The Lady of My Lake

Returning Home

I pulled myself out of the water and sprinted through the forest. "I must be hallucinating." I gasped replaying the scene in my head. My head was foggy and my sight obstructed by tears. I felt myself fall to the ground. Scrambling to my feet, I got up and continued running. It felt like the longest run of my life. Finally the trees loosened and I could just see the edge of my neighborhood. Looking around, I took a moment to catch my breath before continuing my run to my house. When I got there, I fumbled with the keys but finally got my shaky hands to drive the key in and open the door. "Dad! Dad!" I yelled as soon as I was in the house.
"Phi, what are you doing?" Jared said standing. He looked me up and down. "What happened to you? You're soaking and bleeding!" He took off his headset and approached me.
"No, Jared!" I yelled pushing him back. "Where's Dad?"
"He's still at work. Orphi, we gotta get that cleaned!" He said motioning towards my ripped up knee.
"We'll worry about that later! There was a woman! Someone shot her and and she had a baby and she drowned!" I yelled my hands waving by my head.
"Orphi! Orphi! Relax!" Jared said shaking me. I melted into his arms and he held me awkwardly. My brother was a loving guy but he was also socially awkward so I was already impressed with his compassion in this situation. He led me to my room and sat me on my bed. He said something along the lines of "Just wait here, I'll be back." But my brain was already processing too much to catch his exact words. I took a breath and tried to "put away" all the thoughts. I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes. I soon drifted off into an uneasy rest that was soon ended by a re-watching of the scene. When I shot up in bed, my knee had been bandaged and the pain had started. I dragged it out of the bed and dragged myself to the window-seat and looked out to the lake. It was calm as if nothing had ever happened. There was a knock on my door.
"Come in." I said quietly and didn't look at the door as it creakily opened. My father stood on the threshold.
"Ophelia, are you ok?" He said gently. He took a step in and closed the door. I shook my head, my voice failing me. "What happened?"
I was about to tell him about the woman and the lake but I remembered the first bad thing that happened today that sent me to the lake. "Ian cheated on me." I sighed.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." He hugged me and I immediately felt better. Ian was my favorite boyfriend and finding out he cheated on me was a crushing blow. "Is that all?"
"Is that not enough?" I mumbled. Dad looked down obviously feeling bad. "There was something else... I went to the lake and ther--"
"You went to the lake at this hour?! No wonder you got hurt!" My dad didn't mind me going to the lake but ever since mom disappeared at night we have strit curfews and are not to leave the house after 10 without express permission. He scowled at me. "You know you're not supposed to go out there after 10!"He stood and I could tell he was angry.
"Dad, but--"
"No 'but's.' Go to bed, Phi." He stood and grabbed the doorknob. "I love you, Phi. Good night." I nodded at him and he closed the door. I spent the rest of the night looking out the window.