Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-33470154-20180611012533

The emptiness of the forest beckoned us inside, inviting us to forge our own path. The year was 2016. I was a junior over at Deadwoods High, and my best friend James was a senior. You know where that is, right? Just a mile or so northeast, a few feet ahead of the sea of trees belonging to the Ruined Woods. Well, technically it’s the Pinewoods, but everyone calls it the Ruined Woods since a fire destroyed a good deal of the trees in a nearby town. Luckily for us, our section of the Pinewoods is as green and fertile as ever. Back in those days, James was a real big fan of those YouTubers who made videos about survival in the wild, channels like Primitive Technology and the such. Since he was going across the country to attend Caltech soon, he invited me to spend some of his final days here “living off the land,” as he put it. I was a little hesitant, but after a little nagging, I gave in. After all, we did have cell phones, so what’s the worst that could happen? There were only a few areas in the Pinewoods with no reception, so in an emergency, we wouldn’t have to walk that far. Plus, what was going to attack us in the Pinewoods? Bears, maybe, but a few cans of pepper spray would negate that issue. On the morning of June 19, 2016, James and I walked into the Ruined Forest. We scouted remote areas of the forest, so no stray hiker would run into us. With us, we had 2 backpacks, with portable cell phone chargers, flashlights, emergency food, all the ropes, along with two tents. We wandered a few miles in, keeping a lookout for a good place to set up camp and picking up a good supply of dead branches for out fire along the way. Maybe 6-7 miles in, we happened upon a small, peaceful lake. It was perfect! Clear water, no trees, and fresh air! But by far, the best part was the lack of mosquitoes and other pests. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a living being in sight. Nothing made a sound. There was no wind stirring up the lake, no birds singing in the trees, no animals coming to take a drink. It was as if this lake had been abandoned by nature.

The crystal-clear lake was so inviting, we decided that we had to take a swim. I almost cried out upon entering the water, it was so cold. Only a few seconds later James jumped in, splashing me with water, then abruptly crying out and scrambling to get out of the frigid water. At that point, we decided we’d had enough swimming for the day and went to towel off. After we dried off, we began setting up, starting with the tents. As James was trying to get his tent set up (he wasn’t quite as skilled as I was), I searched for some rocks to make a fire pit. A few hours later, the first night had begun. The fire leapt hungrily into the air, crackling merrily as James and I slowly browned our marshmallows. A while later, the fire began to die, and we put it out of its misery at 9:45. Since the fire was out and we were set up for the night, it was the first time we truly got to appreciate how desolate the area around us was. It was almost surreal, to be this far into the woods and not need mosquito nets or hear the crickets chirping. At around 11 pm, I fell asleep, still listening to the sound of silence.

The time was 3 am. I awoke to a thunderous crash. Shining my flashlight towards the noise, I saw that the surface of the lake had shattered, taking the silence of before with it. Water cascaded down the perfect hole in the center of the lake. I was too terrified to make a noise as I watched the lake slowly drain into the cavernous, yet inexplicable hole. I suddenly remembered James was here. I had no clue if he knew anything about it, but at the very least he could vouch for me when we went back home. I began screaming his name.

I called his name for a good 5 minutes. All of a sudden, I remembered why James wasn’t responding to my calls. He was wearing some noise-canceling earplugs. They must have been really good if they let him sleep through that unholy racket. There was no way I could leave to go wake him up. I had no clue what I was seeing, but even then I knew I was one of the first people to see... whatever it was.

After around 5 minutes, water began to spurt out of the hole, creating a huge fountain of water. The hole began to close as the lake filled back up. After a few minutes, there was no sign the hole had ever existed. I bolted to James’ tent and tried to open the flap. I never did manage to get it open, he woke up after a good minute of me trying and opened it himself. Once he opened it, I told him the entire story, so fast and panicked he probably thought I’d gone insane. He didn’t believe a word I said until he shined a flashlight in my face and saw my pale, awestruck face.

After a few minutes on the internet doing research, James told me about a local legend, known as Blue Holes. According to his stories, Blue Holes are lakes in unnaturally quiet areas, and some of them are rumored to contain some sort of otherworldly whirlpool. The legend must have been true, then. After all, what else could it be?

James went back to bed soon after; he was exhausted. I couldn’t possibly sleep after what I just witnessed, so I stayed up looking at the stars. They were clearer than I’d ever seen. There was no way I’d go to sleep easily that night, not after what I’d just seen. The ever-present silence somehow made everything even worse. Instead of being calming, knowing what it signified made it disturbing. After a while, I began to get bored. To relieve some of my energy, I decided to go shine my flashlight into the lake. Maybe I could see if there were any signs that the lake was a Blue Hole. If we managed to get proof of it, we’d be famous!

It was trickier than I thought to shine the light under the lake. Eventually, I ended up having to stick it underwater. I was lucky that James had thought to bring waterproof flashlights. After a quick scan of the lake, I thought I noticed something moving near the center, slowly rising to the surface.

As the object got closer to the surface, I got a better look at it. It seemed to be a jagged rock of sorts. With its deep black hue, it looked almost like obsidian, except that it was floating. Instantly, my mind jumped to volcanoes. In earth science, we learned about the different types of rock. Obsidian and pumice were both igneous rocks, that is, they were a byproduct of volcanoes. This rock answered the question I’d been thinking about since the event. A Blue Hole was probably an extremely rare type of volcano that, instead of producing obsidian and pumice, produced this stone with qualities of both.

James was going to Caltech for geology, so I had to show him this new discovery. This time, I was able to get his tent open and shake him awake with little trouble. He blearily stumbled out of his tent and began making a small fire from our wood stack so he could have some instant coffee. As soon as he started making that coffee, I knew exactly what he was going to do. I tried to stop him, but he was planning to be a geologist. No way was he going to pass this opportunity up.

A few minutes later, James’ coffee was done. He chugged the entire thing, not even stopping at the scalding heat. He waited for the caffeine to sink in before running full speed into the freezing lake, sending tiny droplets everywhere. As he neared the middle of the lake, I heard it again. For the second time that night, the lake seemed to scream as the hole in the center rapidly increased in diameter. James tried frantically yet futilely to swim back to the shore, but the current was far too strong for him. As I stumbled backwards, I could swear I heard James scream.

Well, I was done with that lake. If I didn’t know better, I would swear it was possessed by the devil himself. When I stumbled back into town at around 7 am, people began asking me some questions. Why are you back so early? Where is James? Why do you have his stuff? Well, I told them the truth, but no one believes me. They called me a murderer, a psychopath. At the time I’m writing this, it’s probably at least 2018. I don’t have any accurate way to tell time. I’m locked in this padded room all alone, with visions of James plaguing my mind, and nothing but silence to keep me company.

So, I write this anyone planning to explore uncharted areas, investigate the unknown, forge new paths. Just remember - some things are better left unseen.

''Welp, this is my second draft for Cleric’s contest. My first was rushed and pretty bad, but I tried to make this one better. I do think this is a substantial improvement, but I have no doubt there’s still a ton of stuff to fix, so any feedback is appreciated.'' 