The boy in the lake.

There was a town, like any other, where the skryscrapes floated over the heavens and the whales sang their eerie songs on they journeyed through the clouds and over the towns. The grass in the parks shone silvery blue and the yellow light of the two suns that circulated the town shone in every hour on the red cobble streets, it's rays sparkling against the glossy walls of the buildings. And the inhabitants lived their easy lives, striding through the parks and feeding the fishes that glided in and out of the grass and trees. The town was ordinary in every way, except for a few of the people that lived there.

In the town there lived a couple, of which the pair puzzled most of their fellow citizens. They weren't extraordinary of sorts, though the girl, oh the girl! She was a marvel too look at, and instantly loved by everyone who happened to meet her. Her hair was long and flowing and chocolaty brown, and when caught in the sun it shone in a fiery tinge. Her skin was like marble and peach, and her eyes so dark that you couldn't see where the black pupil overlapped and melted into brown. She had a grace unlike anything on the earth and she was kind and smart. What marveled people the most however, was the boy that had caught her heart. And oh how she loved him. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him and not much she hadn't already done. Now, the boy in return was just as warm and caring as the girl, but the people of the town knew he was... Eccentric. And they had noticed how he would leave the girl for weeks, sometimes months, not leaving a word until he would come home, standing on her doorstep with the most exquisite gifts, and big words of adventures on his lips. But he never brought her along, and a few days later he would vanish again, leaving her waiting, tendering the promises he'd left behind. And the people of the town would talk, for they could not understand how he could leave such sweet a girl to her own for such long periods of time. They urged her to leave him, questioning her trust for the man that would never bring her along; spreading words of unfaithfulness and hollow promises. But when people came to her with such ominous predictions, she would patiently wave them away. She knew the people of the town were only concerned for her, and she was grateful for their care. So in return she simply smiled, reassuring them of her trust in the boy. And every evening she would sit by her bedroom window, thinking of the boy and smiling. And just before she went to bed, she would open the window and send him a kiss on the tides of the winds, reassured in the notion that he would return to her safely.

You see the boy and the girl had a sacred ritual. A ritual that no one else knew about. The boy was a man of science, and on his voyages he would search for ways to connect to other worlds. The reason he never brought the girl along was because of how dangerous his work could sometimes be, and he would never find it in his heart to forgive himself should something happen to the girl. But to spare his love from worrying about him, he had found out a way to reassure her that he would return home safe. And knowing he was a man of his word she never doubted him. Right before he left he would take her in his arms and kiss her on the forehead, and when he walked away he would never turn too look at her, knowing he would soon see her again. The boy had let the girl know that should he know he would not return, he would kiss her on her mouth and not her forehead. So reassured, the girl would walk back into her house, tending to whatever shores she had, not looking through the window as he disappeared, knowing he would soon be back so she could look into those bright eyes of his, his smile brushing at her core.

Late one autumn afternoon, the boy returned more anxious then ever, and in the days that followed he did not spend as much time with the girl as he normally did when at home. Instead he would sit at the kitchen table for hours on end, absentmindedly staring out the window. And he would go to his laboratory, staying looked in until the early hours of morning. The girl was understanding, and she left him to his own, knowing he would come to her in time to reveal whatever discovery she was sure was keeping up his mind. And as she had predicted, finally one morning the boy came to her, his eyes beaming with anticipation, and he told her that he'd found a way to get into another world. He proclaimed that he would leave right away, but that this time he wanted her to come with him. Suddenly struck with apprehension the girl made herself ready and soon they where driving through the land, heading for the place where the boy had first made his discovery. For days and nights they traveled the road, and the further they got, the more troubled the girl became. Then at last, one early morning when the rays of the suns shone low and glimmering, reflected in the dew that hung thick in the trees and grass, they reached a lake where they stopped. The boy instantly stepped out of the car and started to clime into a curious looking diving suite he'd brought with him. Then without a word he embraced the girl in a kiss and headed down to the water. Just as he reached the brim of the water he turned around, and with a big grin on his face he waved. Then he waded out into the lake and vanished beneath the surface. Back on the beach, the girl watched as the rippled surface again became still and clear, then she traced a slender finger along the lips where he'd placed his kiss. And without another thought she returned to the car, and drove off, never to look back on the days she'd spent with a boy that disappeared into a lake, smiling as he left a hole in the world to which he'd once belonged.


*Art: Sorrow For Whales; by RHADS on deviantart. http://rhads.deviantart.com/