The Lake of a Thousand Voices

The last golden-red rays of sunlight burst through the trees in the woods gradually disappearing behind a mountain as the looming shadows of dusk welcomes all kinds of night creatures to perform their orchestra and nightly rituals that soothe the ears of those who want to hear. It was when the one side of the earth was completely dark and the light of the moon reflected upon the trees when I decided to sit outside on my back porch after making myself a hot steaming cup of tea. Wait... what is that? a strange noise from afar that I've never heard before... Spooked, I rose up from my rocking chair and took a step forward to rest my hands on my back porch fence. In silence, I stood quietly not even moving a muscle listening to every sound I ever knew but this one was something unfamiliar. Are those voices chanting? what on earth are they doing out there at this time of night? do they know the dangers that lurk around in the dark? I asked myself. The chanting stopped and it was quiet for a few moments and then all hell broke loose as the chanting turned into screaming. Stunned by the horrifying change of scenery I rushed into my house and reached for my cellphone laying on the dining room table, and just then I found myself hearing absolute silence. An owl hoo-hoo, crickets coordinating with one another, and all the sounds I am used to ringing in my ear. I stood still for a few minutes, waiting to hear any sign of what I just heard but nothing happened. Was I hallucinating? I asked myself... for hours thereafter it was quiet as I kept my ears open to the sounds wishing to hear them one more time just to make sure it was real, but nothing happened. I struggled to fall asleep that night as I was still a bit frightened and still listening. Every sound seems to wake me up and when I am awake I walk through the house making sure all the doors and windows are locked.  It was at the supermarket the next morning when I heard a couple talking about the strange noises coming from the woods and a chill ran down my spine. I approached them but a flock of children ran in front of me and a young mother excusing her badly behaved children as she passed but by then the couple was already at the till point busy paying for the juices and sweets along with milk and sugar. I grabbed the last packet of sugar that was on special on the shelve nearby and quickly made it to the same till they were at. Because it is during the week the supermarket isn't that full and people can conveniently do their shopping without heavy trafficking. "Excuse me?" I said softly and the couple turned to face me. "Hi?" the lady said. "I couldn't help myself but hearing your conversation earlier on, did you also hear chanting voices in the woods last night?" I asked. "Yes, we hear them often and sometimes during the day too. We did notify the police a few times and they did check it numerous times but found nothing but pitch black woods." the lady replied. "Oh? Really even during the day?" I asked. "Yes, they had rescue dogs along with a seek and bark canine team that covered the whole area around us but found nothing, no signs of humans in the woods." The man replied. "Thank you, I thought I was going crazy," I said laughing. "I wonder what it could be?"  "Well, a lot of people around the neighborhood complained about it saying that they are seeing people in the mist and deep in the woods wearing cloaks and just disappear right in front of their eyes, then they hear crying and screaming or fire crackling and clouds of smoke coming from the woods but when the fire department goes to see there is not even a sign of burned wood." The man said. They waited until I was finished paying and we walked together talking about these strange occurrences. "It seems to only happen during July when it's winter and only about an hour after dark." The lady said. "I have been living here for almost a year now and last night was the first time I've ever heard that." We came to a stop near my white Toyota Tazz.  "I am Lacy McMillan by the way and this is my husband, George." Lacy reached out her hand to shake mine. I reached out my hand "It's nice to meet you, my name is Samara Thomson."  "Where did you grow up?" Lacy asked. "I grew up in Queensland, Beaconsfield however, I did move to Melbourne to study at the University of Melbourne and then moved here just to take a year break to think what it is what I want to do."  "Oh okay, well it was nice meeting you, we will chat again. Let me take your number perhaps we can have tea or coffee sometime." Lacy took out her phone and I called out my number. It wasn't until later this afternoon that Lacy contacted me just so I could have her number and we had a good conversation about the weather and everything she wanted to accomplish and it made me wonder what it was that I want to do. At the University of Melbourne, I studied architecture as it was my field of expertise but always felt like I could do more, perhaps art. There are so many I can do but what good will come from indecisiveness? Everything was normal and no chantings or screams came from the woods as I kept my ears open to them but nothing out of the ordinary happened. I decided to take my drawing pad and start sketching building ideas and structures for Northcliffe however, I saw potential in this little town lots of room to grow. The silence kind of scared me so I decided to put on the TV just to soothe my mind.  'And later on, three school student has gone missing... stay tuned to find out more' the man on the news said just before the advert popped up. Concerned I adjusted the volume and waited for the news to resume as it is not common for people in Northcliffe to go missing just like that. 'Thank you for staying tuned, three young teenage children, Mella May Wilson 15, Charlea Deavor 15 and Greg Margin 16 was last seen leaving school, yesterday afternoon, wearing their school uniform but never reached their homes. Investigators did however questioned some of their classmates and were said that they were talking about the strange occurrences happening in the woods. They cannot be sure that it was indeed what they were going to do but the investigators did round up a search team to cover the grounds around the town. If anyone has more information about these three children please do not hesitate to come forth. Frequent updates will be released every hour.' Every sound around me faded and all I could hear was the news, it was strange, perhaps it was them I heard last night... I stepped outside and stared into the woods but all I could see was the strange mist between the trees, then amongst the mist, a figure appeared standing there staring back at me...