Creatures of the Lake

“Yes sir, I understand. Bring the creatures in alive. Same as last time.” Agent J said as he ended the call with his boss. It was the same lecture time after time, as if he didn’t understand how this job worked. Screw up and kill the creatures you catch once and you were hounded about it forever. His partner, Agent M, loved to give him grief more than even the chief himself did, and never let him live it down.

“Did you switch to the tranquilizer rounds yet?” M asked.

“I haven’t had live rounds loaded for two years now and you know that”

“Just checking.”

We were on our way to a local hang out spot some fifty miles from the office to a lake where the locals like to hang out at during the summer. There had been a number of reports recently that the lake had become home to some nasty little land dwelling creatures that loved to attack from the water. J had a few different ideas as to what might have moved into the area and had planned accordingly, bringing various traps and baits to bring in his prey. This was what he was good at, reading his prey and figuring out how to get them close. J’s partner was the jump in with both feet kind of person whom was good at getting results. If J could bring the prey in close enough, M could capture it. The two made a good pair and had one of the best capture rates in the company.

They had finally made it to the dirt road leading to the lake, and the slight fog caused J to turn on the fog lights, even thought is was only mid afternoon in the summer. The dense forest surrounding the lake allowed the fog to stay down where the shade stayed cool, and since the level of the water was higher than usual, the fog even hung around the shoreline where the trees where partially submerged. The rough roads caused their vehicle to bounce and jolt everything inside that wasn’t tied down, including the bait bag J somehow forgot to store in the back.

“So what’s the plan?” M asked.

“Well we know from the locals that whatever is in here is a land dwelling creature that loves the water and uses that to its advantage to sneak up on prey. But since all of the attacks so far have led to only a few teeth marks and nothing serious, I think we’re dealing with something that is less aggressive and more mischievous.” J said.

“Ok, so we bait a trap and wait then?”

“From the stories I've heard, it sounds almost like they travel in packs. All of the reports tell of multiple shrieks before the attacks occur. I think we’ll have to trap a couple by hand and leave the rest for the time being, at least until the lab rats tell us exactly what we’re dealing with here.” J said. The further they went into the lake, the fewer sounds they heard. There were no birds chirping, no frogs croaking, just the wind whispering between the branches of the trees and the water slapping the shore. J swore he could hear the echo of laughter coming from the trees as the truck bounced around the rough dirt road.

“I think we’re far enough in.” J said as he looked for a good spot to pull in and set up. He found a spot not far from the shore line with a good length of shallow water that would not only be the perfect spot for them to hunt, but the perfect spot for someone to set up a camp for the day to enjoy the lake. They pulled in and set up a makeshift campsite, complete with camp chairs and fresh firewood in the pit. They changed out of their regular attire and into their beachwear as they found a good spot around the fire pit. Agent M preferred a more modest one piece bathing suit paired with a pair of shorts while J had his swim trunks and a sleeveless shirt to show off his farmers tan. Agent J started the fire and reached behind his chair to a cooler which contained a few drinks.

“What are we doing J?” Agent M asked.

“We have to make this look convincing. If we just show up and start dragging the shore line, whatever we’re hunting is going to catch on pretty quick. But if we pretend to be just a couple of people looking to relax and play in the water, our prey will come to us.” Agent J explained.

“Fair enough.” M said as she opened her beverage. The two started chatting about their weekend plans and what they wanted to get done before the summer was over while they cracked open another drink. While chatting, J could hear the rustle of branches and the slaps of the shallow water as small feet worked their way closer to the campsite. J looked over at M who had apparently also heard their prey getting braver, and without a word, both got out of their chairs.

J kicked off his sandals, replacing them with his water shoes, got up out of his chair and started for the shore. M wasn’t far behind him, choosing a different path closer to the shore line unlike J who was headed straight for the water. Their plan was simple; M was going to get the creatures full attention by staying close to the shore line and then leading them to the open water, where they seemed to prefer ambushing their targets, leading them straight into J’s trap. It was working so far. J could just make out the shifts in the shadows of the fog as they followed M down the shore line. The tiny ripples in the water behind her as she made her way towards him only affermined that the bait had worked. The creatures waited until M was fairly close to him before they made their move. As they leapt out of the water, M dove to the side as J threw a small ball he had retrieved from his pocket at the creatures. The balls got about half way to the creatures before they opened up to produce a weighted net that wrapped around two of the hissing creatures. M quickly grabbed the edges of the net, being careful not to unravel it from around the creatures as she pulled them back up to shore. They were interesting little creatures, ones that neither of them had ever really been around before. They were barely two feet tall with stubby arms and legs, and they made a whole range of sounds as they tried to confuse their captures into releasing them. M hauled them up to the vehicle and put them in a cage in the back, where they quickly gave up fighting and passed out from exhaustion.

“Feisty little things.” M said as she swung her leg into the passenger side of the vehicle.

“That's an understatement. Not very scary either once you get them into the light.”

They could hear the little things snoring before they even hit the county road as they made their way back home.

What actually happened: This story is based on a day at the lake we spent with some good friends of ours to celebrate our buddies birthday. Our two kids (both under ten) spent the majority of the time in the water playing with the other kids there while the adults finished our lunches and drinks. As any parent with small children knows, kids with water guns and buckets can be ‘little monsters’ to the people trying to stay dry on the beach. We eventually made our way into the water for some much needed play time with the kids before making our way home. Our two played so hard that they didn’t even make it to the pavement before they were fast asleep in the back seat.