Serenity

This story is inspired by a photo and word prompt by Patrick.

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It’s Friday. You’ve got a holiday today, so your parents have decided to bring you to a small village to ‘take a break’ for a few days.

You are skeptical of the effects of this, and this is compounded when you arrive at the house you will be staying in. Far from what it’s like in the movies, the lack of proper hygiene in general is quite shocking, to say the least.

‘Hurry up! We’re going to check the lake out in fifteen minutes, so get a move on!’ you hear your mum shout.

You sigh as you start to unpack. You didn’t pack much, not knowing the full extent of what your parents were doing until now, so you arrive at the front door, waiting, in five minutes.

Typical.

Seeing as they probably aren’t going to be ready anytime soon, you take your phone to catch up on what’s happening on Twitter. It is only until you open up the app until you realise (though you should probably have known) that not only do you have no Internet connection, but also any form of network coverage.

Having nothing better to do, you decide to walk around, explore the region. You’ve always been good with directions, so getting lost would not be an issue.

After aimlessly wandering for about three minutes, you find what you suppose is the aforementioned lake. There was a dock leading into the lake, with a canoe parked next to it. The water lapped the rocky shoreline, inviting you to come closer. Thinking it might be a good idea, you walk to the end of the dock, take off your shoes and sit on the edge, looking down into the surprisingly clear water.

You see minnows scuttling between the rocks, and, looking up a bit, ducks swimming and people paddling in canoes much like the one next to you. The silence was only broken by music playing on portable players by some rather inconsiderate people, and the peaty smell of algae was almost overwhelmingly. You have never been this close to nature, and you feel weirdly calm, like you’ve never been before in the hustle and bustle of the city. You feel like you can sit here forever…

‘Oh, you’re here already? Thank God, we were wondering where you’ve been!’

Turns out this weekend might not be as bad as you originally thought it was.