‘Nothing breaks the serenity of the water’ is a writing prompt from my current work in progress, as yet untitled. A sequel to River Witch and a dual timeline – having fun with that!
Is she content? Or has the goddess quenched her fire? Aaron would ask the river nymph below the bridge, if he thought the creature might answer.
He is spared the humiliation of talking out loud into the dusk, for when he opens his eyes and leans over the stone, she has gone. He dodges a hay-laden cart to rush to the other side and search downstream.
Nothing breaks the serenity of the water. The goddess is quiet, returned to disinterest.
Aaron would give a king’s ransom, if he had it, to be able to do the same.
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Sounds like a fascinating novel you are writing!!
My contribution to the prompt:
NOTHING BREAKS THE SERENITY OF THE WATER
Young John gazes impatiently – but nothing breaks the serenity of the water.
What’s the point of going fishing if you never get a bite, he muses, hopping agitatedly from one foot to another.
Every time he comes to the lake, it is always the same result. Fishing rod line is baited and cast, only to be wound in sometime later with the worm still intact on the hook.
I’d be better off taking up Tiddlywinks, he thinks – at least the counters move when you flick them.
John blamed his dad for the fishing interest. He was only three when his father first taught him how to cast a fishing rod line and soon the toddler was hooked – line and sinker.
As soon as he was old enough, John would come to the lake by himself, cast his line and then cross his fingers.
However, he never had any luck – nary a fish did he ever catch.
He was about to pack it in for yet another day, when a sudden movement caught his eye.
“What’s that?” he questioned to no one in particular.
Something was moving on the water’s surface. Too big to be a fish – perhaps a monster, his boyhood imagination running rampant.
As John watched fascinated a giant shape broke the surface, dressed in black and with giant eyes gleaming in a baleful stare.
John couldn’t help but emit an involuntary scream.
“Get away from me. Don’t touch me. I don’t want to die.” Shivering in total fright, the young boy cowed on the bank as the creature advanced towards him.
A few feet from where John lay huddled in a trembling ball, the creature stopped and shook itself.
The metal tanks on its back fell to the ground followed by the goggles and flippers.
“You all right there, lad?” the frogman inquired. “Very cold day for a swim, you know. Don’t suppose you happened to catch a fish, by any chance?”
Ha!