I was ready for the trip to be over. Not that I wasn’t enjoying it but everyone’s company was really starting to wear on me. Some people really liked doing things like grocery shopping. But not me. For me, food was just another distraction from whatever other actual important or interesting thing I’m trying to work on. In this case, it was getting in the way of a fantastic paleontological dig. The warm season this far north isn’t going to last forever, and I couldn’t wait to get back to work. Unfortunately, food is a necessity of life.
Right now I was in an inflatable raft making my way back to the dig site. I trailed my fingers in the water, it was beautifully clear and still. Almost as if it wasn’t there at all. At least I didn’t have to row. The folks I’d picked up were super excited when they’d heard about what I was digging up. An OOPArt they call it. A cute little abbreviation for “Out of Place Artifact.” They just had to see it, they said. They were laughing and joking as they rowed and we made our way around the bend.
A voice cut into my meditation, “Hey, so you said it’s a bit beyond here right?” I think his name was Jerry. They called him Jare, or something like that.
I raised my head and turned around, squinting my eyes as I looked ahead. “Yeah, if you look close you can see my tent up there. Do you see that red dot?” I stopped trailing my fingers and began to tap the water. Tap, tap tap… tap tap… tap tap tap…
“Yeah, yeah I can see it!” The raft wobbled a bit as he stood, looking. Everyone was getting excited. Me too, I was excited for this too be over.
Everyone was looking ahead. The water was so clear, so much like glass, if they’d looked behind they’d have seen what they were looking for.
Something white, and cold, and ancient trailing behind the boat.
Something intelligent, and hungry.
The groceries are here, I tapped.
—
Nightmare Fuel 2019, Day 14