Picture Prompted Flash #2

This week's picture was too good not to include (see above). Below is the flash story I wrote in response.

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Lake House
(598 words)

I crept silently down the dock that led out onto the lake. It was dark and the only light was the glow of the full moon overhead. The summer evening was warm with just the slightest breeze in the air. The perfect evening for a midnight swim.

I sat down on the end of the dock to take off my shoes and socks. I pulled my t-shirt over my head and dropped it on top of my shoes. I sat there a moment longer, enjoying the solitude. I heard the familiar sounds of crickets and frogs, of the water lapping against the posts of the dock beneath me. I stood and began unbuttoning my denim shorts but paused at the sound of water splashing.

I turned my gaze out to the lake and stared intently, trying to locate the source of the sound. In the gleam of the moonlight I saw a pale hand raise out of the water and next to it a smiling face. My breath caught in my throat, fear filling me. Was it a ghost? I stood still, unable to move. The hand lifted from the water again and this time I saw a foot kick lightly against the surface of the water.

I watched as the figure began to drift toward the dock, using arms and legs to direct her travel in my direction. I took a step back away from the edge of the dock and was leaning down to grab my shirt and shoes when I heard a familiar voice.

"Wait," she said.

I looked quickly back to the water and this time recognized the beautiful face of Rose. Her family owned the cabin next to ours and like us, they spent their summers here at the lake. She was treading water several feet away from the dock and the thin white gown she wore clung to her curves. I watched as her breasts bobbed in the water with her movement.

"Hey," I said, standing up and taking a step back toward the edge of the dock. She smiled up at me.

"Didn't you come out here to swim?"

"Yeah, I'd planned on it. I didn't think anyone else would be out here."

"My family's leaving tomorrow to go back home," she said sadly.

"Oh," I said. I wasn't sure why she was telling me this.

"I thought maybe you'd come swim with me, since it's my last night here."

"Oh, sure," I said lamely, still standing on the dock not really understanding.

"I wanted to tell you good-bye," she said, face down toward the water.

I looked at her and when she glanced up at me, I finally saw what I had been missing all summer. She wanted me.

We stared at each other for a few moments and then she cocked her head at me in question. In answer, I slowly slipped into the lake and treaded water a few feet away from her. She floated toward me, her creamy skin almost glowing in the moonlight. She reached out and placed her hands on my shoulders, her breasts brushing against my chest. I leaned forward and kissed her hesitantly on her lips. She responded with enthusiasm and soon I was pulling her against me, our legs rubbing together as we continued to tread water.

We stayed out all night, talking and swimming and saying good-bye.

Her family packed up and left the next day and my family left a few weeks later. The next summer I found out Rose's family had sold their house. I never saw her again.