs, four butterflies, and one snake. Each man was looking in a different direction, content with his thoughts, carefully observing the world around him. The switch was flipped in one of their minds and their train of thought took a sharp turn.
"Oi!"
The second lumberjack was jolted from his meditation and his eyes flicked from the third smallest leaf on the top branch of a nearby bush to the first lumberjack.
“What is it?”
“What are you doing over there?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You! Why’d you move?”
“Perhaps it is you who moved.” The second lumberjack’s gaze drifted back to the leaf he had been so interested in a moment before. “I’ve been in this here spot this whole time.”
“No, no. I swear you were just over here!”
“I haven’t moved an inch.”
“Are you sure? A minute ago you were not that far away.”
“Where did you get this twisted notion? Look at this grass, my friend, it’s rich and lush and completely undisturbed except for where my feet rest and where yours do. If I had been over there, you would be able to see the spot I was in.”
“I suppose you're right.”
“I know I am.”
“Where are we?”
“We’re in nature.”
“Well, yes, but what are we doing?”
“Standing in this luscious grass.”
“Well, yes, but why?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Well... I suppose it doesn't.”
“Exactly.”
The girl grabbed hold of a nearby tree branch and hoisted herself out of the diamond-speckled mud. She followed a small yellow bird through the trees to a peaceful creek where the bird began bathing. The girl unbuttoned her brown dress and let it fall to the ground, leaving her standing in only a delicate white slip. She kneeled at the edge of the water and carefully lowered her dress into the creek. The cool water passed through the dress, washing away the mud and restoring the original white that the dress was intended to be. The rays of the sun fell softly upon the girl’s shoulders as she twisted the water out of her dress before hanging it over a tree branch to dry. The girl stepped quietly over to a log lying on the ground and sat down. She brushed her feet against the dirt and uncovered a worn piece of paper. The writing on the paper was curly and smooth. The small yellow bird finished its bath and shook its feathers before flying away.
Pages turn,
Words fall flat,
The photograph resounds.
Look into the photograph,
See the days before and after
The way things were.
Sharp edges cut the skin
As a memory burns the mind.
Trapped within,
The caged bird longs to fly
And sing beneath the vast clouds,
But is still.
He remembered the night
When truth was a lie,
And lie a truth,
It reminded him to forget.
She turned suddenly
At a sound that pulled
Her awareness from her pocket.
Her face strained familiarly
As the light disappeared.
The whirlpool spins rapidly.
The camera must be capturing.
The girl’s fingers caressed her hanging white dress slowly and found it was dry. She put it on over her white slip and carefully tied the bow at her back. She moved through the forest away from the creek. Her eyes caught a light shimmering between the trees and she made her way towards it. The trees became less and less dense and the shimmering light got brighter and brighter. The girl felt sand between her toes and realized she had stepped out of the forest and on to a serene beach. She sat and ran her fingers through the fuzzy sand. The sun was setting on the horizon. The girl watched the colors in the sky change and even though the sun was almost set, the girl could still feel its warmth on her shoulders. So there she sat and there she would stay.