All Too Familiar:

A Morning at the Lake

Chihiro woke up one morning to the sounds of birds singing and her mother cooking downstairs. It was the beginning of summer and the first day that she had been able to sleep-in in months. Opening her eyes slowly she could have sworn she say a tiny, funny-looking bird on her window sill. After blinking a few times though, Chihiro was convinced it was only the wind blowing through her white curtains and the sleep in her eyes. She got up quickly and got dressed, eager to enjoy her first day of holidays.

As she closed the door to her room, Chihiro smelled the sweet aroma of pancakes and eggs and hurried downstairs to greet her mother.

"Good morning, sweetheart" her mother said happily as she served Chihiro a dish of pancakes.

"Wow mom, these look great!" Chihiro replied as she started eating her breakfast.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

"Liea, Maki, and I are going to go to the lake to go swimming. It's so nice out today, it'll be perfect. I need to make some food to bring though." Chihiro said.

Chihiro's and her mother packed some rice-wraps for the picnic and Chihiro ran out the door to meet her friends.

Liea and Maki are the kind of friends who you know, if they only saw it, should be dating. And Chihiro was all too ready, to give them some alone time after she finished eating. So, while they were finishing their lunch, Chihiro went for a swim in the lake.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and a light breeze was rustling through the leaves of the trees that surrounded the small lake. As she waded through the water casually, she thought she say that awkward bird again on some rocks near the beach.

'It's nothing' Chihiro thought to herself and continued swimming farther out into the middle of the lake.

She dove down into the water and spotted many plain silver fish swimming about. Suddenly she saw a flash of white rush past her underwater. Chihiro let out a gasp, but no sound came out, she started choking on the water, and tried, madly to swim to the surface.

When Chihiro broke the surface she looked around frantically, expecting to see some sign of whatever had been underwater. She saw nothing. A little frightened, Chihiro swam towards the rocks she had seen earlier. Pulling herself out of the water, she sat on the warm rocks for a while gazing at the small stream that trickled into the much greater lake.

Chihiro laid back on the rocks and found herself dozing in the summer sun. The wind was picking up, rushing through her hair, and then she heard it…

"Chihiro…"

A voice that sounded all too familiar.

"Chihiro, we need you"

Her eyes shot open.

"Chihiro, I need you…"

Chihiro sat up, looking for the source of the eerie calling. Glancing out on to the lake, she saw a flash of white streak across the sky. In a second it was gone.

Standing up slowing, Chihiro returned to her friends. Liea told her that she had been worried, Maki was out looking for her.

"Where have you been, Chihiro?" Liea asked.

"Just swimming, I laid down on those rocks for a while. I wasn't gone for that long was I?"

Maki walked up to them and asked Chihiro the same questions. Tired, they decided to head home for the rest of the afternoon.