The Black Swan

Night did not fall. Instead, it slowly crept along, coating all it touched with a musty, dusky, mysterious darkness. Nathan dipped his hands into the lake and washed off some of the blood caked on his hands. At his feet lay the second to last of the cygnets. In the nest, half-hidden in the reeds, cowered the last. Nathan wearily got to his feet and waded in to the lake, carefully keeping to the shallow bits. As he trudged towards the nest, he did not notice the figure that followed him. It took a gentle splash to catch his attention. Before him, in the still water, he saw a reflection of himself . . . and the reflection of the red-eyed black swan. Nathan reached out and swished his hands through the water. As the reflections dissolved into ripples, he said in a dull, dead voice, "Go away." He stared into the water at nothing in particular. "You can't hurt me. I killed you - " "You killed my wife." The voice that interrupted Nathan was deep, and harshly accented. The hand that fell upon his shoulder and twisted him around was heavy and strong. Nathan looked into the fact of a man that he knew, and yet had never seen before. The man was dark, and powerful, and large. His eyes glowed red with hatred. "You killed my wife." The man repeated. He took a step forward, driving Nathan away from the reeds and towards the center of the lake. "My wife. My hatchlings." The man stared at him, with those red, glowering eyes, and Nathan found himself unable to resist. "You killed them." The stranger continued relentlessly, forcing Nathan backwards and deeper into the lake. "You killed them all." Forcing him deeper and deeper into the lake, and further and further from the safety of the shore . . . . . . . . . . . . In the morning, when James led the captain of the guard to the lake, they found a black swan and its lone cygnet floating on the water's surface. The swan and its hatchling continued their peaceful swim throughout most of the day, undeterred by the people tramping in and out of the lake. The captain of the guard left to report that the drowned body of his Lordship's missing son had been recovered. James left to break the news to Lady Brock, and the people of her court. And still the swan swam in its lake, serene, graceful, and as unruffled as the surface it swam on. Its black feathers gleamed and shone like darkest night, and its red eyes glowed like malevolent stars, all-knowing and all-seeing. Author's Notes Back to the Blueberry Fields index page

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Page design, layout, and contents by Clockwork Penguin Productions. Backgrounds and flower plates courtesy of System F. Penguin Kao Ani Smilies courtesy of Miwa's Farm

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