Dark Water

The E-tuo whirs as I park beside the house. I fit the plug quickly so I won’t have to enter in the dark. There is still light in the gloaming. My energy allowance is dwindling because I am driving so much.

I could possibly trade some of my water allowance to the scalpers in the main street. I need the water. I am walking almost as much as I am driving.

I can’t cook, but I have some vegetable paste. I eat it lying on the bed waiting for the dark. I can hear the howls and moans of pets in the distance. I once heard someone say that people kept the pets in their homes before the mutations. Stories, the unbelievable past that may or may not have been.

I drift off into my nightmares where a pet is staring in the window before the dark water spills through.

I am starving when I wake. My brain tells my stomach not to think about it .My stomach moans in response.

I pour water into my cup. I add some to a bowl to quickly clean myself. I change into a day suit

The E-tuo has a full charge. The sun is shining brightly and I am tempted to put the solar charger outside. It will get stolen. I can’t use it unless I am at home to guard it so I leave it hidden inside.

I have been searching for Jess for two weeks. He left for his work allotment and never returned. He used public transport so I went to the stations first. No one had seen him.

I went to his allotment. They were angry that he was missing. No one had details.

The city constables were no help. They suggested the wardens. At first I couldn’t allow myself to think the wardens might know anything. They inform people when the pets attack .I went to the warden office. They had more questions than answers. It was a nerve wracking interview that left me more afraid than anything. No comfort from any authority.

I went back to the public transport station near our house. Finally, a woman spoke to me. She had seen Jess leave the transport at a station near the dark water. I have tried to think of why for two weeks.

No one goes to the dark water unless they were born there. Water people are mostly mutated. They don’t receive allotments, they don’t get energy allowance or water privilege. They boil the dark water for drinking, eat the eggs of feathered pets and sometimes even fish from the black depths.

They speak with funny accented speech. Ghosts that haunt watery deserted places. They treasure ancient things to amuse themselves. One of their most common mutations is webbed feet.

There is no way my Jess is among them.

Did he wake up and decide to descend into the water to cease to exist? Did he discover a mutation that he was so ashamed of that he exiled himself to people of a kind?

I saw no evidence of a mutation. He had no cough, no swelling, nothing that I saw to make me believe a mutation made him leave.

He kissed me the day he left. An everyday kiss, a quick touch of lips that means see you soon. There was no deep leave you forever moment. He did not leave me.

Jess was in city housing when we met at a temporary allotment. I was in shelters. We were so proud when we bought our home. He did not leave our home.

I park the E-tuo in an abandoned pavement area near the dark water. There is no place to hide it so I am taking a huge risk. Yesterday I saw an abandoned canoe boat thing on the other side of the woods. There were paddlers so it most likely belongs to water people. I am going to steal it. There is courage in desperation.

The canoe is still there. I take it to the edge of the murky water. I have seen this done. I can do it.

The water sloshes against the side as I move the paddle. I realize I am holding my breath and exhale.

Suddenly I hear someone shouting. I turn to look back at the shore where a waterman stands with a child. He is waving his arms, making the horrible sounds.

I keep paddling. I refuse to look back. And then the boat lurches, dark water splashes inside. The waterman is trying to get his boat back. How did this creature swim so far so quickly? I hit him with the paddle. He squeals and the sound shatters my ears. He grabs the canoe again. Fear of the water gives me the strength to hit him again. This time I am prepared for the squeal. The water circles around my feet, cold, slithery.

The waterman lets go but the squeals don’t stop. I look back to the shore where the child stands echoing his Father’s voice.

I keep paddling. Something hits the bottom of the boat as if it slid beneath it. A new wave of fear takes my breath. I can see the form circling back. This is why the waterman stopped coming for me. I have no doubt he could have overtaken me. I wondered why he stopped. Now I know. I wish I did not.

The creature slides under the boat again slightly lifting it above the water. It lands hard. More of the slimy water enters the boat. I am going to be sick.

The creature circles again. It will overturn me this time.

Suddenly in the distance I hear clattering. The creature hears the noises too and thank the shining sun it moves toward the sound.

Waterpeople are standing on the rocks banging strange objects together to make the noise. Apparently this interests the creature.

They start to squeal, the same ear piercing sound of the man who tried to take his boat back. A man on the far side of the rocks is waving to me, a come this way wave.

The lesser of two terrors as one of my shelter mothers once said. She would wait until dark and insist I take receptacles to the bins. I soon found out that the pets in the dark were the less of two terrors when compared to her.

I paddle towards the man as the creature circles the other side of the rocks where people are fervently making as much noise as possible.

As I reach the edge of the rocks the creature realizes that it has been outwitted of a meal. It hits the boat as I am stepping onto the rocks propelling me to the hard surface. Sun’s mercy, I didn’t hit the water.

The waterman gurgles at me and I am reminded that I face a new threat. Waterpeople gather around me. One very large bearded man, his gray hair unkempt, his feet and hands webbed appears to be the leader of the group.

“Swimmer mighta et ya” he says. His voice is surprisingly deep considering the squeals I heard earlier.

A younger male with no ears stands beside him. The younger man pokes me with a stick.

I flinch. The older man tells the younger, “No do, no do.”

A woman with long hair dark as the water pushes the younger man aside and wraps me in a cloth that resembles a blanket. She nods when I thank her.

She takes my hand in her webbed one and leads me across the sand beyond the rocks. There is a shelter of sorts, but there were no doors.

I have a fleeting thought of pets, but then I remember the squeals.

There is a fire in the center of the large room. The woman motions for me to sit. I am pleased to oblige.

The bearded man enters and sits beside me with surprising grace.

“Why you em in ta water?” He asks.

It takes a minute for me to process the question.

“I am looking for my partner.” I show him the picture I have in my pocket.

He passes the print to the woman who shakes her head. They both leave the room and I am left alone by the fire. I am too tired to worry that they have my print.

Two children slyly peep around the door to stare at me. They chitter at one another and even though I cannot understand the sounds I know they are fascinated by my strangeness.

The man enters the room. “You em night here. We take in light.”

Fear is my first emotion, then my hunger and fatigue push it away. The woman is back with a bowl of steaming something. I am starving. I begin to eat before I think of the dark water where this soupy bowl of weeds was harvested.

Sunshine save me.

When the bowl is empty the woman leads me to a corner. There are leaves from the trees all around the sides of the room. I fall into a place and sleep overcomes me. I do not dream.

As I wake I realize I am surrounded by sleeping water people. The bearded man lies in front of the door.

I remain completely still as light begins to fill the room. They begin to stir, to awaken. Children begin to scurry about, giving me a suspicious looks before they leave or play near the fire women are stirring to life.

Other women are pounding out doughy mixtures outside on wooden tables. I look for a place to relieve myself when a little girl grabs my hand leading me to a secluded place in the woods. We both relieve ourselves shielded from prying eyes by thick bushes.

I notice that her hands nor feet are webbed. She makes a chittering noise that I assume means to follow.

The dough has turned to bread. One of the women hands me a loaf that I immediately devour. I don’t think they know this is a luxury. It appears commonplace to them.

The bearded man stands before me as soon as I finish my bread.

“Come ta” he says.

I follow him and the dark haired woman. We enter the woods. They continue in silence. It enters my mind that they may be taking me somewhere to hurt me but why would they do that when they saved me from the creature then fed me?

We enter a clearing when I see him. My Jess is shirtless, the sun has glowed him. When he hears us he turns with an intake of breath.

The bearded man points to me and says, “Your woman come ta.”

“What are you doing here?” Jess asks.

His voice brings me to tears.

“I came for you.”

He opens his mouth to answer but the sound that emits is not his voice. My Jess squeals.

My legs lose the ability to hold my weight.

The bearded man is standing above me. Jess is behind him, tears streaming down his face.

I reach for Jess but he pulls away. Then he runs into the woods.

The waterman and the woman begin to walk back to the path that led us here. I don’t follow until the woman comes back for me. She leads me back to the house where I slept. I have no words for my questions.

When we arrive back at the house the man leads me to the canoe I arrived in the day before. He gets in and motions for me to do the same.

Still in shock I get in the canoe. Before we paddle away the woman runs to the canoe and presses a heart shaped locket into my hand.

We are almost at the shore when I open the locket to see the photo of Jess inside it.

My feet didn’t start tingling until I was in the E-tuo on the way home.