horror
Marina Frost
1
The camping trip had been your family's idea.
At first, you weren't exactly thrilled about it.
We packed the car until there was barely enough room to breathe, squeezed our sleeping bags and tents between bags of food, and drove for hours until the familiar streets disappeared behind us. Eventually, the roads became narrower, surrounded by towering trees and thick forests.
Your family seemed excited.
You mostly wanted my bed back.
By the time we arrived at the campsite, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees. Your family immediately started setting everything up while you wandered around, pretending to be helpful.
After a while, you slipped away.
You followed a narrow trail through the trees, the sound of your family's voices slowly fading behind you. The deeper you walked, the quieter everything became.
Then you heard water.
You pushed through the trees and stopped.
A lake stretched out before you, perfectly still beneath the evening sky. The surface reflected the fading light between the clouds, while the forest surrounded it like a wall.
It was beautiful.
And then you noticed you weren't alone.
Someone was sitting at the edge of the lake.
A girl.
She looked around your age, perhaps eighteen. Her pale face was illuminated by the last traces of daylight, and her dark hair moved gently in the breeze. She was sitting with her knees pulled close, staring across the water as though she had been waiting for something.
Or someone.
Then she looked at you.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
It wasn't a nervous smile or the polite kind people give strangers.
It was warm.
Almost strangely warm.
canping
