A Fisherman's Tale

A Fisherman's Tale
By Rick P.

Emily Carter is ten years old and loves hearing her grandfather’s stories. Her grandfather lives in an old cabin in front of a beautiful lake where once in a while several people come to do some fishing. Emily's parents would come visit every year and every time they did, her grandfather would sit next to her on a bench below an old oak tree and tell her stories of his childhood. Today, her grandfather was about to tell her a story about the lake but he fell asleep, so Emily let him rest. She began playing with her doll when her dog, Tyson, bit it and threw it in the lake where it floated to the center. Without thinking, she runs towards the lake and jumps in, attempting to swim all the way to where it is to retrieve it. Her parents don't notice because they are too busy arguing inside the house. It is March 12, 1967 – 12:51 P.M and with the sound of the water splashing, Emily’s parents run outside to the horrible sight of their daughter drowning.

Emily had tried swimming back but began sinking before she could make it. She waggles her little feet in desperation and screams for help. Her father runs towards the lake and jumps into the water. As he rushes to save her, she is engulfed and sent down deep. He yells her name and looks at her for one last time before Emily loses consciousness and disappears into the darkness beyond. As she falls, lights can be seen slowly coming towards her from the sides. She hits the bottom and three divers surround her, staring at her in disbelief, flashing those lights from their suits. They pick her up and immediately begin swimming towards the surface. With another splash of water, they are already out to shore. Emily is laid down on the ground and given CPR which makes her cough out a great amount of water. After she is given more treatment, she regains consciousness and wakes up, slowly looking around.

Still shocked, she is confused seeing hundreds of people near tents of different shapes and sizes walk around where her house was suppose to be. A crowd has formed around her and everyone including the divers are staring at her strangely. They ask for her name but she is still too scared to respond. When she is unable to see her parents or recognize anyone, she begins to cry. However, when she notices an old man sitting on a bench below an oak tree, she begins to run towards him, thinking it is her grandfather. When she gets there though, the man is not her grandfather and appears to be fishing with a small boy. Emily looks at him and her eyes start getting teary again but the man asks what's wrong. She tells him she is lost and explains her situation as much as a ten year old can. The divers look at each other from a distance and continue to stare at Emily.

One of them tells the other, “Hey, I’ve heard this a long time ago… it’s an old fisherman’s tale...but according to the story, a little girl just about her age drowned in this lake a long time ago, they never found her body and... her parents divorced because of it. When they sold the land, it gave us free access to make this preserve, but after that they were never heard from again. Nobody knows what really happened to that little girl, if she really drowned or not.”

Emily smiles at the man and walks away after explaining everything. She heads back to the divers for help, but on her way there, she passes by a wooden board with the name of the location engraved on it. To her surprise, the name carved in golden letters is “The Emily Carter Preserve”.