My grandma and I have always been close, but as of late she has been acting weird. She has called a few family members, including myself, and would say random bizarre things. My mom always thought I was her favorite, so she asked me to spend some time at her place to make sure she was okay.
The last time I visited grandma was about a year ago. She lives on the water in a very small neighborhood. The only way you can get to her was by crossing a bridge, since the marsh prevents all other routes.
There are maybe seven or ten houses. When I visited a year ago, the neighborhood had a party of sorts, so I was familiar with the residents.
Friday - The First Night:
I arrived around 6:00 PM. She seemed like her normal self: kind with a dark sense of humor. Her and I were similar in that sense. Grandma was also not afraid to drink for her age.
We were out on the dock drinking and shooting the breeze. She asked about my job, how I’ve been, and why I’m a single piece of shit. You know, typical grandma/grandson conversations.
She went to bed early, maybe around 8 or 9. I decided to stay up and admire the lagoon. I’ve had fond memories of this place, however I was never a big swimmer.
I knew how to swim, but after watching Jaws and other horror related films, I grew a phobia of swimming in natural water.
It was getting late when I heard Old Man Jim’s dog barking. Jim lived a few houses down from my grandma’s place. Like an alarm, I took the dog’s barking as a signal for me to go to bed.
As I opened the back door, I heard a big splash.
I walked back to the end of the dock and looked around. I saw big ripples in the water near Jim’s house but couldn’t hear the dog barking.
I gave a quick chuckle and went back inside thinking a big fish scared the dog away. My family had spent plenty of time fishing at the lagoon and caught some decent sized fish. So, I didn’t think too much about it.
Saturday - The First Day:
I’m a big night owl, so naturally I will sleep in late.
It was almost noon when I got dressed and walked into the kitchen.
There, at the dining room table, was my grandma and her neighbor Marie. When I met Marie a year ago, she seemed to be a very optimistic outgoing thirty-something year old woman.
“Good morning Will, you remember Marie, right?”
I gave another glance at Marie, but she seemed to be distraught. Giving little eye contact with me.
“Of course, how are you, Marie?”
She didn’t answer and just stared at her cup of coffee that my grandma provided her.
“Will, I’m sorry, but you came during hard times,” my grandma quickly replied.
Marie was a single mother. When I visited before, her twelve-year-old daughter Vanessa was staying with her father. She talked so highly of her daughter and kept telling me I should see her artwork since Vanessa and I both loved to draw.
So, I was quite speechless when I heard that Vanessa has been missing for the past few days.
“I…I have no idea where she could have gone. She just turned thirteen a few weeks ago and well…I hate saying it, but she doesn’t have a lot of friends. So…where did she go?
Marie was still staring at her cup with tears building up and cracks present in her voice.
She then looked up at my grandma and with a clear voice asked: “Do you think the new neighbor is responsible?”
A few weeks ago, a middle-aged man moved to the last house on the block. Last night, while my grandma was talking about the neighbors, she mentioned him and how people rarely see him leave the house.
It was silent for a few seconds after she asked about the new neighbor. In order to not stress her more, I decided to offer a helping hand.
“I could drive around and help look for her.”
Marie finally looked in my eyes and thanked me. She decided she needed to be alone and was about to leave. However, before leaving, Marie said one more thing to me:
“Maybe you’ll find Jim’s dog too. Apparently, she ran away last night.”
Saturday - Second Night
My grandma and I are fans of watching foreign movies and TV shows and often would be in contact with each other to provide recommendations. That night, we decided to watch an old German horror movie from the late 60s that my grandma thought I would enjoy.
After watching the movie, my grandma got up, kissed me on the forehead, and said goodnight.
Her bedroom is down the hall and can be seen from the living room. She entered her bedroom and was about to close her door until she peeked her head out and gave me a look.
“Will, if you’re going out tonight, could you let me know if you see any swans? Almost every day, there would be a family of swans with the cutest babies you’ll ever see come and visit me. I would feed them and they just warmed my heart…but I haven’t seen them for a while.”
I said of course, and she provided a very gentle smile and said thanks. As she was entering her room, with her face vaguely in view, she started humming a weird melancholy tune I never heard before.
It was getting late, and I didn’t feel like driving, so I decided to take a walk to the bridge. Thinking, maybe at least I will find Jim’s dog or see some swans, or any hints of Vanessa’s whereabouts.
I was maybe 100 ft away from the bridge when I saw an unfamiliar person.
“This must be the new neighbor,” I thought.
He was wearing binoculars around his neck and was carrying what appeared to be a case holding a musical instrument.
As I was about to pass him, I thought I shouldn’t judge this man based on speculation.
“Hello, how are you tonight?”
He looked up at me with a surprised glance. Almost as if he had no idea I was walking towards his direction.
He stood there in silence for a few seconds and then finally responded.
“Are you heading to the bridge?”
“I am.”
I could see it in his eyes that he was thinking hard on how to respond with a hint of fear.
“Umm, well just be careful…you don’t want to fall in.”
He gave an awkward chuckle and then walked past me without saying another word.
The neighbor was definitely curious and I can see why Marie would be suspicious of him. However, I wasn’t going to interrogate him the first time meeting him. Especially, this late at night.
I finally arrived at the bridge and gazed over the water. I looked around and couldn’t see any swans…or any birds. It dawned on me that since being here I haven’t really heard any wildlife.
My lips then puckered, and I began whistling for Old Man Jim’s dog. After a minute or two without luck, the melody my grandma hummed entered my mind.
I tried to whistle it.
I honestly don’t remember how long I tried mimicking the melody. It was quite addicting to whistle for some reason.
Eventually, I stopped whistling and a moment later I heard a faint splash below the bridge.
There was a wave in the water that resembled a fish slowly turning around. It reminded me of the movie Anaconda with Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube where you would see the snake swim in a stealthy manner.
I was curious about what type of creature could make the water move like that, however there have been a lot of different fish that lived in this lagoon, so I didn’t think too hard about it.
But, I was not expecting a sweet aroma to reach me. Especially when I was so close to the marsh.
It was a unique smell, like lavender bathed in honey with a subtle rustic scent.
Sunday - The Second Day:
My grandma asked if I could bring her homemade muffins over to Old Man Jim’s house. Jim was a very sweet old man, maybe in his mid-eighties. The type of elder that would make your heart feel enriched from his brittle kindness.
As I was walking over, a familiar little piece of shit named JJ stopped in front of me on his bike.
“I heard you were back.”
JJ was fifteen and the son of John, the neighborhood’s bigot. The two lived alone together and their ignorance melded together like shit and more shit. The last time I was here, my grandma was feeding geese from her dock and this fucker started throwing rocks at them from his little boat.
Like, who the fuck brings rocks on a boat.
“What do you want JJ?”
“I heard that dumb old man lost his dog. Here I was wondering who would die first – The dog or the dinosaur? But I guess in the end, the dog had standards after all.”
“I guess the same can be said about your mom. The only difference, your mom left a little bitch behind.”
I know, that was immature, but seriously fuck this kid. I also have no idea what the deal is with his mom, but anger can take the better half.
JJ gave a look of discomfort and rode off.
I continued walking until I heard a girl say “damn, he is a piece of shit, but you didn’t have to be cruel like that.”
I looked over and saw an unfamiliar cute girl sitting on the front porch reading. She seemed to be my age with a splash of goth attire.
“I’m sorry, but sometimes pieces of shit deserve to be pissed on. Anyways, you don’t seem familiar, who are you?
“I’m Zoey, Lisa’s younger sister.”
I never talked to Lisa much. She is a very shy woman that enjoyed keeping to herself. But, it made sense for Zoey to be related to Lisa. After all, out of the two, Lisa was more gothic.
“Hi Zoey, I’m Will. My grandma is– “
“I know who your grandma is. I’ve met her a few times. Very nice woman.”
“Indeed, she is”
I then walked over to Zoey. I’m the type of guy that shakes everyone’s hand, girl or guy. So, when I approached her, I stuck my hand out for a shake and said, “it’s nice to meet you.”
She kind of laughed at my attempt to shake hands but returned the gesture.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Are you here to bring me muffins?”
“What? Oh! Sorry, I’m bringing these to Old Man Jim.”
“You call sweet Jim, Old Man Jim?”
“Not in a demeaning sense! I met Jim years ago and he introduced himself as Old Man Jim. So, I guess that name just stuck. Do you want a muffin? I’m sure that cruel man named Jim wouldn’t mind sharing.”
Zoey smiled and politely refused. I told her that I better deliver these goods and hoped to see her around more.
I arrive at Old Man Jim’s and knock on his door.
He didn’t answer.
After knocking a few more times I decided to walk in to check on him.
I see him in his back yard shacking a bag of dog food while calling out for his lost dog.
“Hey Old Man, I have my grandma’s muffins for you.”
“ohh…hey Will.”
Jim was obviously distraught and barely looked at me.
“I don’t understand why Luna left. I’ve had her for eight years. She would always go outside at night through the doggy door and enjoy looking at our lagoon. Why would she run off now!?
I felt guilty because technically I was the last person to see his dog.
“Well, I did hear Luna barking loudly the other night. I then heard a pretty big splash so maybe a fish spooked her? She could have freaked out and ran away.”
“No way! Luna is a very brave dog. She’s been around big fish splashing in the water. Plus, she would have come back eventually…and you seeing a splash is also a surprise. I mean, look how dead the water is. It’s like the fish also got bored with us and ran.”
A faint whimper escaped his mouth after his last sentence.
“Well, I will continue looking for her, Jim.”
He didn’t respond, but continued to stare at the water with his whimpers slightly growing in volume.
I placed the muffins on the table and began walking to the front door. I was about to close the door but was interrupted by Jim softly singing a melody that sounded exactly like grandma’s.
I looked back at him and was going to ask about the melody but decided it would be best to leave him be.
Sunday - The Third Night:
I went for a late-night drive to look for any signs of Luna and Vanessa. After driving through the neighborhood and in town for a couple of hours, I decided to head back.
When I opened the front door, I noticed that the back door was wide open, and my grandma was standing at the dock.
“Grandma what are you doing? It is almost midnight.”
She didn’t respond.
As I was walking towards her, I noticed that she wasn’t wearing any shoes and that her toes were clinging to the edge of the dock.
She was so close to the water that even if a weak gust of wind were to come, it would push her off the dock.
I continued to walk closer to her and as I got closer, I could hear her humming that same melody.
Once again, I called her name as I approached her. She still did not respond.
I was now arm’s length away from her. It seemed she had no awareness of my presence but continued humming the melody.
Finally, I softly touched her arm and like someone escaping hypnosis, she awoke.
She seemed confused, not really understanding why she was at the dock.
I guided her back to her room, tucked her in, and went back outside and stood at the dock.
I started pondering what her small episode was about while staring at the water. The water was indeed dead. I imagined if I were to jump in, I may even hurt my feet on the solid surface.
As I turned to head back inside, I noticed Old Man Jim a few houses down, standing at the end of his dock.
I called out to him loud enough for him to hear without disturbing the neighbors, but he ignored me.
I stared at him for a little bit when suddenly…I heard the melody.
It was faint and not coming from any direction. Almost as if my mind turned on a radio and started to play it on the lowest level.
After looking around to see where it was coming from, I looked back at Jim.
It was as if time slowed down with absolute silence. At that moment, perhaps my mind was playing games, but I thought I saw Jim smile…right before he jumped into the water.
Immediately, I ran to his backyard while jumping over the neighbors’ fences. I arrived at his dock and looked over, frantically trying to locate his body. However, I saw no signs of him.
Sweat started to pour out of me and my heart began to race. I knew, I had to jump and find him.
I took a deep breath, counted down from three, and jumped in.
I tried to suppress my phobia and desperately swam around and even dived under the water trying to find him.
But…he was gone.
Floating there with the pathetic thought that I couldn’t save him, I looked up and my breath became still.
There was something in the water, about 50 ft away, turning its body. It was just like the time at the bridge, except it was now turning its body towards me.
My body was catatonic, and my eyes would not blink. After this thing turned its body, it began heading my way. Before my fight or flight kicked in, what I saw looked like a passive torpedo swimming towards me. Like a shark, but no fins can be seen.
Finally, I was able to escape my state, and began to swim as fast as I could to the ladder attached to Jim’s dock. The ladder was roughly five feet away.
I was halfway there when I gave quick glance back to see that this thing was now only maybe fifteen or twenty feet away.
My hands managed to grab onto the ladder, and I began to pull myself, almost slipping off in the process.
The second my body was on the dock, I looked at the water and expected to see this thing leap out and pull me in.
But it didn’t.
It was maybe a foot or so from the dock as its body turned and swam away. I couldn’t make out what it looked like, but the way the water moved, I could tell this creature was huge.
Maybe ten or fifteen feet. I couldn’t tell. It reminded me of a shark, the way it swam towards me but also reminded me of a snake, the way it turned its body.
After maybe a few seconds of the creature swimming away, the water went back to its still state. As I was catching my breathe, a familiar scent came over me and It was exact same smell I experienced at the bridge.
However, this time, another subtle scent was present. As if an old rusty pipe was lathered with honey and lavender.