Foggy Waters

As she lay there, exhausted, one thing was clear. This was the end. The one that she deserved, the one that had been written for years, but not the one that had been imagined...

---

Jessica was stubborn, never one to be told what to do, whether it be at school, work or home. She knew what she wanted and most of the time, she achieved it.

• Climbing to the top of the corporate ladder? Check
• Achieving a full spectrum of A* GCSE results? Check
• Earning enough money to travel the world in luxury? Check.

If you could think of it, then most likely, she had done it. Any challenge that was presented to her was greeted with fierce determination, therefore, when a colleague suggested camping by the lake, she said yes. Without thought or fear, the agreement had been reached.

Instead of the usual Friday night work drinks, they had all walked down to the lake. Although it was once rumoured to be the murder site of an innocent child years ago, her team followed her there. One by one they walked through the gap in the fence, attempting not to be bitten by the mosquitos.

---

At first, it was fun. Marshmallows, alcohol, pizza and drinking games. Felt very Belinda Blinked, but that was fantasy and the bee bursting from Ben's chest and the apple stuck up Jenny's nose was real. A bee bursting through a chest does not seem real, but after Alan woke with his organs outside of his body, screaming, the game became very real.

No thoughts of anyone but herself at that moment, as Jessica ran. She ran until her legs grew sore and she found the gap in the fence and pushed through, or so she thought. No sooner had she squeezed through the gap, than her body began to transform. Organs collided at the speed of light until she was smaller than a ten pence piece.

---

Crawling around in the dirt emphasised her predicament and regardless of how awful the lake was, at least there she could be human, one last time. As her hands pulled back the weeds that surrounded the lake, she saw them.

Ben, Alan, and Jenny. Her colleagues were unchanged. Complete with skirts that were too tight to handle their thighs and blouses that rocked the imagination. They were there, sitting on the opposite side of the lake, roasting marshmallows.

• Had it all been a dream?
• Was it the alcohol?
• The four shots of tequila, or the spliff? She had to find out.

Stepping into the lake her body was filled with the chill of death. It was unnerving but the need to continue pulsed in her ears, like the never-ending drumbeat. As the water receded and the other side was reached, the faces of those she called colleague became clearer.

The outlines stopped roasting their marshmallows. Turning their heads almost full circle, they stared down at Jessica. As the drool pooled in the corners of their mouths, Jessica was struck with an odd thought, 'his will be the first time in my life that I've been ignored by anyone.

Feeling arms clamp around her, she tried to scream, but only a small chirp emerged. She was small now, not as small as earlier but easily able to soar above the chaos and observe the world below.

In the distance, the city could be made out. She yearned for the smog, to breathe in the fumes whilst smoking a cigarette and swilling a Pino Grigio in the back of her throat. More than anything she wanted to continue on past the lake, past the trees and beyond the fire. The great fire to the left was drawing her in like a moth to the flame, powerless to resist.

---

Landing on the ground, hands could be seen in front. Soft, well-groomed hands were placing themselves around her throat to the point in which breath was tough and death easy. At that moment her thoughts were unexpected. She was aroused in a manner not previously considered.

As suddenly as the choking began, it ended and breath returned to her. Catching her breath, she looked around at her surroundings. The piled corpses of her co-workers were being loaded onto the fire by what appeared to be trees...

Staring back at her, each tree was angry, a look of absolute loathing that could only be attained through years of hatred. Was this real? She thought to herself, stopping to pinch each of her eight limbs. All around her the world appeared upside down like someone had pressed rotate and left the programme running. No matter how she moved her eyes, all that could be seen were the bodies.

Rotting flesh slowly peeled away, making room for the remaining organs and squirrels to punch through and find life. Her colleagues were dead, there was no doubt about it, but why wasn't she? Surely the tree could see her? As this thought reached inside her head she felt herself become weightless, as though someone had cut her bungee cord, which plunged her down, towards the ground.

As she fell into the pool of water, fear gripped her tiny body. This was it, the end that was always coming would take her now. As surely as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this was the final page in her book.

It wasn't. She felt a sense of life return to her. Spluttering as she realised she was face down in the lake. Dragging herself to the edge and lifting herself away from the dangers of the lake and back to the safety of the land. Except that the land was filled with trees loading corpses into the fire. Never stopping, only increasing in speed as a lighter body passed their branches, or slowing down when a heavier load arrived. Their methodical pace was evil. The callous and indiscriminate nature of their actions offered true terror and made Jessica's decision easier.

Running away from the lake and into the forest, she felt safe. Here there was no evil, only dense forest. She was surrounded by darkness and warmth. She felt at home. Surrounded by animals with bushy tails and smiles that would melt your heart. Safety from the world. At this thought, Jessica drifted off into a dreamless sleep, waking to find herself completely naked at the bottom of a large hole.

---

Jessica scratched at the sides of the dirt, terrified to the point of madness, but it was no use and so she resigned herself to fate. Being buried alive by a tree in a grave in the middle of a forest. It was fates cruel way of giving her exactly what she deserved and whilst this would never have been an end that she could have imagined, it did feel right.

This was not her final chapter. In her panic, she looked around and saw that wings had been granted to her in some type of divine intervention. Flapping her small wings as hard as they could go, she lifted herself out of the grave and away from the trees. She was free to leave and explore the world around once more, with the lake calling her like a moth to the flame.

Landing with the delicate touch of what could only be attributed to an insect, she breathed out a sigh of relief once again. Here there was no tree. There were no enemies, only peaceful equilibrium. Everything was in sync and so with her newfound friends, she slithered into the lake.

Feeling the water against her smooth skin felt liberating. In a manner not previously experienced, she was free to explore, to reach out and scare the life around her, without fear of reprisal. Under the water Jessica was God. She was free to crush or support the world, which felt truly gratifying, but like everything else in the world, it came to an end too quickly.

A blood-covered hand reached in and pulled her out of the lake. It was Simon, the intern who had only started a week before. Poor poor Simon, who was obsessed with her breasts. Her friend with benefits. Not now though, he was holding her with his eyes hanging out of their sockets. Animated through some will beyond that of his. Sadness resonated through his actions. He was a zombie. The lore of which eluded her but only a fool could not recognise what he was, what was left of him.

Jessica felt for him but as he was crushing the life out of her, the sympathy only went so far. She bit down in the attempt to free herself from the clutches of his grip but only succeeded in annoying him as the grip tightened.

This had to be the end she thought. This was the end that was always predetermined, her means in which to exit one life and begin in the next. This had to be it, didn't it? With a powerful swipe of her now sharp claws, she managed to break free, flying up and away from Simon, but which direction should she go in?

Going back was not an option. Every direction and every avenue seemed to point the finger towards death. It was this ultimate knowledge that drove her forward and pushed her to life when all the evidence suggested the opposite. To live when everything else said that death was inevitable. She had overcome so many obstacles in her life and this would be no different.

Beating her powerful wings as quickly as they could carry her she arrived back at the gap, squeezing through and out into the fresh air of freedom, only this time it was different. The expectation in her mind had been that she would have transformed once again and be drawn back to the lake but this time was different.

Daylight could be seen in the distance as she was drawn home to the smoke. Whatever had occurred here was the past, never to be mentioned or thought of again. It had been a nightmare and one that she was very much looking forward to leaving.

The thought of work snapped her from her thoughts. What would she say? How would she approach the matter if asked? People would have questions, especially given that she was the only survivor of the nightmare. It was this thought that kept her distracted on the long walk home, with nothing but a smile being taken out of the moment only as the horns of the car signalled pleasure.

After what she had been through it was nothing to worry about and so she continued forward. As she was beginning to feel safe again the screech of tires could be heard at the end of the road.

Hitting her at such a speed, she was unable to move out of the way quickly enough and landed on the ground with such as thud that the loss of consciousness was inevitable. It was this that sold it to her. This was the end, the one that had always been imagined but never realised until now.

---

All that could be seen when she woke was the lake, the smoke and corpses, with a shadowy figure standing by the lake. Pointing at her and laughing, it was a voice that she recognised.