Denar was exercising one of the horses, and followed a path from the barn to the woods. He had been this way a few times before, and was surprised when his horse stopped abruptly in front of a young man standing on the path, apparently looking at something in the trees. "Excuse me Sir," Denar greeted him.
The man simply stepped out of the way; Denar moved his horse a few steps ahead until they were side by side. "Are you lost?"
"No."
"Then where did you come from?"
"Not far."
"It's a long way to any town," Denar informed him, considering offering him a ride.
"I grew on the bottom of a lake; I haven't been walking long."
Denar stared at the man, and noticed he was dripping. "Why did you come out?" he asked, bewildered and trying to remember where the lake was.
The man couldn't help smiling slighty, although he surpressed it. "It's getting a little cold to live in a lake, what with it being winter and all."
"You're lucky the lake hasn't frozen yet," Denar informed him, awed. "You should dry off before you freeze."
The man held his breath, staring at Denar. He was afraid that if he said something, it would be too obviously sarcastic and spiteful, enough that even Denar would pick up on it.
"What is your name, anyway?" Denar asked, deciding to ignore the parts of their conversation he did not understand thus far.
"Lex," the man sighed in a somewhat annoyed tone.
Denar picked up on nothing. "You should come to the house and dry."
"I don't live in a house, I live in a lake," Lex reminded him. He crossed his arms, staring at this strange man on a horse in a sceptical manner. "I...think I'll go back now." He turned to leave, heading in the opposite dirrection of the actual lake, deeper into the woods.
Denar jumped off his horse, "No wait, Sir! Don't you want to know where the town is?"
Lex only sighed. He noticed with a certain feeling of stupification that Denar was just about the same age as he was; 23.
"Com'on," Denar urged, not wanting to let this man go. "You're the first fish-man I've ever seen."
Lex stared, then tried a different approach: "No."
Denar blinked. "But you'll get lost."
Lex switched tactics again. "No...I won't. Listen, I've, um, I've got to go. Why don't you stop by my lake a day from tomorrow? How's that sound?"
"Oh...alright...," Denar agreed reluctantly, then let Lex walk off in the wrong dirrection. "You'll get lost," he reminded him, then mounted the horse and continued on the path, away from Lex.
Two days later, Lex was enjoying a cup of coffee at the nearest town when Denar entered the very same shop and spotted him. "Imagine that!" he exclaimed as he took a seat across from Lex, "I was just about to go visit your lake, but you're right here."
"Imagine that," Lex grumbled, not very thankful to see Denar again.
"Well I still want to see it," he continued in an exicited tone, "And you won't have to walk because I brought my horse. What's it like to live in a lake?"
"Wet, very wet." Lex sipped his coffee, then when Denar didn't go away, continued, "Sometimes the fish bite."
"Very big fish?"
"Very. Red Fish. Blue fish..."
"Are there any mermaids?"
Lex rolled his eyes, "Oh, of course." He began to consider how to slip out unnoticed. "Uh, I have to go to the bathroom," he lied, and left straight out the front door.
An hour or so later Lex was dismayed to hear horse hooves behind him, and as he feared, it was only Denar.
"Hullo!" Denar called out as he caught up, "Would you like a ride to your lake?"
"Why?" Lex sighed in frustration.
"Because otherwise I'll arrive there before you will! Here, get up."
"Sure...why not." Lex joined him on the horse and let him lead them to the lake. "So...uh, you've seen it now. Sparkly lake," he hinted, hoping for all the world that Denar would just leave. "The Mermaids are all hibernating, so there's nothing to see."
Denar nodded, buying into it all with surprising ease. "How do you get under the ice?"
"It's a secret."
"Oooooooooh, I see," he said, without seeing a thing.
"But maybe if you wait here long enough, you'll see something-- some sort of legend, or creature most people only think of as fiction. This is the fantasy center of the world, you know."
Denar stared at the smooth, hard surface of the lake and nodded, "You really think so?"
"Oh, absolutely! Unfortunately I have a few things I have to do..."
"That's ok I'll wait here for you."
"Good, good. You do that."
"Are you sure you don't need a--"
"Well I could use a horse, but I could also walk."
"Oh, no. Don't do that. Just take mine."
"I think I will," Lex said confidently as he walked away with the reigns in his hands. "Have fun. Oh, and when you see anything, make sure to say hi."
"I will," Denar agreed earnestly, and set to watching the lake intently.
"Geez what a moron," Lex exclaimed a few minutes later as he mounted the horse.
The horse looked up at him and replied "You're telling me-- I have to live with him!"
See Also:
Denar's Profile
Lex's Profile