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THE POOL
By Melissa L. Webb
The water sparkled, reflecting the sun like diamonds, as it rippled in the morning breeze. Addie barely noticed as she watched from the chaise she was currently occupying. Her focus was on the dark shape resting on the bottom of the pool.
It hunkered in a corner, never moving. It was the size of a person, but what it was, she had no idea. People couldn’t live in a deep end of a pool.
“Come on, Ad,” her brother called, making his way once again to the high dive. “Are you just going to sit there all day?”
“Do you guys see that shadow in the pool?” she asked, fearing ridicule as she did.
“What shadow, Addie?” their older sister, Margret, asked.
“The one in the deep end.”
Margret looked at their brother standing on the high dive board. “Do you see anything, Stuart?”
Glancing below him, he shook his head. “There’s nothing down there,” he called before cannonballing into the pool.
Water splashed Margret and she giggled in delight before jumping into the pool herself.
“Come on,” Stuart said, breaking the surface of the water. “Don’t just sit there. We didn’t talk Mom and Dad into buying a house with a pool just so we can look at it.”
“Don’t waste your time, Stu. Addie’s just being a baby again. She’s not happy unless she can find something to be afraid of,” her older sister told him as she treaded water.
Addie remained silent as they went back to splashing in the water, playing in the cooling pool they wanted so badly. Her eyes never left the shape in the pool. It stayed in the corner, only moving slightly as her brother and sister disturbed the water repeatedly.
Whatever this shape was, she knew it was watching and waiting, playing a game of Russian roulette with her siblings. Anyone of their next dives could be their last.
© 2011 Melissa L. Webb
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Ooh very creepy. It has a menacing feel to it, which sibling will it take first. How many days will it allow them to play?
This could also be the start of a much longer story.
Even Cthulhu it seems, has been forced to downsize. Damn economy. Nice job Melissa, very creepy
The waiting is the hardest part. Good story!
Ooh creepy! Waiting for it strike could drive anyone bonkers.
Oh man. You’ve got me thinking alligators in the pool now.
Just when you thought is was safe to go in the backyard pool… [cue theme from Jaws]
Nice and creepy. I’ll just run through the sprinkler.
Brrrrrr! I bet Addie takes matters into her own hands.
Great story, and I think it plays on one of those childhood fears about what is under you in the water. I still feel this whenever I’m swimming in the sea. Her siblings should really listen to her.
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