The Way The Pine Trees Sway

The sun has set, it’s gone, but the sky has yet to give in to the night. The dull blues hang in the air, casting light on the fog creeping over Squam Lake. Kevin is mid-story, he has all the eight-year-old campers enthralled and horrified.

“Billy waited on the shore,” Kevin continued in a whispering voice. “And he saw Johnny’s boat approaching through the fog, nearing the shore. The boat hit the shore, Billy ran over to see… the boat was empty, the back half missing, torn off, nothing of Johnny, except his shoes. And in his shoes, his feet stood firm, severed at the ankles!”

The little kids all gasp, terrified.

I hear a whisper through the still, cold air. “Johnny.” My collar gets tugged up. I turn, no one behind me, just the lake a yard from my feet. The wind must have moved my collar.

“What is it that lives in the lake?” One kid asks.

“No one knows for sure.” Kevin answers. “But the reports of giant, dark green fins, and huge clawed hands emerging from the water late at night, lead us to believe, it couldn’t be a shark, it couldn’t be an alligator, could it be some hybrid? An undiscovered species? A monster?!”

These kids are really going now. None of them are going to sleep tonight. I feel badly, but I’m also all for tradition. A little scary story never hurt anyone.

“I heard the monster was killed 11 years ago by that guy who got the harpoon thing.” One kid chirps up. “But also, the last kid to die at this camp, it was six years ago. So, is it ghosts or something?”

“Or… is it that the monster is now a ghost?!” Kevin is really creeping them out.

“Come on.” I can’t keep quiet anymore. “A ghost-monster? That’s just too much. It’s ghosts or it’s a monster. You can’t have both.”

“What’re you talking about?” Kevin is annoyed.

“That’s too unrealistic. That’s why they never have anything like that in movies. People can get on board with monsters or ghosts, but you can’t combine them all, it’s too much.”

“This isn’t a movie.” Kevin is really arguing with me over this scary story. “This is real. Besides, are you on board with the fact that ghosts can exist? If someone dies, they can become a ghost, right?”

I nod.

“So, what would happen to a monster if it died? You think the same rules don’t apply to monsters?”

Just then, three other camp counselors-approach from behind the campers. Bryce, with his perfectly coiffed hair that couldn’t have taken less than three hours to perfect, Jocelyn with her dark hair, dark eyes, porcelain skin and Theo with his shirt that’s about two sizes too small when he’s sucking in his gut.

“Alright campers!” Bryce commands the attention of everyone instantly. “Story time is over, we’re doing Smores at the main firepit and then it’s lights out time. And remember, sun’s down, so no one goes near the water. Let’s go!”

All the kids follow Bryce into the camp. Whispers circulate through the crowd. The leaves and branches of the tall pine trees surrounding us shake and waver. But there’s no breeze… until just now, a breeze whips through and vanishes. The kids are long gone, but I swear I hear more whispering… surrounding us… above us. The whispers quiet and silence hangs heavy above our heads.

The trees make a natural barrier for this camp site, we’re walled in, hidden from society. Behind me, the lake. The fog is still there, rolling atop the surface, but it’s harder to see. The dull blues have vacated the sky. The darkness is taking over, growing stronger. Deeper. Even the ripples in the lake are darkening as they flutter across the water.

Jocelyn and Theo stroll over to us.

“The kids looked scared.” Jocelyn pats Kevin on the arm. She looks to me and smiles. I try to contain a smirk but do a terrible job.

“It probably would’ve been better if Darious wasn’t trying to ruin it.” Kevin shoves me.

“I wasn’t trying to ruin it, I was just saying, ghost-monster? Come on, this sounds like another ghost-moose-tree, Kev.”

Hey!” Kevin is laughing but also defensive. “Ghost-moose-tree was the scariest thing you or I ever saw! With antlers and branches!”

“It was a tree.” I remind Kevin. “And it looked like a moose because the branches looked like antlers. And it was foggy, so… ghosty…”

Jocelyn laughs. She doesn’t know the story of the entity that was half ghost, half moose and half tree inexplicably, but maybe I can tell her later. It’s an embarrassing story where Kevin and I drove off the road. But it’s funny.

“Wait a second.” Theo pulls on the bottom of his shirt as if that will make his stomach less fat in it. “Does Darious not believe in the monster?”

“To be fair, this is his first overnight, so he hasn’t been briefed by Chambers.” Kevin places his hand on my shoulder and leads me into camp.

*******

Kevin and I are in Dana Chambers’ office, which means we’re just in the biggest cabin here. Chambers has insisted on putting a big office desk in the cabin where she keeps loads of pointless papers and folders.

“Kevin Kruger, you have already had your briefing for the overnights last year.” Chambers shuffles through some folders. Oh yeah, she’s one of those Full-Namer people. “And Darious Dunning… this is your first overnight. You already know plenty about being a camp-counselor. But for the overnights, you need to just remember, no one goes near the lake!”

“Yeah, okay.” I’m a little taken aback by the sudden shouting. “Goes without saying, it’s dark, water, little kids, of course.”

“Yeah.” Chambers let’s out a big sigh. She yanks papers from a folder. “I can see you need a little more convincing. No one goes near the lake after sundown, because of the thing.”

She tosses the papers across her desk towards me. I leaf through. Several police report copies. And photos of campers and camp-counselors, gruesomely torn up, mauled, decapitated. Horrific scenes. My eyelids have never been farther apart.

“There is something in that lake.” Chambers continues. “It’s apparently nocturnal. That’s why we don’t go near the water after sundown. And we haven’t had an accident for six years.”

“Wait a second,” I’m appalled. “Those stories are true?!”

“Why do you think we tell them?” Kevin is eerily calm.

“To scare the campers? To entertain them?” After those two sentence fragments… I am at a total loss for words.

“Sure, they do that.” Chambers leans forward. “But that’s the second objective of the stories. The first is to protect everyone here. Do you see this photo? This camper with what looks like two stab marks in the chest?” Chambers points to one photo. “Not stab wounds. Those are from two teeth. Two gigantic teeth. Saliva was found around the wounds. Not human. And not of any known species of animal.”

“Let me get this straight.” I have found words again. “There’s something in that lake… that has killed multiple people… and you don’t shut down this camp site… but instead you tell ghost stories about it… at the camp site?!”

“We haven’t had an accident for six years, Darious Dunning.” Chambers snatches the photos, stuffs them into the folder, tosses it into the drawer and slams it shut. “The police said it was in everyone’s best interest that this news didn’t get out, so that people wouldn’t unnecessarily worry. We keep up our end of the bargain, we keep kids away from the water after sundown, no one gets hurt, no one has to know. Now, the sun has gone down. Where are people not allowed?”

“Near the water!” Kevin answers and even though I say nothing, Chambers knows it goes double for me.

*******

Kevin and I have checked on the last of our cabins. Campers all accounted for, in their beds, lights out. We meet up with Bryce, Jocelyn and Theo at the main campfire.

“Cabins one through four are all good.” Kevin announces.

“Five through eight are good, too.” Jocelyn responds.

“10 through 12 all accounted for.” Theo plops down on a log.

“You mean, nine through 12?” I try to correct him.

“Uhh, no!” Theo puts on his ‘fake-stupid’ voice, but it suits him all too well. “We split up the 12 cabins in groups of four. You two got the first four, those two got the middle four, and I took the last four.”

“Yeah? So, who did cabin nine then, Theo?” Bryce glares at him. We all watch Theo as he slowly and painfully does simple math in his head.

“Oh, crap!” He suddenly exclaims. “I thought nine was part of Bryce and Jocelyn’s check. Well, it’s unfair. How come I was the only one to be doing my checks alone!?”

We all race off to cabin nine while Theo scrambles to get to his feet.

*******

The five of us stand in the doorway of cabin nine. Of the six campers that are supposed to be in there, only four are.

“Where are the Miller brothers?” Bryce keeps his cool, but there’s a hint of worry in his voice.

“They said they went out to stop the monster.” Peeps up one nervous camper from under his blanket.

We split up. Bryce and Jocelyn head to the spot by the lake where Kevin told his scary story. Kevin and I rush towards the dock to the East and Theo heads to the dock to the West.

Kevin and I sprint to the dock, kicking up wet dirt every which way. My calves are burning. My lungs heaving.

We reach the dock and there are the Miller brothers, pushing a canoe into the lake.

Neither Kevin nor I have enough breath in our lungs to say anything. We sprint to them, grab their arms and yank them back onto dry land!

“What are you guys doing?!” Kevin frantically searches the water. There’s no movement.

“We’re scared of the monster.” The younger Miller brother speaks up.

“That’s why you stay away from the water!” Kevin’s so flustered.

“But we heard the monster can come up on the land.” Explains the older Miller brother. “We were going to the shed out on the lake to get that harpoon thing they used to kill it the first time.”

That is the tale that everyone hears. And it’s true that there is a shed on top of a lonesome dock near the middle of the lake, and it contains a harpoon, among other tools.

“No, no, no.” I’m so worried, we hardly got to these kids in time. “You guys are safe in your cabin. Let’s go back—

Suddenly, we hear an inhuman roar blast through the air followed by a high-pitched screeching.

“Get back to your cabin and shut the door! Now!” Kevin points the Miller brothers in the direction of their cabin, and they take off. He and I run towards the sound of the roar which appeared to come from the edge of the lake. As we near, we hear growling, a softer screech, and then nothing.

We return to the spot where Kevin was telling the story, and there at the edge of the lake, lays Bryce. Hair still perfectly coiffed, left arm missing, gashes in his chest and legs, and one side of his head bloodied. He’s at the edge of the water, yet a trail of blood extends six feet from his body away from the lake.

“Oh my God.” I’m horrified. Waves push through the water towards us, the trees around us bend and sway. There’s no breeze… until now, a breeze rolls through. I follow the trail of blood with my eyes, it leads my gaze towards the tree line, where I see a figure, standing by the pines. As I fixate on the figure, it slinks away into the shadows.

“Something was in the woods!” Kevin looks but sees nothing. The figure is gone. “It’s gone, but there was something over there, almost like a human. I think… I think it was something in the woods that did this to Bryce.”

“What’re you talking about, Darious? Bryce is right by the lake. And it’s the lake we stay away from! Not the woods!”

I look back at Bryce’s perfectly coiffed hair, his clothes spotted with blood but dry other than that. “Look at him. He’s completely dry. His hair isn’t even messed up. If something came out of the lake to get him, he’d be soaking wet. It doesn’t make sense. There must be something else… somewhere else on the camp site.”

As Kevin sputters, unsure what to say, Theo comes stumbling towards us from the direction of the woods, breathing heavy.

“The kids weren’t—there wasn’t any—” He can’t complete a sentence. He must be out of breath from running.

“Theo,” Kevin stops him. “Save your breath. We found the kids and sent them back to the cabin. But Bryce, something got Bryce.”

“The thing was—” Theo’s still trying to speak. He gasps weakly for breath, licks his lips, wheezes… and collapses. Four long punctures in his back. Kevin and I scream.

“The thing got Theo too!” Kevin screams. He jumps away from the lake.

“But where did he just come from?!” I’m so confused. “He came from inland, not near the lake. And he’s perfectly dry too. I don’t think this thing is in the water—”

We both look up to see something in the woods, a human-like figure, but with a head that’s flattened and misshapen on top. It moves quickly through the trees and disappears.

“What was that?!” Kevin yells.

We’re still. Frozen.

Afraid to move.

Jocelyn screams and comes running from our left. She runs into my arms. I hold her. Tears streak down her cheeks, leaves in her hair.

“I thought I saw the kids in the woods, so I went in and—they weren’t there but—something was there—” Jocelyn fights through her tears. “It grabbed my shoulder and it said, ‘stay away’ and I just ran. It was like it was human but-- it smelled like an animal…”

“See?” I look to Kevin. “All along, we’re being told to stay away from the lake. But really the lake isn’t the problem. It’s the woods. Whatever’s in the woods is what’s doing this. It got Theo. It came out here and got Bryce. That’s why he was trying to crawl away, towards the lake.”

I point to the trail of blood next to Bryce. It looks like he was moving towards the lake.

“Why would he be moving towards the lake?” Kevin asks.

“Maybe whatever it was can’t go into the water. Or… maybe he was trying to get the harpoon… That’s where we need to go! To that shed!”

“The canoe that the kids had!” Kevin exclaims.

*******

Kevin and I hurriedly push the canoe into the shallow water. The floor of the lake drops at a steep angle. Jocelyn stands on the shore, holding herself, watching, unblinking eyes.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come with us?” I ask.

“No.” She’s still.

“Well, just stay away from the woods. We’ll be back.” I give her a smile before we shove the canoe into motion and hop in. But it won’t be my last smile to her.

Kevin and I start paddling, gaining momentum. We glide out in the lake. The water is still besides the ripples from our paddles. We work quickly, redirecting the canoe towards the lonesome dock in the middle of the lake. It’s dead ahead. We need to arm ourselves, harpoons, tools, whatever is in there. We’re going to stop whatever is in the woods.

We’re halfway towards the lonesome dock, I look back at Jocelyn. She hasn’t moved from her spot on the shore. Holding herself tight.

From the tree line behind her, several figures emerge. All human-like, one with a flattened and misshapen head. They move past the trees slowly. Kevin sees me staring and whips his head around so fast he almost snaps his neck. We notice the figures are just standing there. They’re transparent. I see the trees right through their frames. Ghosts? Of former campers? They extend their arms to us in a pathetically helpless attempt.

The trees bend and sway. Waves move through the water. There’s no breeze… until just now. A breeze whips through. Whispers glide through the air.

“Stay away… from the lake.”

The waves swell and our boat is rocking and heaving. As we look back to the shore, something emerges from the water directly in front of our boat. Claws as large as swords. They extend off fingers the size of our bodies. The fingers extend into the sky, revealing an arm 15 feet long. It’s scaly like a fish, green like seaweed, yet it’s transparent. It’s directly in front of us, but I can see Jocelyn right through it on the other side. Her eyes wide, her arms have dropped to her sides. The figures in the trees stand still with outstretched arms.

The giant arm extends into the darkness and reaches for the moon. No water drips off of it, it’s bone dry. The fingers stretch and flex. A muffled shriek emanates from deep below our canoe.

“Looks like the arm of a ghost monster to me.” Kevin says eerily calmly.

I nod. I give Jocelyn a smile. The last one.

The moonlight gleams off the claws. The shadow of the monster’s arm engulfs us, and then grows rapidly as the arm drops onto us with all its force!

The canoe has disappeared.

There’s no movement on the lake. The air is quiet. And the pine trees bend and sway. But there’s no breeze…

There is no breeze at all.