The Lake

Breathlessly, carelessly, he runs, clamoring wildly through the unyielding thickness of the forest. Muscular branches stab him with thorn-ridden limbs, slicing his face. Serpentine vines send their tendrils across his path hoping he’ll spring their trap. Still he runs. Thick, heavy mud cakes his shoes, climbing above his ankles. Still he runs. From shadowy blackness he catapults, suddenly, into blinding light. The jarring assault on his eyes knocks him over sending him tumbling to the ground. The lake reaches out to grab him with her wet, slippery fingers and he thinks she will suck him in, pull him under, and steal his soul. He remembers he has no soul. And so he lies where he fell, face planted in the loamy dirt, leg submerged in the lake’s viscous algae, unmoving.

The sun marches slowly across the treetops, casting ever changing shadows on the lake’s glassy surface. In the paling last light, a breeze stirs the water ever so slightly; creating a thousand tiny reflections that shimmer and bounce like a vast field of diamonds. He turns his head to examine his reflection in the pool and is shaken. This is what it looks like to have lost, he thinks; to have been crushed by passion and greed. He knows now when you surrender to passion and greed, they take you where you never intended to go, where there is no return. The air is hot but the water is cool as he plunges a hand into its wetness and splashes his face. A heron from the far side of the lake sends a peculiar cry. The night chases the sun over the horizon and in the ensuing darkness the crickets and tree frogs emerge, harmonizing in repetitive waves of sound. He recognizes peace for the first time in as long as he can remember and as the lake cradles him in her sturdy arms he is drawn into blissful sleep.

The unsullied morning sun is warm on his face and he awakens to the raucous barking and snarling of dogs. There are many, far away but closing in. The wind across the water is stronger now and the lake is agitated, sending tiny waves lapping against the grassy bank, urging him to rise. The scent of fresh evergreen fills his nostrils. Dragonflies scurry and dart, birds sing and flutter their wings, a small deer lowers its head to the water to drink. The world around him teems with life and he finds it intoxicating. The dogs are closer and he understands they will find him and take him back to face the penalty for his foolish act. He knows he will not go back. The lake, like a beautiful woman, beckons to him, offering solitude and rest. He enters the water. He swims out, then down, into the darkness as if returning to mother’s womb. His breath is spent and when it's time, he takes his last, fluid saturating his lungs. The lake whispers softly, consoling him, welcoming him home.