Black Pond

The story begins with two friends who like to explore the woods. About 20 miles East of their hometown in Northern Vermont lies a massive plot of land that had been abandoned in the late 1890s. On google maps, it shows only a blob of green, with a small body of water near the center, large enough to be a state forest, yet neither state nor company nor individual owns the land. After some research on the area, the two friends found that at least part of the land used to be an amusement park where people from all over the area could go for only a few dollars. Before this, much of the land was used as farmland, but most of the forest grew back only to be torn down again. By then, it had mostly returned to its original state of forested land.

This information only made the two friends, Phil and Joe, more interested in exploring the area as they loved both nature and abandoned places. So on one mostly sunny Fall day, they decided to set out and hike around the area that seemed to have no visitors for decades.

They parked along the edge of the forest, on a dirt service road that saw no traffic. Immediately after entering the forest Phil and Joe noticed a stark lack of light, so notable, their pupils dilated. Joe was surprised. Looking into Phil’s eyes he saw how much his pupils had grown, and in the dark of the woods, they seemed to consume his entire iris. Tree trunks creaked and swayed, and a few particularly large gray beech trees stood perfectly still, undisturbed by the wind shaking the leaves of the other trees' canopy. Images of stone guardians came to their mind, and the farther they moved into the heart of the forest, the more gnarled the trunks became, and the more they had to double-take, occasionally mistaking trees for figures in their peripheral vision.

They hiked on for a while, occasionally being dusted by broken, dead leaves. They were more surprised to find that many of the broken-up leaves brushing past their skin were of dark green, something like sage but with a much deeper color. Yet many were the color of normal fall leaves, orange, brown, yet still, some seemed different, a very specific peach color resembling the color of Phil’s light skin. Joe attributed these strange features of the forest to the fact that it had been cut down and then left undisturbed by people for so long.

“Most of Vermont’s forests were cut down in the settling of the state for farmland, this forest might still be in more of a transition stage even though it’s about a hundred years old”, Joe told his friend.

Hiking another mile into the forest they noticed the trees became more sparse, and soon they found that they were on top of a big hill, covered with tall grass and brambles. At the bottom of the hill were more tall grasses, bushes, and vines, as if the trees hadn’t had time enough to grow back. Joe figured that this must’ve been part of the amusement park, noting the lack of trees. They decided this would be a good place to take a smoke break and rest their legs. After about 10 minutes of passing back and forth, Joe tossed the roach into the grass.

Hiking down the hill they couldn’t help but see what appeared to be a wall of bushes, covered thickly with vines. There weren’t any trails, not even deer trails and they now were noticing they hadn’t seen any animals at all, but perhaps they were just beginning to hibernate, Joe thought. Walking down the wall of leaves, vines, and sticks, they noticed a slight break in the bush and took it. After about 30 seconds of following what appeared to be some sort of trail, they were in another clearing. Looking back they saw just how thick the bushes were in the break, and somehow it appeared to be even more narrow than when they passed through, being scraped by thorns and branches.

Now looking forward they were in awe at this old, victorian house. They had expected to find an abandoned amusement park but instead, they had found a very much abandoned, four-story house with conical towers, and narrow windows. They wondered if a caretaker who worked at the park had lived here many years ago, or if they were still not on the old property of the amusement park. More thorny bushes surrounded parts of the house, and behind it to their right, they noticed a small pond. The water was dark, they could barely see past the surface. The color of the pool ranged from dark brown, to almost black, to murky yellow at some angles. They moved past it rather quickly, something about the pool was off-putting to them. Moving around the house, they soon found the front door. They were very intrigued by the ancient-looking house but because they still wanted to find the amusement park they decided they’d explore the house on their way back, as they still had a number of hours before nightfall. They hiked farther East, and soon the woods grew dense once again. Here the woods resembled what they were more used to, yet something still seemed strange, perhaps it was just the weed. The longer they hiked, the more Phil thought that he had seen these woods before, but then again forests in Vermont often look familiar. Still, they seemed more familiar, yet somehow strange, than any other forest he had been to. Flashes of uncomfortable dreams, wandering the forest came to his mind, and he realized this is more what woods look like in his dreams than in his waking experience. The air wasn’t exactly foggy, but it wasn’t clear either. There seemed to be more mushrooms than in most forests he’s hiked, and every once in a while a puffball would release a plume of spores. The air seemed to tickle his skin, and the canopy of trees above, shifting the light made everything seem an opaque purple to yellow, depending on how much light was coming through.

After about an hour more of hiking, they stopped to smoke again. But halfway through, Phil let Joe finish it. Phil said that he was beginning to get a little anxious and paranoid. After only about 10 more minutes of hiking, Phil told Joe this part of the forest definitely looked familiar. He even wondered if their zigzagging path past trees had brought them in a circle. What seemed like 20 minutes passed, and Phil was getting more anxious, worried they were getting lost or just traveling in circles getting nowhere. Then they saw a clearing ahead, they rushed forward, hoping to see a broken-down amusement park in the clearing but instead they saw a large, black pond. The tree line went all the way up to the edge of the pond, and there were a few dying trees, with their roots in the shallow waters at the shore. This pond was so dark they couldn’t see past the surface at all. On the other side of the pond were more scattered brambles and bushes, and above the tops of these, they saw sharp, conical towers, with shingles here and there. The Victorian house. Phil thought he should be relieved because he was right, they were going in circles, not getting more lost, but he wasn’t. Joe was perplexed because he was sure they were traveling East the whole time. Moreover, neither of them had noticed this intrusive, unforgettable pitch-black pond. It was much larger than before, and of a different color, almost like that of petroleum. Gazing over its surface they noticed a piece of wood sticking out from its surface. The wood had a sharp, square corner, connecting to pieces of wood with an iron bolt. Now they wondered if a wooden roller coaster might’ve been standing before the pond swallowed it up. But that would mean the pond was not only long and wide but surprisingly deep. They decided they may as well explore the area around the pond and house because they didn’t have time to hike much farther into the woods and make it back to the car by sundown.

Hiking back the way they came they noticed just how much darker it had gotten already, but they attributed this to the dense forest and the clouds coming in quickly overhead. Time passed slowly for the two, but the encroaching darkness said otherwise. Joe mentioned that they’d probably get to the house faster if they stayed near the pond and that way they’d have almost no chance of getting lost. Phil replied, “You can hike closer to the pond, but I don’t like the way it smells, so I’ll stay over here. I’ll make sure to keep you in sight”.

Phil was startled into consciousness by a splash. He didn’t think he had laid down to rest, in fact, he couldn’t remember anything past Joe walking towards the pond. Hours must have passed because now it was very dark. He moved towards the large shadow he took for the pond, all the while calling out Joe’s name, trying to stay calm. He could feel his heart beating, and he tasted something strange in his mouth. His vision seemed distorted, and every now and then he swore he saw the light of a fire flash in the darkness. He made it to the pond just in time to see a hand reaching out of the water. Joe. He dropped his bag and ran, dreading stepping foot in that disgusting pool. He waded in at first, getting close to where he had seen Joe’s hand reaching out for help. Knowing that Joe was probably sinking deeper into the impossibly deep pond, he dunked his head and swam in the direction of where he saw Joe sink. Within a few terrifying seconds, he found a cold, wet, slimy hand and slowly pulled the body ashore with relief. Joe wasn’t moving at all, and he felt awfully cold. Phil knew he’d have to perform CPR. Checking his breathing and pulse and finding nothing, Phil pumped Joe’s chest 30 times and closed his eyes as he gave him two breaths. Opening his eyes at the end of the second breath Phil screamed. There was a maggot in his mouth. No. There were many maggots in his mouth. He gagged, heaved, and spat them out, and looking down at Joe’s face he saw dozens of the fat, white larvae inching out of his mouth. No. Not his mouth, HER mouth. He wasn’t able to tell before because he was in such a rush to save his friend but this was not Joe. This was a long-dead woman. A dead woman he had just dragged out of the pond and given mouth-to-mouth.

The anxiety, debilitating fear, and adrenaline pumping into his veins now allowed him to see what he hadn’t noticed in his panic to save what he thought to be his friend. He was now sure that he was hearing a variety of sounds, loud creaking of trees, trample of leaves, and whispers of what he hoped was the wind. He hoped it was just the nocturnal animals coming out, but that couldn’t explain everything. This forest had been nearly silent before, and now it felt as if it were coming alive before his eyes.

He looked around frantically for any sight of Joe, too scared to call his name. All he could see were the stands of trees, the black pond, and the house nearby. He pulled his bag from his back and rifled through it until he got his flashlight. He turned it on and cast the beam around him, still hoping he’d be able to find his friend. The forest seemed to be encroaching around him, and many of the trees stretched into the air like scrawny giants with twisted arms raised above their heads. He decided to backtrack to where he’d last seen his friend. He walked along the edge of the pond and saw his footprints in the thick mud and followed them about twenty paces from where he had pulled up the dead body. At last, the footprints in the mud turned into the pond, and he could see nothing else. He shined the flashlight into the water, but the black water quickly absorbed the dim light of the flashlight, giving him nothing. Then, he turned around anxiously, remembering that he hadn’t noticed the dead body he’d pulled from the water as he retraced Joe’s steps. He looked around and could see no sign of it.

Next, loud splashes were heard all through the water of the pond, one after the next. He shined his flashlight into the pond to see ripples forming, as the large, wooden frame of a rollercoaster floated to the surface. Behind him, he heard the laugh of some old woman, and the hoarse scream of a man, as he turned he saw the lights of the Victorian house come to life, the lamps in every window and every room came alive. In the distance past the line of dark trees that lead deeper into the forest, more lights sprang up, and he heard the sound of a merry-go-round running. He could hear voices, some laughing some screaming, but they sounded as if they were underwater because they rang out low and smothered.

With all of the courage Phil could muster, he shouted for Joe one last time. “JOE!! JOE!! IF YOU’RE THERE SAY SOMETHING!! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!!! JOE!!! J-”, he stopped shouting because he heard more commotion from the pond as he saw the water bulging with the heads and backs of dark creatures. By the light of the flashlight, he could see they wore clothing as people wore in old movies, and their skin was gray and rotting. They walked towards him out of the water. As he turned to run he swore he saw some of the trees coming after him too, but he did not stop to take a second look. He ran as fast as he could back in the direction they came, often tripping and once dropping his flashlight, it rolled down a small hill and he left it for fear of turning around. He could hear the sounds of crowds in the distance at the abandoned amusement park, and could occasionally hear what sounded like something following him. As he entered the last leg of the forest, the sounds of his pursuers died out along with the laughs and yells that had been ringing out from the park.

Finally, he was almost there, he could see the lights of the road peeking out from the trees. He was sprinting and crying and hysterically laughing all at once. He saw his car parked on the side of the road, he broke through the line of trees and came around the side of the car to the driver’s door. Unlocking the car caused the lights to flash. He caught a glimpse of the forest at that moment. He noticed a gray tree he swore wasn’t there when he had parked the car, it was awfully close to the passenger door, and he didn’t remember his friend struggling to get out. He pressed the unlock button again so he could get another glimpse. This tree was gnarled like the ones they had seen coming into the forest. He pressed the button again. It looked familiar. Again. It definitely resembled a human form. Again. It seemed to have a twisted knot in the upper part of the stunted trunk. Again the lights flashed as he pressed the button to get one last look. Although he wanted nothing more than to leave that place forever he couldn’t help it, his intrigue got the best of him. It was in that half a second flash he looked into the gray, wooden eyes of his friend Joe.