This marks my return to internet stories for a while. After a period of 2 years I have finished my writing course and now have time to get back to this. I have gone on a splurge and so I will be uploading a shedload of stuff. Let me know if you like it. TTFN.
Cheers
Wolf

Shallow Water

Nicholas sighed as he rested his head against the windowpane. The rain made tears of shadow on his face as it ran down the glass. The rain had been unrelenting since the start of the weekend. It was obvious that God was in an ironic mood as the week had been gloriously sunny.

“Give us some crackers.” Nicholas took another look out of the small caravan before turning to attend to Sylvia, his parrot. After his wife had died Sylvia was the only company he had apart from the occasional visit from his daughter and son in law. He thought that a caravan holiday would do him good as the house seemed to be too big for him these days and he would be damned if he was going to be put in a rest home by Valerie and Tom.

At this point in time he was situated in a large forest park. The leaves would have been golden brown and crisp had it not been for the rain. Right now the forest looked like a large muddy bowl of cornflakes as streams carried masses of soggy passengers down to meet the main river. If the rain kept its pace then the river would surely burst its banks. Nicholas stalled his worrying long enough to fish a packet of dry, whole-wheat crackers from the pine-covered cupboard in his small kitchen. He took two in his weathered hands and brought them over to her on a plate.

“There you go. Wrap your beak around that.”

The parrot did so with gusto and afterwards performed an uncanny impression of Frank Carson.

“It’s a cracker.” Nicholas chuckled,

“You mean that was a cracker.”

“Monsters off the port bow Cap’n.” Nicholas rolled his eyes. That was the code for “Valerie and Tom are coming, hide the silver quick.” He didn’t know where the pirate impression had come from though. He suspected that Sylvia had been watching too much T.V. He would normally fall asleep whenever it was on. He liked it though, it just made the situation all the more funny. Nicholas looked out the left window of the caravan. There was indeed a car but with all the rain on the window it made it a little difficult to make out.

It seemed to be a yellow car in the same shape as the dreaded couples however a blurred park ranger symbol soon made Nicholas feel a lot more relieved.

“Clear waters Sylvia. Clear waters.”

“Aye aye captain.” The bird resolved itself to pecking the last remaining crumbs off its dish. Nicholas sat down contented to watch the forest while he drifted off into a slumber. He didn’t get much rest out of it though as he was sharply woken up. Cold sweat filled the furrows on his brow. Sylvia was screeching. Nicholas made efforts to calm her down.

“Easy Sylvia, nothing’s wrong. It was a nightmare that’s all. Just a nightmare.” The parrot seemed to understand him and calm down.

“Damn thing seems to be getting closer. I don’t think I have much time left.”

“Monster?” Sylvia said seeing the worried look on Nicholas’ face. He absent-mindedly nodded while deep in thought.

“Yes, although not like Valerie or Tom. This is a big cougar like the ones you watch on that box.” He pointed an accusing finger at the television as if that was where the dream came from. Sylvia simply cocked her head.

He heard a set of soft “squish” noises near the caravan. He looked outside but saw nothing. Sylvia became a bit more agitated. The clouds had become a bit darker and the rain more heavy. Hail fell intermittently making splashes in puddles like rockets returning to Earth and landing in the sea. The sheep that occupied the field below were cautiously bleating at the onslaught. Their leader backed away from the stream at the bottom of the field seeing that it was rapidly becoming a river. Nicholas watched the scene unfold.

The park ranger was half walking, half sliding his way down to the sheep. Presumably to remove them from the area before they drowned in the river. His dog followed and quickly overtook its master, a blur of black and white. The darkness contained within the forest on the other side of the bank cast a shadow on the waters making them seem all the more menacing. The dog was having a confusing time in the rain as the thunder and bleating made it hard to hear his master’s commands. He strove to act on instinct and eventually worked them into a staggered pack. The ranger opened the red gate that was more rust then red. The hinges squealed as he threw it open to let the sheep out.

Nicholas stared with fascination, as something seemed to be happening with the sheep nearer the river. They were spooked. An over excited lamb sprang away from the herd. It lost its footing when it landed and slid right into the river. Within seconds the dog was in after it and the herd became a chaotic mass. The ranger tried his best to deal with the rest of the sheep quickly but he was no farmer. The dog disappeared under the water; its target was nowhere to be seen. Sylvia squawked but Nicholas paid no attention. He was too focused on the river, concerned about the fate of the dog. A wave of relief swept over him when he saw a black and white head pop out of the water. The animal was obviously fighting for its life against a fast flow. It made slow progress towards the nearest bank and clambered up the sides. There were a couple of moments where Nicholas gasped when the dog lost it’s footing and started to slide back into the river. Eventually the dog made it, although it was obvious that it had injured itself as it limped along the edge of the forest. It sat and watched the ranger run to his van for a ladder.

Most of the sheep had gone through the gate and the stragglers were so far up the field that the ranger didn’t need to worry about them. He grabbed a ladder out of the back of his van and ran back towards the river. There was not an ounce of grace present in this act however grace was not a thing the ranger worried about. Suddenly Nicholas saw a shock of yellow moving very fast through the forest. The dog caught sight of it and started to chase it in a broken run. The ranger saw this and began the task of climbing up to the van with his ladder as quickly as possible the van was soon packed and tearing up the dirt road towards the nearest station.

“Monster, monster.”

“Calm down pet. I don’t think it was a monster. Come on now.” He carefully lifted his finger for here to walk off her perch and on to his hand. It took nearly the whole night to get her settled and morning was not forgiving when it came.

A tired Nicholas wiped his eyes. He looked at the clock. It was later then he had thought it was. Then he noticed it; the over abundance of silence in the room. Sylvia was missing and the window was open. His eyes widened as a hundred nightmares flooded through his head. ‘Since when did she learn to open the window?’ he thought to himself. He wasted no time in packing up his caravan, locking it and driving his car to the nearest ranger station. He had to drive slowly most of the way as the fog on the windscreen was just refusing to go away. He was afraid that the car was going to get bogged down in the dirt road but thankfully his luck held out. When he stepped out of the car half his shoe disappeared into the ground. The rain was still pretty heavy at this stage. When he moved there was a loud “Schlock” noise.

When he eventually clomped his way into the cabin he was immediately reprimanded by the receptionist whose nametag read “Nancy”.

“Get those mucky boots off now. I’m only after cleaning this place up an hour ago.”

“Sorry.” Nicholas hurriedly took his boots off.

“That’s better now can I help you with something?”

“Yes. I would like to talk to a ranger. One in particular. He may have come in last night talking about a missing dog.”

“Oh yes that would be Jacob. He came in a short while ago. If you just wait for a moment I’ll go and get him.”

Nicholas took in his surroundings while he waited. The receptionist Nancy had kept it immaculately clean. The scent of the log fire mixed with the various potpourri dishes about the room. It smelled something like Santa’s grotto in the supermarket minus the candy canes and elves. A stuffed cougar in the corner of the room caught Nicholas’ eye. It reminded him of his recent nightmares. He walked over to it. The musty smell and tattered hair signified that it had been there a while. A yellowed newspaper clipping was framed and hung on the wall above it. “Wily Wildcat Wasted.” Nicholas cringed as he read the article. It seemed that the journalist in question had not had any newsworthy stories in quite a while and in doing so had lost what skills they had. Apparently the animal was a bit of a local legend that had been terrorising campers and some of the more adventurous hikers. The thing had been called Mean Cal. It had met its end when mistaking an armed ranger for a hiker. The ranger was a marksman that had won several medals. His name was Jacob McCreary.

The sound of a swinging door creaking open signalled the arrival of the ranger.

“Jacob McCreary at your service. What’s your name and problem sir?”

“My name is Nicholas and I was wondering if you had seen my parrot.”

“We have bigger issues to deal with at the minute than missing parrots and to be realistic unless it likes you more than freedom then there is not much chance that it is coming back.”

“Hmm then there is hope then. Did you get your dog back?”

“You saw that did you? No. I’m afraid Elvis is missing. I believe he’s still alive though. He chased after a small child. We’re getting a search party together as we speak.”

“Can I help you?”

“Sure as long as you have a keen eye.”

“Well I’ll be looking for my parrot as well so my eyes will need to be keen enough.”

“Ok. You’re in. Get in my truck and we’ll head down the road a bit until we get to the other side of the river. Then we’ll start the search.

The rain was starting to ease off as the two crossed the stone bridge. The river was still running high as water crashed against the rocks under the bridge. Occasionally the body of a small sheep floated by. The ranger looked downcast.

“I tried to save as many as I could. I reared some of them. Won prizes too.”

“You can’t save them all.”

“I know. I know but I have to at least try to find Elvis.”

“You called your dog Elvis?”

“Yup. His father was called Rex so I thought it made sense to keep the royal name thing going.”

“Are we the entire search party?”

“No there are a few coming behind us but I wanted to get out earlier to find Elvis. I reckon if we find him then he should at least have a good scent of the child if he hasn’t found the girl himself.”

The two moved slowly through the dense combination of tree roots and mud. The trees creaked and groaned in the wind. The voice of the forest sang strongly. The two kept as quiet as possible listening for any barking and watching for any signs of tracks. A rustle came from somewhere close by, making the two stop dead in their tracks. Nicholas looked around seeing nothing except large drops of rain sparkling as they fell through the trees. Light fell in shafts through the forest like stepping-stones across a large dark river. Jacob was carefully tracking the drops before he pointed towards a nearby branch.

“Is that your parrot?”

A large white bird perched above them with a crest of yellow feathers and a black beak. Nicholas’ eyes brightened up.

“Sylvia is that you?”

“Aye aye cap’n.” Jacob made a face.

“And you were giving me stick about Elvis?” Nicholas frowned.

“Shhh. She may be of help as well. Sylvia have you seen any sharks?”

“Aye cap’n. A shark and a big catfish. Both after a speedy guppy. Sea is mighty stormy today. Raise the anchor and set sail before we lose the treasure.”

“What was that?”

“Simple. There’s a child in the forest running from your dog and a big cat.”

“Mean Cal had a litter?”

“I think it best that we move rather then discuss the beast’s lineage.”

As if to confirm this plan of action Sylvia took off. Jacob followed her easily while Nicholas had some trouble following. He tripped on a root and tried getting back up but found that the thing had trapped his leg. Jacob came back to help. Nicholas shooed him off.

“For goodness sake go after the child. I’ll follow.” Jacob nodded and sprinted off, expertly dodging pitfalls, roots and traps in an intricate dance with the forest floor. A clearing in the forest gave Jacob a clear view of where the parrot was headed. It was an old bear’s cave. It was empty now to the best of his knowledge but Sylvia obviously knew better. Nicholas eventually pulled his foot free of the roots and went to follow quickly. A low growl stopped him dead in his tracks. He looked around to see two large eyes shining out of the darkness at him.

“Hmm this could be tricky.” He started to run towards the beast at full speed making as much noise as possible. Surprised by this reaction the beast started to run. He could see it was definitely a cougar. The cougar was even more surprised when Nicholas started running in a completely different direction. ‘Good at least that’s bought me some time.’ Not much however as the cougar soon resumed its chase.

Jacob had reached the cave and much to his delight he had found Elvis relatively unscathed and being petted by a small girl called Becky. He was in heaven as he lay on his back getting his belly tickled. However when his master called Elvis was at Jacob’s side like a whippet. Becky came along quickly as well as she had decided that she missed her mum. Jacob smiled as he led the two down the hill. He wondered how Nicholas was faring. If he had heard Sylvia he would have moved a little faster.

Nicholas had made it to the stone bridge before Sylvia had caught sight of him. She swooped down to within hearing distance.

“Avast. Monster off the starboard bow.” Nicholas heard the cry and dodged left just missing a well-timed pounce. The car was locked and there was no time to break into it. He was sure that he was done for. At that moment something miraculous happened. A ray of sun split the heavens and shone upon the river. Sylvia caught a drop of rain in her beak that fell from the rainbow. She swooped down and dropped it onto the spot of river that was lit up by the sun.

“Dive captain, dive.”

Nicholas scooted across the bonnet of the car before using his remaining strength to throw himself over the bridge. The last thing he heard before he hit the water was gunshots. The rest of the search party had just shown up with guns and searchlights galore. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and a warm trickle as he hit the water. There was no doubt in his mind that he was dead. He hit the river and was blinded by the light under the water. He brought his head up coughing and spluttering. It was dark on the surface. He ducked his head under the water again. The light had not gone. He was rapidly being swept along to its epicentre. He closed his eyes to stop the stinging sensation. Funnily enough his leg wasn’t sore anymore.

He felt the sensation of falling before opening his eyes again. He looked down to see the forest floor below him. Different hues of colour filled his vision. He saw impossibly far. The forest floor was not of the forest he had just come from but instead it was that of a rainforest. The white gate was still open and he could see the river rushing towards it but stopping so that it spread out and filled the doorways frame. Nicholas gazed around in amazement to see blue skies filled with rainbows and some of the largest mountains he had ever seen. There seemed to be structures carved out of the mountains. The forest was warm, lush and green. Brightly coloured flowers that were spattered around the trees attracted humming birds that flitted and danced gracefully among them.

“Sylvia,” he called out.

“Aye capn.” Came an echoed reply.

“Where is this?”

“Paradise of the lost capn.”

“How did I get here?”

“Secret of shallow water capn. A secret meant to be kept.”

“How long have you known?”

“I was born here. Many things are. Many lost things. The losing and the finding comes in cycles. I was lost and then found as was the guppy.”

“You mean that girl was born here?”

“No capn just a spell of shore leave.”

“Is this somewhere else in the world?”

“Man the decks.”

“What?”

Nicholas looked to the gate and soon saw what it was that he had to be wary of. A tawny body was threshing in the river. The water had developed a red tinge but the creature was in a state of frenzy nonetheless.

“Oh crap.” Nicholas started running.

“I have to warn those people” His breath was ragged and his leg began to feel pain again as he ran. The gate spat the cougar out and it recovered although it was slightly groggy. Its anger positively pulsed out of each pain-ridden step. The creature was running on nothing but hate. It looked around slowly and saw Nicholas and that was enough to trigger it off.

Ignoring any wounds that it was carrying the cougar sprinted towards Nicholas at top speed; fangs and claws bared. Its pupils were narrow slits as it bounded towards the limping man. Nicholas got to the point where he couldn’t run any more so he turned around to face the beast. At that instant the cougar jumped for him, lunging at his throat. Nicholas closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Nothing came.

When he opened them again he was surprised to see a large grizzly knocking seven bells out of the cougar. The beast having had the wind knocked out of it was now starting to feel its injuries again. Every time it tried to get up the bear gave it a pounding making a loud “Thwack” sound. The cougar was forced to crawl on its belly. Nicholas was glad of the help and nodded his head towards the bear before it started to round on him.

“Stay still. You are a stranger wait a second.” The silence was not a reassuring one as the bear ambled towards him.

Sylvia soon broke the silence by dropping through the gate.

“Man overboard. Splawwk.” She spluttered. Nicholas was paralysed with fear. The parrot flew over to his shoulder.

“Be still Kismet. This one means no harm. He was trying to find little yellow as well.” Nicholas raised his eyebrows.

“You mean the girl? Is she safe?”

“Aye that she be.” The bear nodded content with the situation and with a final grunt as if to say “Ok you may go now,” he turned around and ambled off. Nicholas turned to Sylvia.

“So first mate where is the way back to the blue?”

“Follow the north star capn.”

With that she took off and grabbed a drop of water from the highest tree she could find. The light seemed to be captured inside the droplet. She dropped it onto the ground in front of him. Suddenly a fountain spread up from where the drop fell and within minutes there was a pool of pure white light on the ground.

“The finding capn. Full ahead.” Nicholas limped gingerly into the pool of white light. Again he had the sensation of falling. Unbeknownst to him a tawny figure slinked close behind. He opened his eyes and saw that he was somehow hanging upside down in a tree. He slowly made his way down and followed Sylvia to the bridge before exhaustion delivered him into darkness.

He woke up in a hospital bed connected to a drip and other various medical contraptions. Jacob was sitting next to him.

“Ahh the adventurer returns from the land of nod. How are you?”

“Probably as bad as I look. What happened? Did you find the child?” Jacob nodded.

“Yes. Her name is Becky. She made the card.” Jacob pointed to a homemade card saying get better soon. It was yellow with pink balloons and an overabundance of glitter.

“She did a good job.”

“So did you. If you hadn’t got trapped and bought us some time then we might not have made it. I wasn’t prepared for a cougar when we set out.”

“Nor was I.”

“Well thankfully you’re a good runner and a better swimmer. I tell you I’ll be lucky if I’m as fit as you when I get to your age.”

“Less of that. Cheek of you.”

“Ha ha. Calm down I was just messing.”

“Did they get it?” Jacob frowned.

“Yes but there’s something I don’t really understand. Here look at this and see if it makes any sense to you.”

Jacob handed over a newspaper clipping which Nicholas began to read. Apparently the cougar had been found hanging limp over a tree branch with numerous broken bones and internal bleeding. The paper claimed that the shots had caused it to bleed to death and with the last of its strength it had climbed a tree. However it did not explain the other numerous wounds. When Jacob saw that Nicholas was finished reading he asked him what had really happened to the cougar. Nicholas smiled and nodded towards Sylvia who was busy eating away at a slice of hospital toast.

“It’s a secret between Sylvia and the shallow waters of the sky. If you can figure it out then you’re a goodun but I reckon that you’ll sit until you’re as old as I am before figuring out that you will never know. I don’t either so don’t feel too bad about it.” Jacob walked over to the bird and asked,

“What’s your secret then eh pretty?”

“Flattery is for the gullible. She is above that nonsense.”

“Avast landlubber. Just be thankful for the calm seas.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself Sylvia. Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

The End