I started writing at a young age, but was always told my writing was creepy. Writing nice things wasn't my style though I tried.
I dove into erotica, but it didn't fill my heart like all the dark things. So, I returned to writing my scary prose because there are others like me who might be just a little different.
Some people find happiness socializing with groups of people. I find it writing from the shadows.
You can read more and connect with Melanie right HERE.
THEY SEE ME ROLLING
by
Melanie Sue
“It’s a beautiful day for paddlin’,” Lanie thought trying to quell her anxiety. She loved doing things outdoors. But, she was a land dweller. Hiking the mountains, camping, getting lost in the woods she could handle. Water wasn’t her thing. Water was an element that she was mostly unfamiliar with. She didn’t know how to swim and just the thought of being on the ocean made her sea sick. Today, though, was to be a leisurely trip through the springs on her paddleboard with a few friends.
The sun had just risen an hour before the group arrived at the launching point. The air was cool and she was looking forward to the trip. The springs are crystal clear, so seeing a variety of fish, turtles, birds, and manatee is a normal occurrence. Of course, there is always the occasional gator.
“Bringing the life jacket again?” Ryan asked.
“Pretty sure it’s law, Jerk. So yes,” she said. “Not wearing it though, happy?”
“Pssh, you’re bringing it cuz you’re chicken,” Cole chided.
“Yeah, I’m also bringing Benadryl in case your face blows up again. Don’t you worry about what I’m bringing!” she said.
"Burn!" Ari yelled and headed toward the water with his board. Everyone else followed.
Once on the water, Lanie pointed out a school of big blue fish. Then, the guys took off for their usual shenanigans. The guys liked to horse around, race each other on their paddleboards, and when they got hot, jump in the water cannonball style. Lanie liked to hang out on the paddleboard and let the current take her while she looked at the wildlife.
The turtles liked to stay on the logs sunning themselves until she got too close then they would jump in, one after another, Ploop! Ploop! Ploop! to get away from the incoming human. When she got hot, she didn’t jump in, she would sit on her board and dangle her feet in the water. There was no way she was jumping in willingly.
Up ahead, she could see the guys slowing down.
“Manatee!” Cole shouted.
With that information, she sat on her board. Last time she tried standing up and paddling near manatee, one of them nudged her board. She panicked, almost hit a tree limb that was jutting out above her, tried to duck, and ended up in the water scaring the manatee and herself. She was sure the manatee were laughing at her just as much as her friends were. It was not a fun experience for her.
As she peered down into the water to look at the gentle giants eating the sea grass below, she allowed the current to take her without worrying much about steering with her paddle. She was enjoying watching mama and baby snuffle up the grass when she heard a gasp then heard Cole yell but ignored him. Then she heard him again.
“Lanie! Look out!” Cole yelled.
“For fuck’s sake, what!” She yelled back.
He pointed in the direction behind her. When she looked, the front of her board had come parallel to a grass barge and on it, sunning itself so peacefully in the morning sun was a giant gator. When she noticed him, the water current pushed her further into the barge and stopped her short. Her momentum made her tumble into the water and through the front of the grass barge right under the front of the gator’s legs. All 140 pounds of her was under the dinosaur-like creature! She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t swim, so her first thought was to “Reach Up” like her friend Cherry always said to do if she got in trouble.
Unfortunately, when she reached up, the only thing she grabbed ahold of was the gator and it was not happy. She could feel the power of its neck snapping back towards her hand with its massive jaw. She had to reach up and grab its other side. She couldn’t try to mount it like a paddleboard from one side or she would certainly get chomped! From beneath the massive being, she wrapped her arms and legs around the beast from below and in retaliation, it started to roll. The gator started to death roll her! Her thought was, at least when she got to the top of the water, she could take a breath, but she had to ride the gator until she figured out how to get off. As she surfaced, she could see her friends had gotten closer.
"They see me rolling," she thought. She could hear them yelling.
When she surfaced again, she could see Ryan was the closest to her and the gator. It looked like the other two guys were trying to distract the gator by banging their paddles in the water and yelling, but Ryan was just standing there, watching. She had an idea, but it was risky.
When she surfaced again, she pushed off of the gator and lunged for Ryan. He was perpendicular to her so she was able to jar his board. He fell in towards her and the gator. She grabbed him and shoved him towards the gator’s head. The gator was so confused and angry with what was happening that it opened its mouth and took a mighty bite of the closest thing it could get its massive jaws on. Ryan screamed as the gator latched onto his neck. Blood sprayed from his jugular coloring the once blue water red. The more Ryan thrashed and screamed, the more the gator bit down on Ryan. As the chaos continued, Lanie did her best to swim to her abandoned board to safety.
When Ryan stopped thrashing and his body was lifeless, the gator stopped, gave up interest, and swam back to disappear into the high weeds.
"What do we do?" Cole asked.
"Live," Lanie said as she threw a life jacket to Ryan's floating parts and paddled off.