Mark Twain Lake B.S.. Kimberly Crouse

      Mark Twain Lake B.S.

      The safest place to live, work, and play. More B.S.

      By Kimberly Crouse

      Copyright © 2011

      All rights reserved. Fictional Story.

      In the Spring of 2008, the Midwest had torrential flooding, it was the worse they've seen in ages. The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers had expanded their boundaries significantly because of this. Everyone in the Midwest were affected, even places not normally so. “The water just kept rising and rising”, is what most people were saying with a glazed look in their eyes.

      Even in the small town of Florida, Missouri. It is a rustic little town. Just quaint enough for some folk to call it home with happiness in their voices. Surrounding this quaint town is a humongous lake called the Mark Twain Lake. It is a beautiful lake, set in one of those picturesque settings that people drool all over when looked upon. Yet, it is pretty desolate, not that much traffic on it most times and only a few homes sprinkled around it. This makes it even more to die for. On one end is a nice vacation area that is pretty busy, not crazy but busy. They carefully choose who gets to visit and how many.

      One morning after the flooding had receded and it was safe to go back into the water. Annie, who lives in a small cabin along the Mark Twain Lake is up and at-em. She is glad that she can get back to her normal routine. The flooding had really thrown her routine out of whack. But she kept herself busy and actually got a lot of her quilting done way ahead of time.

      You see, her routine consists of her having her morning coffee and going for her swim the mile or so across the lake and back. She loves those swims. It's what has kept her in shape. Even though she's in her 60's, she sure doesn't look it. Heck she could even pass for 45 without makeup! And that she contributes to her morning routine.

      Sometimes the water just feels so good; she'll go back for another lap across the lake. It is just so peaceful in the morning; she gets to see the area wake up. She especially loves listening to the birds sing their songs in the morning.

      Well, the coffee's gone in her cup, it's time for her to get ready for her swim, 'Finally' she murmurs in her head. She comes out of the cabin with a robe and a pink swimming cap on. Annie cheerfully hums a song as she walks the short way to her dock. On the dock is a bench, where she disrobes and reveals that she is wearing nothing underneath.

      Buck naked, Annie dives into the water and as she surfaces, yells out a jubilant 'AaaHhh'. She swims the great distance to the other side of the lake. Annie took her time with this swim.

      In the middle of the lake on her way back, she seems to go into some kind of seizure. She is thrashing around in all different directions, then stops. She is shaken up, looks around confused and sees nothing or no one else around, the water is calm as ever. Annie decides she better get back home before another one comes on, she is a little frightened as this never happened before and no one is around to help. She composes herself, and then continues on with her swim.

      Not long into her swim, Annie starts thrashing around again, this time though she feels like she got bumped, not like she's having a seizure and thrashing around from something inside of her, but from outside of her....fear sets in..... But what is it?...more fear........Then she is jolted again!... and again!.... Now she is just a rag doll in the water having an epileptic seizure. Just as quickly as all this happened, the commotion stops.

      Several seconds later, Annie is floating with the most aggrieved and scared look on her face. Suddenly she goes under completely, never to resurface again and yet the water is calm as ever, and just as quickly as it happened.

      Days later, cops and volunteers are all around Annie's cabin. A sheriff is talking to a neighbor who called them.

      The neighbor named Fran, tells in tears, how Annie would always pick her up and they would go to town once a week for supplies and also how when she came over to check on her to see why she didn't pick her up, she saw the robe and towel on the dock, so she waited and waited for Annie to return from her swim and she never did, After a few hours of waiting is when she called the sheriff's. Fran breaks down in more tears. Fran has been Annie's friend and neighbor for a long time.

      Sheriff Louis consoles her and says they are waiting for a diver and will continue to drag the lake and then asks about Annie's mental health. Fran is insulted at the insinuation. As she is about to lay into the sheriff she hears another cop behind them talking of three other disappearances and two mysterious drowning’s.

      Fran's eyes go bug eyed and in a panic asks the sheriff if there's a killer on the loose. The sheriff tells the other cops to shut it up. He tells Fran it's a coincidence, has to be, this is the safest place in America to live.

      All that was found that day was a pink swimming cap. After a week and no Annie, they reported it as an accidental drowning. Meanwhile in California, oceanographer and marine life expert, Marion is cleaning the supper table and yelling at her kids to get on their homework. The news is on and a report of yet another drowning has occurred along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, that makes it twenty in the past month, more than any other time in history. The most is maybe up to five drowning’s in a year! Not nowhere near twenty in a month!

      Marion is captivated by this piece of news and under her breath she says 'what the hell is going on?' she logs onto her cartography program and studies the area up and down both rivers wondering what could be it. What is going on? She is shaken when the phone rings.