Short Fiction is Back! The Dweller
As part of my efforts to give my subscribers more material, I’ve started up short fiction pieces again in the same style of Morbid Ink. This tale concerns a legend in a Wisconsin lake and a recently discovered body of a missing explorer from two hundred years before.
Part 8 of a legend in a Wisconsin lake and a recently discovered body of a missing explorer from two hundred years before.
After I finished showing Lisa the mysterious phone in the pool area, my rational mind kept insisting there must be some logical explanation. While Lisa pointed out the missing wire leading to the phone and the obvious point that the phone did not work, I came up with a possibility. I took the phone from her and threw the phone onto the concrete, convinced that Bob and Lisa had put some strange electronic device inside. Kneeling, I went through the antique mechanical parts from long before I was born. I glanced at her while holding the insides of the ripped-apart phone. Maybe I should have enjoyed the concerned expression on Lisa’s face. Instead, I got angry.
“Don’t look at me like I’m nuts,” I snapped. “This damn thing worked.”
Standing with the pieces of the phone in hand, I dropped them on the floor. Then, I glared at Lisa when she told me to calm down.
“It’s too bad you forgot to film the part where I’m falling apart out here.” I smirked as I walked away.
When I got into the hallway, Lisa finally caught up with me. She remained quiet, but I felt the stare on my back as we entered the lobby area. When I picked up my backpack, she finally said something.
“Shawn, I don’t know what you thought you heard back there, but I had nothing to do with it.”
I stared at her for a moment. The anger I felt drifted into cold reasoning. Something transpired at the pool, and it was no illusion. She may not have been the culprit. Still, it didn’t matter if she wasn’t involved; I’d already decided on things before this trip.
“Are you coming along or staying here?” I asked while watching her.
She hesitated.
“Where are you going?”
“Obviously, to the camp,” I replied while I pulled out a satellite phone from the top of my pack. “This gives me a way to use GPS to track our route and to pinpoint places so I don’t get lost. Plus, I can call for help in an emergency.”
Lisa stood there.
“I’m impressed you thought ahead like that!” she said with a smile.
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ll keep surprising you!” I walked past her.
“Hold up and let me get my stuff. I’ll be right back!” She took off.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Pulpist to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.