haunted lake

a few days before christmas, sabin and i were walking around down on the lake. she didn't know it yet at that point, but we were all getting skates for christmas, so i wanted to check out the quality of the ice. out in the middle we came across some fresh tracks in the snow - they resembled a small horse hoof with a funny sort of A-shaped shoe on it (imagine that the top of the A was rounded). there was even a bit of unfamiliar-looking poo in the snow - it wasn't horse poo and it wasn't deer poo, but something sort of in between.  several centimeters of snow covered the entire surface of the lake and these tracks were very visible. what was strange was that they were only there in the middle and didn't seem to have led from one shore to the other, tho' in that snow, they should have.

sabin and i got to talking about ghosts and we kind of spooked ourselves a little bit in that delicious way that you can spook yourself when it's starting to get dark and you're a bit far from the house. we hurried towards in the house, laughing and trying not to really be scared.

another day, while skating, i pointed to a dark figure at the other end of the lake and asked husband if he could see someone down there. he said it did rather look like a person. eventually, we skated down to the other end and convinced ourselves it had just been a shadow we'd seen amongst the frozen, snow-covered reeds by the edge of the lake.

yet another day, it was again getting dark and sabin and i headed back to the house, our skates slung over our shoulders. sabin asked me if i had coughed, but i hadn't. she said she'd distinctly heard a cough behind her, like an animal had coughed. but we looked around and there was nothing there.

in every case, it has been the most deliciously spooky feeling...the kind that makes you feel your senses are heightened and you are just more alert, tho' you are also aware you could run just that little bit faster than usual. if you had to.

today, sabin and three of her friends went down to the lake to skate. it's a bit grey and dark out today and snow is falling occasionally. about an hour after they headed out, the four girls came bursting in the back door, red-cheeked and out of breath. they'd been down on the lake and one of them distinctly heard a growl behind her, like an angry dog. but when they turned, there was nothing there.

another of the girls saw several dark figures running across the lake in the distance. they were indistinct, but in a hurry. and the girls were sure it wasn't just some deer, which are quite plentiful in the area. they got scared and headed back for the house. at the back of the shelter belt, there's an old refrigerator container and in the waning wintery afternoon light the girls were convinced they saw silvery eyes glowing at them from near the container. and by that time, they were pretty scared.

i invited them into the warm kitchen to get out of their snowpants and scarves and hats and i made them a big batch of popcorn and hot cocoa that seemed to dispel the fear of ghosts. they were soon laughing and talking and playing top model and all fears were forgotten.

but a haunted lake is quite a thrilling prospect, isn't it?