Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me
As she stopped to catch her breath, she looked back. The sun, a bright bloody red orb beginning to dip into the lake, assaulted her eyes and cast an orange hue over the sea green water. Milka gasped down air much like that beast had done when it opened its maw too wide and allowed her to see its ferocious, jagged, misshapen teeth that would have put Bobby's mouth to shame.
She rubbed her throat and hunkered down on the rickety steps leading to the lake. Her knees popped from the sudden movement. The noise assaulted her ears and her thoughts. Although it meshed well with the ruffling wings and cries of the seagulls as they flew overhead, Milka wished that sound could have come from the spine of her beloved's captor.
Like many other campers, she had thought the Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata was a myth. It was supposed to be a baseless rumor spread by Bobby and Benny to scare new cadets. She even used that rumor to punish them for making her poor sailor fret over the lungfish they abused with manic glee, having chased after Benny with a lungfish all the way to the lodge before revealing her trick, giggling at how quickly the color drained from his face when he understood he made an ass of himself.
Unlike most rumors, which turned out to be nothing but hot air, the Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata existed. Just as Elton claimed, it was real and more monstrous than she could have imagined. Lunging from the lake and showing off its lumpy, rotund form with bulbous glowing eyes the size of her head while Elton wailed next to her, it had jabbed its lure on to Milka's striped shirt with pinpoint precision and dragged her towards its mouth heaving out the stench of rot. She didn't even have the chance to beg or scream as she stared down at what she thought was oblivion, a seemingly endless darkness awaiting her before screwing her eyes tightly shut.
But Elton had saved her. He had managed to telekinetically pull her back by her arm just as the lungfish dropped her. Having tossed her into the lake, he had cried out for her to swim before she plummeted. Her limbs had flailed, clumsily clawing at the water as if it were tangible. The lungfish had scattered around her in a frenzy, disorienting her attempts of reaching the surface. The waves had shoved against her backside and knees, throwing her onto the shore and smattering her clothing with sand and seaweed.
Her sailor was gone when she turned around. As if the Hideous Hulking Lungfish and her beloved never existed, they had vanished into thin air. Calm had returned to the waves. The lungfish continued their underwater route. Lizards paced by her feet. Not even Admiral Cruller seemed bothered, continuing to scrub his canoes until they shined in his quarters.
She was left to gasp and plot his rescue and her revenge. She raked her fingers through her bobbed hair. Split ends stuck to her cheeks like the wads of bubblegum Kitty pressed into her hair when she slumbered in her bunk. She tried smoothing them back only to find bits of debris, frustration and anxiety boiling in her stomach and making her eyes well with tears as she tore off shards of seashells and clumps of sand trapped in her matted locks.
Gnawing down on her lower lip, Milka tried thinking of a plan, but logic replaced itself with fury. She couldn't believe her happiness had been dashed by a monster she had deemed imaginary. Punching her knees, Milka grunted and flared her nostrils. Each hit wouldn't bring Elton back, but she continued grinding her knuckles against her thighs, desperately trying to weave some coherency back to her thoughts only for them to be crushed again and again with violent vows of revenge.
Elton had tried warning her.. He said the lungfish were worried when they stopped for breath. He said they were restless, that one of their own had gone missing, that something must have happened to it. She had tried reassuring him that Bobby and Benny must have been toying with it, and he believed her with a half-smile, unlike the full grin he would have presented to her if he really accepted her answer.
Milka snarled and shoved herself forward like a wolf lunging at its prey. Her legs shakily hit the lumpy shore, sand quickly entering the gaps in her soaked sneakers. Balling her hands into fists, she stormed towards where they had once stood, her eyes locking on to the one item left behind by her beloved, Admiral Cruller's humming becoming static noise in the back of her thoughts.
His hat was her only memento. It slouched to the side where they once stood. Reaching for it, Milka chewed so sharply on her lower lip that she pierced through it. As she curled her fingers around the heavy, wool material, she tasted copper on her tongue and pulled his hat to her chest, stifling a sob.
She froze when she inspected it. Elton's hat was an off-white color with an anchor stitched into it. It shouldn't have had an appendage clinging to it.
Milka's eyes widened. She tried to take a step back, but the Hideous Hulking Lungfish rose from the depths and lifted her with it. She kicked her legs out, grunting and glaring at the monster, ramming her heels into its scarred upper lip. Milka writhed as it leaned backwards, opening its mouth wide enough to fit her, and she tightened her grip on Elton's hat as if it could protect her.
She flashed one last look at the lake when it shoved her down its stinking throat. Despite the sunset casting red hues across the water, the water surrounding the beast was the color of Elton's eyes.