Stuck in a Frozen Lake

By BarBarKetrab

Part 2

The next day had come as it always does, ever wintery and covered in snow. It was quite peaceful, thought Teco as he stood quite sleep deprived in front of a tree.

He and two of his friends had decided to go on a quick fishing spree to the much larger lake a little farther from his house. Well, he hadn’t really decided, it was more like they had forcibly woken him up and dragged him outdoors. He hadn’t even had time to tell Ena that he was leaving.

Said two friends were standing at the edge of the lake, one holding a fishing rod and the other seated on a snow covered rock. They were Tama and Ellet.

Tama, the one currently fishing, was a somewhat taller girl with long blonde hair that she seemed to have in a different style every single day. The same could be said about her clothing, never the same, never reused. Currently, she had her hair styled into several curly waves that descended down her back, while her bangs were neatly combed to the side. While her habits and appearance would make many believe that she behaved like the stereotypical rich kid obsessed with makeup and material possessions, the truth was that she was in fact very caring. She was always ready to help those who needed it, and she seemed to have a good grasp over any kind of difficulty a person could be facing.

Like a mother, he thought.

Ellet, the individual sitting on the rock, was tall. So incredibly tall in fact, that Tama, who was roughly 170 centimetres in height, didn’t even reach his shoulders. He must have been around 7 feet in height.

His hair, which was light brown in color, was always nearly completely shaved, only a thin layer covering his head. He was usually a rather composed individual, but that didn’t stop him from cracking cynical jokes whenever he got the chance.

Currently, he was wearing a dark coat that looked like a cross between a rain jacket and a leather one. He sat with one hand on his chin and the other on his knee as he watched Tama, looking to see whether she had caught anything.

‘Fishing in weather like this…….we sure are weird,’ thought Teco as he too, looked on.

It was a rather strange time to choose to go fishing. Unlike the tiny lake behind Teco’s house, which somehow never froze, this one was almost entirely frozen over, leaving them with only a tiny area where their fishing lure could hit the water.

Aside from this small setback, the day was pleasant. The sky was a clear light blue mixed with the occasional wispy cloud and there were few others outside, it was 7am after all. Snow was, as usual, everywhere, and there were no noises to interrupt them, allowing them to do as they pleased in calmness, without a care in the world.

It gave Teco some space, allowing him to distract himself from the thoughts gnawing at his insides. The fact that he could have just further pushed Ena away from him wouldn’t let him rest, but there was no way that he could voice his frustrations, for more than one reason.

He had simply messed up. Again. Few things hurt him more than messing up and not knowing why.

He felt lost. Ena wouldn’t let him help her, but doing nothing wouldn’t do any good either. The more he thought about it the more panicked he became. If it was to be like this, then it was only a matter of time before Ena would fall apart, never to be mended. She would be gone, and things would return to the way they used to be, which, after experiencing the past month, he never wanted again. Ever.

It felt suffocating, like walking in a blizzard without knowing which direction to walk in, aimlessly looking for something as walls of snow close in around you. No matter how much you try, without help it’s hopeless to escape, and soon, after succumbing to the freezing darkness, you are left all…….

…….alone.

…he had to stop thinking about this. He couldn’t just collapse in front of Ellet and Tama. A distraction, he needed a distraction. Seizing the opportunity, he walked over to his two friends, after noticing them staring intently at something.

“…….well, this is unexpected,” Tama said as she stared down at her catch.

Noticing, Ellet moved to take a look, right as Teco came over to the two of them.

The trio stared at the object lying on the ground in front of them, still attached to the hook.

It was a note, written on 100% waterproof paper. It read:

“U guyz mad or somethin? Fishing at a time like this?”

- Ena

PS: “Thought it would be funny, probably wasn’t. Deal with it.”

After looking at each other and then back at the note, Ellet was the first to burst out laughing. Tama and Teco soon followed.

“-What the- ‘snicker’-hell?!” managed Ellet. “How did she even do this?” “It literally violates probability!”

“Well, now we know her taste in humor, it’d be pretty funny to see her reaction,” said Tama after the effects of laughter had started to wear off.

“Teco, do us a favour and stick this to her forehead as soon as she wakes up tomorrow.”

Teco was wondering what could have made Ena write that note. She wasn’t the kind of person to use that kind of language, and she never tried to make any of them laugh intentionally.

“But, why?” Teco asked. “This isn’t her, she….doesn’t do this.”

“Oh stop it.” Tama said in a mock reprimanding tone. “This just proves she’s happy, and that maybe at last she’s trying to talk to us, for real.”

‘Happy?’ thought Teco. ‘So, she was still……happy?’

Noticing the thoughtful expression on his face, Tama quickly changed the subject to something more direct.

“So Teco…….are you having problems with her again?” she said a little more quietly.

Not knowing what to do at this point anymore, and at least being able to request help, he nodded morosely.

“Oh boy…….here we go again...” Tama said, looking at him softly, her very defined face becoming more understanding.

“Are you sure you want to keep doing this?” she asked. “Nothing good is going to come out of it if you only hurt yourself.”

“Don’t say that,” Teco said in a slightly irritated tone. “I want to help her, but I can never talk to her. How can I do anything if I don’t know what to do?”

The panicked feeling was starting to return.

Tama slowly attached another piece of bait to the fishing rod’s metal hook, before recasting her line. All three of them watched it descend into the small opening of frigid water with a small splash.

Obviously Tama was thinking of what to say next. Ellet knew to not interrupt.

“Why can’t I just do this by myself?” Teco asked while hanging his head. “I really appreciate all that you are doing, but if it’s not me, then it just feels fake”

“Forget it,” Tama replied. “You’re in no position to be saying that, especially not now.” “Don’t be selfish.”

“I know but……what am I supposed to do?” “Every time I try to talk to her she just leaves, no matter what I say. It’s so….difficult.”

“And what do you say?” Tama inquired while steadying her rod.

“I try to talk to her!” he said in a more assertive tone. “But, she won’t tell me anything!” “I can’t….get to the bottom of it.”

“Teco?” Tama asked without looking at him.

“What is it?”

She turned her head to look straight at him.

“How would you feel if I started talking about all of your deepest problems while trying to ‘help’ you? Wouldn’t you feel at least a little offended if I did something like that?”

“I don’t…..know……” was his reply.

Tama sighed, “And that’s your problem. You can’t think like Ena, Teco. Stop trying to. She doesn’t respond to things the same way you do. And with you being the way you are, I think that’s a pretty big problem between the two of you.”

He gave her a worried stare.

Tama’s voice softened. “It’s not that she doesn’t want your help.” Just…….try not to let her know that you’re giving it to her.”

She continued, “I don’t know what’s going on in that girl’s head, Teco. But you’re the only one she’s close enough to who can possibly help. If you like her so much, then I guess it’s good that you keep trying. Just don’t keep doing the same thing over and over. That won’t get you anywhere.”

Teco stood still for a few seconds, before his overworked mind began to understand. He smiled softly and quietly said,

“How are you so good at this?”

Tama briefly considered saying “from experience” but ultimately decided against it and simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Now can we stop talking about this? I’m starting to feel pretentious.”

Teco gave a slightly bigger smile while Ellet, who had been quiet for so long, walked up to Teco, towering over him due to his height, and said a simple “good luck” while giving the shorter boy a pat on the shoulder.

‘It was so nice to have friends like this’ thought Teco. ‘I’m lucky to have them.’

In the very next moment, Tama’s lure started to bob up and down in a simple rhythm in the water.

“Ah! Think I caught something!” she exclaimed.

Sliding her foot backwards through the snow for better footing. She rather roughly pulled the lure from the water and, sure enough, a fish was attached to the hook.

She pulled the fish to the ground in front of her feet, whereupon everyone saw it.

All three of them somewhat cringed at the sight.

Yes, it was a fish, probably some kind of bream, but the glaring defect on its body was visible to the triad.

Over half of its body, starting from the tail, was bleached a sickly white and where there was white, no scales were visible, just a flat, unnatural looking, smooth surface.

The fish flopped on the ground, trying to hop back into the water.

“Eeeeuuggh, infected.” said Tama.

She stared pitifully at the creature that she had caught.

“Poor thing.”

“Well, you did just shove a hook through its mouth,” Ellet said.

“Shut up”

It was an infection. That was all Teco knew. Fish and certain other organisms have been contracting this disease for the past few centuries, but lately there seemed to be more such cases than usual. Far more.

Either way, any organism with this disease was sure to die a slow death. Thankfully, humans and other mammals seemed to be naturally immune to it. Fish, reptiles and insects, weren’t though.

“Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do,” Tama said while reaching for her bag, which was lying on the ground.

From it, she drew a small knife which she swiftly used to kill the fish.

Upon completion of her task, she turned to Teco and said, with a somewhat detached look in her eyes:

“You wouldn’t want Ena to end up like that, would you?”

Teco stared in silence for some time at the unmoving, bleeding fish before shaking his head slowly.

Seeing this, Tama smiled softly, and said,

“Then go. Help her.”

Without hesitating for even a moment, Teco nodded and said “okay.”

Then, he left.

After his departure, Ellet turned to Tama, looking down at her.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Yes,” Tama replied as she packed away her knife.

To be continued-