There was a lake in the middle of the forest that no map ever showed and no one who visited it remembered how they got there.
For long I thought it was just a town legend until one day I stumbled upon it. The air around it shimmered slightly like heat on asphalt but the water was still almost too still.
It looked like there were no fish or anything alive in fact anyone could guess that nothing lived here. And yet as I leaned closer to the surface I saw my reflection blink even though I hadn’t.
I immediately thought I was mistaken that my mind was playing tricks on me as I wandered into this forest and had been completely alone and silent for hours. But then the reflection tilted its head the wrong way and smiled at me wide and slow as if it had been waiting.
I stepped away from the lake shivers ran down my spine I felt like I should have never come here. Just as I turned to leave the forest behind me shifted trees bending slightly inward as if forming a gate I hadn’t noticed before.
When I turned back to the lake I saw myself standing in front of me. They looked exactly like me same clothes same expression but their eyes were completely black and they whispered “You left me here.”
“Me? Who are you? This can’t be real,” I stammered.
The other me tilted their head again and stepped closer their voice now echoing slightly as they said “You made a wish by this lake once don’t you remember?”
They started walking towards me like a tiger closing in on its prey “Remember Micky?”
The name hit me like a cold slap Micky my childhood dog the one that went missing the day I ran into the woods and swore I saw something glowing by the water.
“Micky is that you? Why do you look like me? What the hell is going on dogs don’t talk the hell?”
The shadowy figure smiled again a slow knowing smile and whispered “Not all wishes come true the way you expect I’m what you left behind.”
“I never wished for anything!” I screamed. They looked at me intensely and said
“But you wished to forget to move on and in doing so you trapped me here in between.”
I wished for you to come back to me.
The reflection’s eyes softened for a moment then darkened again as they murmured
“Now the lake wants something in return and it’s your turn to decide what you’ll sacrifice.”
I looked back at the forest it looked more like a jungle now they said “don’t” but it was too late.
As I stepped forward into the thickening shadows the air grew heavy and the whispers of forgotten promises curled around me like vines pulling me deeper into the unknown.
I started running even though the forest didn’t look like itself anymore. I just knew I needed to get out.
Branches clawed at my clothes and the ground seemed to shift beneath my feet but behind me I heard the lake’s voice soft haunting calling my name promising both salvation and doom.
Then finally I saw the light.
It wasn’t sunlight but a faint pulsing glow coming from a small ancient lantern hanging on a crooked wooden post as if someone or something was waiting for me at the edge of the forest.
I practically jumped inside the wooden hut.
The door creaked shut behind me and inside the air was thick with the scent of old paper and herbs and on the rickety table sat an open book its pages glowing faintly as if alive.
I came closer to read it but the door creaked behind me once again.
I spun around just in time to see a figure cloaked in shadows step inside their eyes gleaming with a knowing light that made my heart pound.
“You made a mistake and now you come to me to save you!”
I swallowed hard my voice barely a whisper as I asked “Who who are you and why am I the one who needs saving?”
“Well aren’t you running away from your past right now?”
The figure stepped closer their presence both terrifying and strangely comforting and said
“Running doesn’t erase what’s behind you it only tightens the chains.”
He put two fingers to my forehead and it felt like lightning struck me I was at the lake again but this time everything looked normal.
The water rippled gently reflecting a clear blue sky and in the distance I heard the soft bark of Micky as if waiting to guide me home.
Only I remembered that Micky was dead.
submitted by /u/Stock-Phone200
[link] [comments]