Ghost on the Lake
By: Maria Dawson
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I love this picture of a lake by PXFeul this is what I picture for my story.
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| Nakula woke up in the wee hours of the morning, except, today felt a bit different than the rest. The air felt as if it was blowing in the opposite direction and with it brought the slight hint of.. moss..? |
However, today is the day Nakula
is traveling across the woods to travel into a new city. He packs up his horse
with all of his belonging and starts the trip to his new life.
“To the North, Bessie” he states
as they ride off towards new hopes and beginnings. Nakula had heard of this
town from a good friend named Arjuna. Who will be meeting up with him at the
foot of the woods around 20 miles away.
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| This is how I picture Nakula and his horse looked all packed up and ready to move. Picture from: Internet Archive Book Images |
“Man, I sure don’t remember these
woods being this dark...” Nakula states. “Yeah me either I just got the chills”
replied Arjuna. However, the two men continued on their path to the new city.
After the first patch of tree
they reached a clearing in the middle was a lake. The two gues diced to stop
and let the horses have a drink. “Hm.. I am having some weird déjà vu right
now, Arjuna” says Nakula leaning over the water to look in. Just then a great
wind blows the waters began to heave and foam. Within this wind he hears, “Before
you take our water, that has fed our ancestors for years you must answer some
questions.”
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| This is how I picture the foam on the water from the story: Picture by: Elena Campos Cea |
“Hey, Arjuna, did you hear
something?” askes Nakula? “Nope must just be your “vu” coming to haunt you!”
replies Arjuna. Nakula agrees and shakes his head and continues to take a drink
of water.
SPLASH!
Arjuna whips his head around to
see what the clatter was but nothing was there, not even a ripple. Curious he
heads over to the lake to peak in, “NAKULA” he yells yet there is no answer.
Suddenly the wind starts to appear again and with it the water begins to foam.
In the distance he hears a voice say, “Before you take our water, that has fed
our ancestors for years you must answer some questions”. Suddenly he realized his
friend was right and jumps in the water to help find him.
Unfortunately, for these two
friends, they never had the chance to see the new city and create a new life.
In fact, they were never seen again. Another victim of the ghost on the lake.
Writers Note:
For this story I was inspired by two
separate one that I thought would fit together quite nicely. I took the Story
of the Voice in the Lake by R. K. Narayan and The Forest and its Ghosts by Donald
A. Mackenzie. From the story of a voice in a lake I liked the part that stated,
“Nakula finds a lake, but a voice tells him that, before drinking, he must
answer some questions. Nakula ignores the voice, drinks, and dies.” I like the details
given from the Forest and its Ghosts that explained hoe the waters from the
lake began to heave and foam.
Bibliography:
The
Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Chapter: The voice in the
lake by R. K. Narayan
Hi Maria! So I thought this was going to be the Lake story, but I got thrown off by the other story you mixed it with! I really like what you did with the story, it felt creepy when they got to the woods, so I kinda guessed how it would end! I'm a bit sad they both died though lol. I wonder if anyone ever comes to look for them? The ghost of the lake would probably like more visitors
ReplyDeleteHi Maria,
ReplyDeleteI really like your use of imagery throughout the story as well as your actual use of images. Also just a little typo but in your authors note I think you misspelled "how". I also like your tone when you write. It's almost as if you are in the characters' head but it is still a narrator that is saying everything.
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteReally cool story, I think it had some really great aspects. However, I too noticed a few typos. At first, I wasn't sure if it was since the story had this southern vibe, but looking back it really did pull me away from your story! But besides that, I loved the horse and how the two men interacted I think you absolutely nailed the dialog.
Hi Maria!
ReplyDeleteLoved how you seamlessly intertwined the two stories great job. It was the right amount of creepy woods feel like blair witch! I was sad when they both died. Did anyone ever come to look for their remains or for them at all? Great visualization through the whole story and love how you used photos to help us better see what you're seeing.