The Lard

Have you even seen the Lard? I haven't, but I hear it's hideous.

Jooooooooooooooohn, he though the wind whispered as it heaved waves across the lake. They had been standing on the bridge since midday and now it had began to darken. A mist had settled on the surface of the water and the autumn chill had found its way through his thick clothes. John tugged his hands into his pockets and shivered as yet another cold wind blew past. The lake still scared him, even though he didn’t believe grandpa Jonathans scary stories anymore it was something daunting about it. He didn’t even like fishing, the only reason he came along was because he knew his father wanted him to.

“Can we go home soon?” He asked his father again.

“Yes, soon”, Robert answered quietly without taking his eyes off the water. “Do you see the ripples?” He pointed to a spot in the water where his float lay bobbing close to some debris.

John nodded and seated himself on the bridge with his feet dangling inches from the water. “Do you believe in the Lard?” He asked his father – who glanced back at him and reeled in his line.

“That’s just a scary-story, son. It’s meant to keep children from going into the water without their parent’s supervision. You know this, don’t you?” He said and looked at his son with a troubled expression.

“Yes, father. I’m just wondering”, he said and looked down into the muddy water, trying to see the bottom. “They say the Lard has hidden a great treasure on the bottom somewhere.”

Robert swung his pole and cast his float out and as it hit the water near the debris he murmured something to himself with a grin on his face – no doubt praising his fishing skills.

“If the Lard were real I’m sure he would do something about all the poisons that people are pouring into his domain, don’t you think?” Robert said, and gently started tugging the line so the float bobbed up and down.

“I guess so…”

The mist had thickened around them and when John stretched his arm out he could barely make out the contours of his mitt.

“Can’t we go home now? I’m cold.” And in truth he was feeling scared too. He couldn’t see his father through the mist but he heard him curse while reeled in his float.

As he was about to rise his feet gave way as he slipped and plunged into the freezing water. For a second he heard his fathers cry and then he was sinking to the bottom. He tried to swim but his soaked clothes wore him down and the cold water cramped his muscles. Panic raced through him as he sank further and further away from the surface – and then everything went black.

 

When he woke up he was still in his thick clothes, they weren’t soaked and for a moment he thought that he had had a nightmare. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw that he was lying on a stone of some sort in the middle of a cave. A million thoughts raced through his mind, the next more terrifying than the last. When he was about to call for help a movement from inside one of the smaller cave-shafts halted him. He froze in fright as he saw a light flicker as someone lit a candle. He crawled down and hid himself behind the large stone.

“Are you awake?” It was a woman’s soft voice. It didn’t sound at all what he had expected. He found a loose rock on the ground and held it tight in his hand before he managed to muster enough courage to peer at the creature from his hiding place.

“Don’t be afraid, John, I won’t hurt you.” The creature said in a gentle voice. As it came closer John saw that it indeed was a woman. He laid his sharp rock on the large stone and rose to his feet. She wasn’t much taller than him; she had blue-green eyes that almost seemed to shift in the candle light and long wavy red hair that stretched all across her back. She almost looked regal somehow, if it weren’t for her simple grey gown and bare feet, and she was the most beautiful woman John had ever seen.

When she saw him looking at him she smiled, “you remind me of your father.”

John hadn’t realized that she had called him by his name before, but when she talked about his father he snapped out of the hazy state that he’d been in. “Y-You know my father?”

As she came up to him she put her hand on his forehead, her hands were warm and for a fraction of a second he felt as if warmth were sipping from her palm and into his body. He withdrew in fright and looked at her as if she only was a part of his imagination. “What did you do?” He asked, his throat feeling very dry all of a sudden.

“You had a cold coming, don’t you feel better?” She asked, still with her wonderful and warming smile on her lips.

He knew that he should feel afraid, but he wasn’t.

“I know all who visits my lake, even some I wish I didn’t.” She said and seated herself on the large stone. “My waters are discoloured by poison and filth and many of my young die when they swim too close to the shore.” For the first time since John had seen her she seemed sad.

“I’m sorry”, he said – not knowing what to say.

She looked at him and laughed, “it’s not your doing, little one. I know you take care of the lake, and so I take care of you.” Even though she was smiling John still felt her sadness.

“Are you the Lard” he asked, wanting to change the subject, but still he needed to know. Her reaction caught him by surprise; she laughed and hugged him tight. “You sure are a cute boy, and straightforward too.” She said and wiped tears from her eyes. “Yes, you can say that I’m the Lard, if that’s what they call me nowadays. I’ve had so many names but this one must be funniest.” She mussed his hair and wiped her eyes again.

John didn’t know if he dared to ask, but if there ever was a right moment, this was it.

“Can I see your treasure?” He asked in a still voice.

“But you already have, hundreds of times,” She said. “And you’ll be seeing it again when we get you back to your father. My treasure is for everyone to share, just as long as you take care of it.

For a moment he was puzzled and then it hit him, “the lake?” he asked. She nodded and looked at him with her warming eyes. “Now let’s take you back to your father, he must be worrying himself to death by now.” She took his hand in hers and started walking towards one of the shafts. “Don’t worry, you won’t freeze and I’m not dropping you. You’re not the only child who’s visited me, I even saved your father once.” She said and stopped as reached the shaft. “Here we go.” She dove into the shaft with John pressed against her chest. The water was so black and muddy that he couldn’t see anything – the darkness made him drowsy and for a second he closed his eyes.

 

“John, John… wake up son, please. John, John…” It was his fathers, his voice sounded strange, almost as he’d been crying. John opened his eyes and peered up at his father who was hunched down beside him in wet clothes and red rimmed eyes. “Dad?”

“John… JOHN!” Robert sounded almost as if he were in panic. He felt himself being picked up and heard his father’s heavy breathing as he ran away from the river. John was too tired to walk, all he wanted to do was to sleep. He realised that he was holding something in his hand, he opened his heavy eyelids and looked at the shiny blue stone laying in his hand. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself.

Author's Note

I wrote this late on a sunday night after I decided to enter a competition where you were supposed to write something with less that 2000 words and that was inspired by the picture (a couple of guys fishing, young and old)

Reviews

[Chiquita]

This is an interesting write. I love that the Lard had also saved John's father once upon a time. I agree with Jamie Fantasy. I would love to see this with more detail. In my minds eye, I can see the father catching a glimpse of the blue stone and realizing where his boy had been. This could b a true bonding moment for father and son as they have shared the same experience beneath the water. The fact that the grandfather had told the tale gives a sense that he too had been saved by the Lard.

It seems at the beginning that the Lard is something to be feared. It would be nice to know more about the stories that grandpa had told to him.

[Jamie Fantasy]

This reminded me a lot of a near death experience where people claim to see a dead loved one or talk to God. Was that your basis at all? I think it was a cool idea crammed into too short of a period. Maybe after the contest you could expand it more and give us a little more detail. :)

[Sara Muschweck]

Wonderful tale. I was almost expecting a monster of sorts yet was pleasantly surprised when the "Lard" was a sweet woman with a caring touch and worry over her domain. Saving the young boys life, giving him back to his father. Knowing the boy will grow into a man that will care for the lake, and teach his own children to care for it as well. This was an enchanting story.