The Whispering Waters Will Hold Me Tonight

FACT: I've never actually heard that song.


I'm standing by the lake, something I hadn't done since the year before. It's bright out, and the leaves are turning orange, making it too late in the year for me to be at camp, but there I am, standing at the stagnant, algae covered lake with a snapping turtle popping out of the water a few feet away from me.
As I'm standing there, relishing in the peace and quiet, the beauty of the mountains, and the slight chill of the air, I realize I'm not as alone as I thought I was.
There's someone, a girl, standing across the lake from me.
When the breeze fluttered through the trees, whipping my hair around my face, her hair didn't stir, nor did her faded white dress with what looked like water damage around the bottom hem.
Blinking, hoping she weren't real, I opened my eyes, only to find her closer, not completely across the lake from me, but rather closing the distance around the edge.
She was young, about eight, with straight dark hair. She wasn't quite tan, but not quite pale either. Her skin was almost the color of worn pages in a secondhand book.
Closing my eyes again, I pictured being alone, though when I opened them again, the breeze was rustling my hair and the child was only yards from my side, her hair still perfectly straight and flat, the loose sun dress she wore seemed frozen, unaffected by the brisk wind.
Now that she was closer I could see her face. Her eyes were wide, a watery green that faded out into the rest of her eye. Her pupils were large, too large for the harsh sunlight. She stared as though she hadn't been told that it was rude to. She held an attentive, yet helpless look. Her lips were so pale they were nearly blue and they were parted just enough that I could see that she was missing a tooth. A few light freckles were splattered over her narrow nose.
With her arms pressed tightly to her sides, she seemed awkward and lost.
"Excuse me," she whispered, her lips barely moving, sadness flashing through her eyes. Her voice sounded like shattering crystal in my ears
"Yes?" I whispered in return, looking at her fully. Her dress was indeed water damaged, dirty, as though she'd been standing in the disgusting lake. Her feet were covered with a very dirty pair of what had been pristine white socks, the lace around the tops was torn and hanging by simple threads, the only hope to stay in contact with the small cotton socks.
"Can you help me?" she asked, tilting her small head, her thin face looking drained in the light. The sound of breaking glasses echoed in my mind.
"I can try," I answered, reaching for her.
Then she began screaming.
She threw back her head, her hair flying back in a whirlwind that only surrounded her. Her eyes were rolling back into her head, her mouth opened as wide as it would go, and entire rooms of china breaking sounded in my ears. Only when I covered them did i realize that the noise was coming from her.
The sound pulsed in my covered ears, closing my eyes I waited for her to stop shrieking.
After what seemed like an eternity, the screaming ended and I opened my eyes. Gusting winds still swirled around her, tangling her hair and whipping at her dress, the material lashing at her frail legs. She was breathing heavily as she straightened herself when the wind stopped suddenly. When she stood upright again, she looked as though nothing had happened. "Excuse me," she said again.
"Yes?" I asked breathlessly.
"Can you help me?"
"Help you with what?" I tried, praying she wouldn't begin screaming again.
"The wind blew my hat onto the lake."
Looking back toward the lake, I spotted the hat- a white sunhat with a wide brim and a white ribbon tied in a bow around it.
When I turned back to look at her, she was only inches from me, and I stumbled back in surprise.
"Would you please go out and get it for me?"
"Sure..." I said, a bit uneasy with her.
"Thank you," the girl smiled a small-toothed smile, making her look gentle and innocent.
I began to head for the dock, only to find myself covering my ears and and closing my eyes again, as though the pressure of her screams would cause my brain to explode.
I turned, bravely opened my eyes and went back to her and the screaming ended.
She straightened herself again and said, "Excuse me?"
"Yes?" I choked out, trying not to run from her.
"Can you help me?"
"Help you with what?" My ears were ringing from the sound that was obviously her voice.
"The wind blew my hat onto the lake." This time she pointed and I feared that if I didn't look, she would begin screaming again. I spotted the hat again and turned to her. "Would you get it for me?"
"Sure..."
"Thank you."
She looked expectantly at me, and then into the lake. I swallowed thickly and stepped into the lake, the unusually hot water rushing around my ankles. Trying not to scream myself, I trudged into the lake, feeling fish and turtles around my legs. There was a sudden drop in the bottom and I was plunged into water that came nearly to my chin. finding myself swimming as fast as I could, I got to the hat. Lifting it off the water, I held it over my head as I swam back to reachable ground.
Rushing up to the bank, the water fought against me. I stared down into the murky, disgusting lake, willing my legs to move faster. When I looked up again the girl was standing in the water just in front of me.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes?" I said, trying to breathe through the heat and pressure suddenly surrounding me.
"That's my hat."
"Yes, I know. You just asked me to get it for you."
"No. I think you're mistaking me for my sister."
"Sister?"
"Yes." She pointed back to the store where there were suddenly multiple copies of the girl.
When I began screaming, each little girl rushed into the lake, grabbing a part of me, pulling me farther out to the middle of the water until my toes didn't touch the bottom.
They were unseen through the water, but they pulled on my hair, my arms, even my legs until i was completely submerged.

Then I woke up.

How pleasant right? (: