Dangerous Territory

I hesitantly dip one toe into the cool water, creating small ripples around my foot. Seeing that no shark has come to bite off the limb, I allow myself to fully immerse my foot in the lake. The other foot quickly follows, and soon I'm wading through the shallows.

The sand beneath the water shifts under my feet as I take another step. The water is clear enough that I can quickly spot the sharp stones scattered beneath the lake. I am careful to avoid them.

I move deeper into the lake, inhaling the smell of sea salt and enjoying the feel of the silky water against my skin. A midday's sun beats overhead, but the lake is cold and refreshing.

Suddenly, I feel a rough tendril wrap tightly around my leg. I glance down in surprise, and find that I have gotten myself tangled in a patch of seaweed. I try to pull away, but a second loop of seaweed has encircled my other leg, trapping me.

My heart thumping wildly, I struggle to pull away, but the menacing sea plants jerk me back. I scream, and topple backwards, my head plunging briefly under the surface. I come up spluttering and gasping, spitting salty water out of my mouth. It's alive. The plants are alive.

Fear washes through me, and I break into a sweat as the weeds slowly reach for me, their long arms grasping and tangling and pulling.

It doesn't take long before I am ensnared in a web of seaweed, thrashing and trying desperately to break free. The seaweed makes an odd noise, almost like a growl. I grope around on the bottom of the seafloor, not entirely sure what I'm looking for. Something- anything. Anything to help me escape. 

A sharp burst of pain flares in my hand. A jagged rock! I yank it out of the mud, clenching it in my hand like a weapon.

Hand shaking, I slash at the tendrils grasping me. They release me, and the blood pounds back into my feet. The plants rear back as if to strike, and I can hear a faint hissing sound emanating from them.

I scramble out of the way before they can find their mark, tripping over rocks as I hasten to get out of the water. I grab my crumpled towel from a beach chair by the lake, and run up the steps to the small log cabin that my family is lodging in during our vacation.

As I burst inside the back door, my mother, fixing dinner on the stove, looks up, startled.

"Mom! Mom!" I cry, rushing up to her and tossing the wet towel on a chair. "You will never guess what just happened!" I blurt out the whole story.

My mother quirks up a single eyebrow. "Sounds like quite the adventure," she says. "You should write a story about it."