The Frozen Lake

It was a cold, gloomy day in rural Pennsylvania, the wind fierce, whipping across the frozen lake. The treetops glistening with snow from the prior days snowfall.

A man sits on a light blue cooler, silently, peacefully, in the distance. He appears to be ice fishing. "Neat." I tell myself.

Seemingly, frozen in place. I watch him closely, waiting for any signs of movement. It feels time itself had frozen, with no indication of life from the man.

In the distance, beyond the lake, beyond the man, beyond the trees, in an open pasture sits the remains of a decrepit barn. A gaping hole in the side, littered with fragments of metal wreckage.

The clouds in the sky, seemingly still. I peer around, no vehicles, no animals, no humans. It appears to be only myself, and the man on the lake.

A tiny ray of sunshine peers through the dark, gloomy cloud cover, shining directly upon the man.

The man notices the warmth of the sunlight, he stands. "Finally!" I shout. Startled, he turns towards me, neither of us having any clue that this is the last time we would see one another.

The ice begins to crack, the man frantic, begins to run. I yelled "Lay down! Lay down!" hoping that weight distribution could be used in his favor.

The man is now in a full on sprint towards the barn, so close, yet so far. The ice splitting, cracking, in all directions.

He plunges through the ice.

"He's gone...." I whisper to myself, tears rolling down my cheeks, freezing to my skin. I drop to my knees, face in hands, sobbing.

I look up, across the lake, beyond the cooler where the man once sat, beyond the hole in which he disappeared.

A shadow of a figure appears in the barn. "Is that the man...?" I think to myself. "How is that possible?!"

The small ray of sunshine that once illuminated the man on the cooler, seemingly long gone, peers brightly through the hole in the barn.

A convoy of Humvees emerges from behind me. I turn around to be faced with an unfamiliar branch of military. "ON THE GROUND! ON THE GROUND NOW!" They shout.

Completely bewildered by everything that had just happened, terrified, confused, trembling in fear, tears frozen to my face, I dropped to the ground.

The men from the Humvees fan out around the lake, armed with weapons that I had never seen before. "What is this?! What's happening?"

One of the men stops. "Look at me." He exclaims. I look up at his name badge, it reads "Sgt. Lordi"

He handcuffs me and pulls me into a Humvee. Speaks three words, and then shuts the door. "Operation Barn Owl."

The Humvee is warm. I had been sitting, watching the man on the lake, seemingly for hours, unaware of how cold I had gotten. My face numb, my feet had no feeling.

I watch out the window, awestruck as these men converge on the barn.

Assumingly, there had been something of extraterrestrial nature to it occurring here. "It has to be an alien!" I told myself, excited and impatiently as these strange men approach the barn, forgetting that I had just watched a man plunge through the ice to his death.

One of the men slowly creeps up to the barn, peeking through the gaps in the walls. "THEY'RE HERE! WE FOUND THEM!" The man shouts.

They all take a defensive stance, guns drawn towards the barn. The man opens the doors and throws a rock inside. Dozens of owls take flight, the men firing their weapons, they were merely net guns to catch the owls.

Three, maybe four owls had escaped, though most had been captured.

Many of the men begin walking back towards the Humvees, cheering. They begin to drive around the lake, towards the barn, Sgt. Lordi sitting in the front passenger seat. Confused, I ask him "It's not aliens?" he laughs. "Aliens?! What did you think was going on here?"

The metal fragments around the barn. The eerily quiet surroundings. All of these Humvees and men in uniforms. Oh, the man on the lake! "Wait, there was a guy, sitting on that blue cooler" I pointed. "As unfortunate as it may seem, you played the exact role that you were supposed to" the Sargent stated. "What do you mean?" I ask. He begins to laugh hysterically.

At this point, I'm beyond confused, heartbroken, lost. I have no idea what is happening.

He turns, looks me in the eye and says "This is what you signed up for." At this point, I think he's got to be messing with me. I had just been for a walk, to enjoy nature. "What are you even talking about, signed up for?"

"Welcome to the Metaverse."