The Spring

Anyone could live an ideal life in Geneva Springs. One school, one grocery, one doctor, one church and one diner. Life rotated up and down Main Street from one activity to the next. Excitement consisted of occasional graffiti, and a Friday night church service. For a town so small, the dense woods seemed endless. The name was misleading. There was no body of water in, or around it, for several hundred miles. Accidently stumbling upon the town, tourists would find out the name was a lie and ask for directions to leave. The founders believed that using a gimmick in the name would draw settlers in. An omen of things to come.

Jack Juniper was the valedictorian of his high school class. A class of ten students. He married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer, right after graduation. Having no other plans except to get married, he decided to run for mayor. The position came with a small stipend. To make ends meet, Jack worked during the day at the local grocery. At night he conducted business meetings in a room at the back of the Sheriff’s office.

Juniper had a vision for the town, without the means to better it. He imagined the center of town littered with people, and cars, and restaurants and most of all, revenue. Jennifer adored young Jack Juniper’s enthusiasm when they dated in high school. She saw a man of the people. She had no way of knowing his enthusiasm and vision would soon be tested. He ran unopposed at election time and won by a land slide. His opponent and predecessor vied for re-election but developed a sudden illness and died as a result. Or so they think.

The following spring the average temperature was at least ninety-eight degrees. That was far above average. At the start of summer, the heat soared above one hundred degrees. Drained and exhausted, many prayed for the heat to lessen.

Early one morning, the earth shook with violent, seismic intensity. Townspeople scrambled out of their beds to the ground, children and animals cried out, floorboards and ceilings rattled, furniture toppled over, alarms went off. Confusion and chaos endured for fifty-three seconds. The world around them seemed to be coming to an end.

Hovering above the farthest point of the woods, a thick brown cloud of dust and debris. Remnants of the earth splitting open, soil being thrust into the sky, and coming back down to the ground. Audible thuds heard as clumps of soil hit the ground. Soon that cloud of dust and debris was replaced by a dense, white smoky fog. In the woods, underneath the fog, a cavernous hole in the earth had formed. It filled, with crystal blue, gently bubbling water. Patches of blue-green algae lined a path around the rocks underneath the edges. The water reflected the sun with an intense sheen, and the moon with a metallic glow.

Mayor Juniper made haste. He alerted the state authorities and cordoned off access to that part of the woods. Only scientists, and law enforcement, were allowed unfettered access. In short order, they determined this to be an old underground spring. The town had its first ever recorded earthquake, for that area of the country. The heat wave preceding this precipitated their conclusion. The water was deemed passable, and consumable for humans. They strongly advised returning in one year to retest the area, and warning to the public to stay away during this time.

The sheriff watched the back room of his office with curiosity as Mayor Juniper paced back and forth. This went on and on. With great hubris, he made a command decision. After all, he wanted more for Geneva Springs. With little compunction, he decided that the scientists’ recommendation had some flexibility to it. It was just a recommendation. The water was passable. Just last week he drank from the spring to demonstrate it was consumable water and seemed to be just fine. Or so he thought.

Continuing to pace, the descent into madness began. He imagined the sign on the highway, the town coffers filled to the top. Main Street filled with shops, restaurants and hotels. Endless possibilities. The warning in the report, a mere blip. He could buy Jennifer anything she wanted, a house, a car, anything… He could leave his job at the grocery.

The pacing back and forth became more frenetic as the sweat ran down his cheeks. The world around him, shut out of his mind, as he imagined the possibilities. His breathing turned into heaving. Phlegm began to fill his throat. A guttural grunt filled the quiet of his office. The back-and-forth left scuff marks on the floor. Hours passed until he sat in his chair, closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Reason, a sacrifice to madness.

No one paid attention to the SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK sign posted at the entrance of the spring. The water was tepid and inviting. The bubbles attracted children, and adults alike. A cacophony of giggles, splashes, and chatter amongst umbrellas and towels on the grassy soil. Insane machinations led to an area now burgeoning with tourists, driving in to see the magical spring. A ninth wonder of the world that didn’t exist just months ago. Even more insane, as summer turned into fall, the temperature of the area stayed in the hundreds drawing more people to the spring.

Their jaws dropped while driving into town. The scientists came back for a one-year evaluation, at the behest of state authorities. Signs at the beginning of town, as you go down the street, as you approach the water. Legal phrasing advising everyone to proceed at YOUR OWN RISK. Walking toward the spring, they saw many swimmers and sun bathers. When questioned about the signs, Jack condescendingly explained that he was the man in charge. The report contained recommendations, not rules. Posted signs allowed him to put his head on the pillow at night and obtain guiltless respite. Everyone is allowed to make a choice for themselves.

They also noticed a change in behavior. As a boy, Jack Juniper grew to a wiry six-foot frame. Now he was partially hunched over and a few inches shorter. The guttural grunt was a regular part of his demeanor now, along with the frequent wiping of sweat off his face, emphasizing pale white skin with a green undertone. His teeth and gums, differing shades of blue and pink. When addressing these physical changes, Jack gave a swearing up and down that he was fine. He recently had an exam and was deemed fit as a fiddle.

Deciding to cut their evaluation short, the scientists drove back through town toward the interstate. They noticed one thing, one very distinct thing which made them stare. The locals could easily be distinguished from those who did not live in the area. Every single one of them, had teeth and gums that were blue and pink, and pale white skin with a green undertone.

The spring closed at seven o’clock, sharp. No one was allowed there as the sun went down. This area was regularly patrolled to ensure no one broke the rules. Sheriff found it peculiar that the place was closed so early, given that the temperatures remained hot all day and all night. Since one of his deputies called out sick, Jones would be patrolling the area that week. He didn’t mind. In fact, he enjoyed the idea of it.

For years, Sheriff Jones lived in a place where nothing exciting happened. Patrolling the spring added a level of interest to his normal job routine. Occasionally, he caught some skinny dippers and had to send them on their way. As an unmarried, well-groomed, stocky lawman in his fifties, he was known to flirt with a trespasser if she was pretty.

The west side of the woods during sunset was harder to visualize. Parking the vehicle, the sheriff grabbed his flashlight and exited. He perused the edges of the water and surrounding area. Something in the air was different tonight. A coldness that hadn’t been there in months. Tiny hairs stood up on the back of his neck.

Absolute silence.

No bubbling water, no cicadas, no birds. Even the grass, leaves and twigs under his feet made no noise.

“Whoever is here after 7 p.m. is trespassing. Identify yourself. You need to leave.” the sheriff warned.

Hearing a noise behind him, he turned around.

Fifty feet away was a darkened silhouette, faceless, with a female outline. The ground began to shake.

“Go away. Leave!” the silhouette warned.

Sheriff stepped back a few yards. One hand holding the flashlight, one hand on his pistol holster. The voice of the shadowy creature sounded like Mayor Juniper, but the shape was a female figure.

“Mayor, is that you? Identify yourself.”

“Go away human!” The shape elevated higher into the air.

The lawman stood his ground bewildered and confused. Sweat on his brow and a quickened pulse, he tried to control his breath while he thought of what to do next.

“Whoever you are, I want you to identify yourself. You sound like Juniper, but you look like a woman.” The lawman’s voice cracked a bit.

A few moments passed before the female silhouette moved toward him. A palpable energy radiated off the shape as it came closer. The earth underneath him began to shake. The air grew even colder. Jones, who took an oath to protect and serve considered a mad dash back to the vehicle. Instead, he chose to stand his ground.

“Identify yourself right now or I will shoot. Final warning.”

“You don’t belong here. Leave now. You will be spared.”

“Jesus, Juniper. If this is a prank, I will arrest you for everything I can think of.”

The silhouette stopped ten feet before the sheriff.

“Mayor, these are your rules. I need you to go home, right now.” Sheriff Jones warned.

The wind in the trees picked up, and the silhouette gave a hearty, echoing laugh.

“I am writing you a summons with a hefty fine, Mayor Juniper.” The sheriff warned. Feeling lightheaded, his legs went numb. He then passed out.

Waking up beside the water, the Sheriff saw the black sky, and crescent moon above him. Feeling for his flashlight and weapon, he found nothing. Sitting up for a minute, a warm gentle breeze brushed against his cheek. The sound of cicadas lulled him. Standing up, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The air grew cold.

The cicadas stopped.

The ground began to shake.

“I told you to get out. You did not. Look!”

He heard another voice while turning to look at the water.

Elevated over the water, the silhouette remained. A hyena like, booming laugh came out.

“Let me show you what not leaving will get you.” The figure warned.

The sound of breaking branches, falling leaves, and yelling ensued.

“Help me! I’m up here!”

At first, all the sheriff could see was a pair of arms and legs thrashing around in the sky. Five hundred feet in the air, was the deputy, the one who called out sick tonight. He was suspended in mid-air. The shadowy figure raised one arm causing the deputy to fall fast. The sheriff realized it was not just a police deputy, but his childhood best friend. Instinctually, he tried to run toward his friend, but couldn’t move. He closed his eyes as the yelling and pleading continued.

Next came a violent backsplash, a second backsplash followed by a thud, more thuds and some cries of pain, then prolonged gurgling.

The deputy succumbed to his injuries and sunk under the water. Another sign of things to come.

“I said leave now!”

Defiant and outraged, at what happened to his beloved friend, the sheriff opened his eyes, dug his heels in and stood his ground. The longer he stood, the intensity of the shaking ground increased. The silhouette changed its female form to a male form, and its voice to that of Jennifer Juniper.

“You keep giving me chances to leave but haven’t killed me. Why?”

“Look at the water.”

The water rose into a giant wave-like formation. Each molecule of the wave separated into its own space. Each space transformed into the face of, teachers, friends, family and colleagues living in town. Countless numbers of people in and outside of town right there, levitating above the water.

Time stopped.

The voice of Jennifer Juniper narrated a series of memories implanted into the sheriff’s thoughts. Those memories included, his Police Academy graduation, spending Christmas with his parents, friends and family, taking the job as sheriff, training the deputies each weekend, the earthquake, the heat waves, meeting the scientists and the women he flirted with.

We came here first. Your founders discovered the spring, discovered our life forms. They filled up the area with earth. They told people a lie, to keep everyone away. The water is our life forms inside of you. Drink us in. We need many of you to keep many of us alive. We transform with each lunar shift.

His heart began to beat and his thoughts back under control, Jones gasped for air. Time had restarted with a swiftness and clarity, revealing a serene picture before his eyes. A sunrise in the sky, the bubbling water, the ensuing heat, birds chirping, a calm and steady ground.

The silhouette changed forms again…

It changed into an exact copy of Sheriff Jones, with the voice of his childhood friend, the deputy.

“Your choice is easy. Leave here now. Guard the water at night. Tell no one.”

The lawman, who took an oath to protect and serve, felt like a failure. He turned around and began to walk back to his car. Racing thoughts consumed him. He was angry and wanted revenge. These aliens, shape shifters, or whoever they are killed his childhood friend. The problem was finding a suitable solution. The sheriff went home, drank some scotch and fell asleep.

He woke up and didn’t hesitate to grab the phone. His boss is Mayor Juniper, and the man is another life form. He dialed a series of numbers from memory.

“Yes, Ma’am, I was wondering, how long would it take to get five tons of soil delivered?”