Fairy Guardian -The Beginning Ch1

It was a balmy night in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Sweat was dripping down my red splotched face making it stick to the sides of my curly brown hair.  "This heat. Day 300. Ugh."  How many more days can the sun beat down upon us without all of us just burning up.  I could hear the air conditioner slowly dying with it clicking of some kind and a bee slowly buzzing sound coming off it in waves. Swiping my brow. "I need to get out!"

Halling my butt off my couch that now smelled slightly of a musty corn fragrance that told me a shower was needed. Unfortunately, the water in the shower came down in a trickle and would take an hour to get fully washed. Another option was needed. My shorts were riding higher up my crack and causing me more discomfort. I stepped outside and could feel the oppressive heat, like hitting an invisible fence that wants to keep me inside. 

Climbing down the concrete steps of my tiny apartment to the front yard of my landlord's nice lake house.  The couple were friends of my parents and were thrilled to have me come stay and help with watching the house when they were away. It was a win-win for me. Their house was pristine with beautiful blue and white finishes, the flowers practically preening on the deck, the outdoor lights highlighting the manicured lawn, and the outside lush grey furniture that looked like it cost more than my beat up malibu. The house is fantastic, but the lake is why I choose to live here and put up with the less-than-ideal cramped living conditions. 

My parents moved here after Covid; they wanted a bigger place after all of us were cramped in a two-bedroom apartment in Sun Prairie. I hated them for moving me once again, but after finishing my last year of high school and being this close to a lake it was a great move for all of us. My brother is a couple of years behind me and is now in school to become a psychiatrist. 

"Ahh my beautiful lake, you never disappoint my dearest friend." My bare feet feeling the grass and then the deck as I make my way to the water.  The night sky is filled with stars, and the moon is shining making the lake look like a painting.  The smell is a sweet like when you peel an orange.  After moving so much growing up, it was hard to make friends and keep them. The internet helps but can only do so much.  My friends fell away like the leaves during fall. Nature, that is something I could count on, no matter where we called home there was always a tree, grass, and the stars above. This lake was special from the first moment I sat down beside it after a soul crushing break up. The guy I was dating thought I was moving too fast and decided he needed to spread his charm to everyone.  He just did not tell me it was while we were together.  As I cried, it felt like the lake was embracing me and telling me it was going to be alright and who needed jerk like that anyway.  It was probably my imagination, but it did feel better, so I kept coming back to my friend the Rock. 

The lake was calling me and more sweat dripping down my back from my neck; I jumped in fully clothed and sank to the depth of the mushy bottom below. My grandfather could stay underwater for five minutes; I was going to beat his record. With my clothes dragging me farther under to the darkness below and the cool depths, I felt like a mermaid. 

A hand of some sort grabbed me, holding me under was some kind of force. The water was so dark, like seeing through molasses. My heartbeat rapidly increased like a bird captured by a net. My moves become sporadic. I tried to pull myself up by kicking my legs so hard they started to cramp but this invisible entity would not let me go. Fear filled my blood until I could feel my lungs strain against my chest. My mouth opened to scream and the water entered quickly. The feeling of becoming weightless was entering my body and thoughts were becoming slower.  My eyes faded down and I felt a different jerk, but this one seemed warm, gentle and it seemed to be pushing me up, but I was drifting away into nothingness.