THE REAL LIVEJOURNAL IDOL -- SEASON 10, WEEK 14
KEEPER OF THE FLAME
I've been a story-teller for as long as I can remember. I honed my craft during my time in the Boy Scouts, and was (in)famous for the tales of horror I would tell while my troop was huddled around the campfire in the evening. I concede that a lot of boys in my unit lost a lot of sleep because of the stories I told, as they truly were the stuff of nightmares; some of those boys even wet their sleeping bags for fear of leaving the safety of their leantos in the dead of night. And I'll admit that I felt some guilt over that... but that's not the reason why I stopped telling those stories several years ago.
"Nathan! Get in the water right now!"
The youth stared at me goggle-eyed with fright as he shivered violently from head-to-toe, despite the brutally hot weather. "Are you s-s-s-sure there are no sh-sh-sh-sharks in the water?"
A few of the other boys laughed at his question, but I replied in a gentle voice with a sincere smile: "Nathan... sharks do *NOT* live in mountain lakes. They naturally live in the ocean, and while some sharks will swim into rivers, they will only go a few miles at most before turning around and heading back out to sea. This lake is much too far from the ocean for a shark to have gotten into it."
Nathan glanced at the water, then back at me. "You p-p-promise?"
I nodded soberly. "I promise you: there are absolutely no sharks in this lake."
Still trembling, Nathan slowly started wading into the water to join his fellow Scouts. It was very quiet on the lake that morning; the only noticeable wildlife was a group of four geese swimming about fifty yards away from shore. I leaned back in my folding chair and watched the boys splash each other; as they were all offically considered "Non-Swimmers", they were required to stay in the shallowest section of the lake, which was less than three feet deep, so it would be rather difficult for any of them to drown. Still, Boy Scout safety regulations required a minimum of two lifeguards on duty during any swim activity, if for no other reason than to make sure the boys didn't venture into deep water, as well as to keep the horseplay to a minimum.
My fellow lifeguard leaned over to me and whispered: "Why didn't you warn Nathan about the giant freshwater man-eating squid that's in the lake?" There was more than a touch of anger in Ben's voice; several years earlier he had failed to complete the Mile Swim Challenge because I had literally pulled him out of the water at sunset, yelling that if he didn't get out of the lake immediately the monster squid was going to devour him alive...
I sighed deeply. "Nathan is scared enough as it is... and as I told you before, the creature mostly feeds at night. Besides, the water here is too shallow for the beast to reach, so these boys are in absolutely no danger as long as they stay where they are... whereas you were in the deepest part of the lake when I hauled you in--"
"Oh, cut the *BULLSHIT*, Mr. Riter!" Ben's profanity shocked me, and I turned my head to look at him; prior to this moment he had always been extremely courteous toward me... but he had recently celebrated his 17th birthday, and apparently felt that gave him the right to swear like a sailor whenever he felt like it. Ben began ranting loudly, though the other boys were making so much noise that they didn't hear a word: "I never got my Mile Swim Badge because I was too scared to go back in the water for more than a year! When I finally realized that your 'killer squid' story was a load of crap, I was so far out of practice that I'll be lucky to be be ready to attempt the Mile Swim again by the end of this summer!" He glared at me with undisguised hatred. "Why didn't you just tell me that Boy Scout regulations didn't allow swimming after dark?"
I looked him straight in the eyes as I replied: "I did say that... first. Don't you remember? But you deliberately ignored me, and started swimming even further away from shore. I had to get you out of the water as quickly as possible, so I said what I had to in order to make that happen."
Ben's response dripped with venom. "Tell me something: Do you actually *ENJOY* terrifying kids with those 'spook stories' of yours? Does it give you a thrill, make you feel powerful? Looking back over the years, I'm amazed that I ever believed any of your tales... especially that 'Chicken Lady' yarn! Man, that one is the worst!"
I shuddered visibly. "*DON'T* say that name." My voice was low, but full of rage. I growled at Ben through clenched teeth. "How many times have I told you: You don't *EVER* say that name out loud!"
Ben snorted derisively. "Oh, you're good; you should be an actor in the movies! The way you can fake anger and fear is absolutely first-rate!"
My mouth dropped open in shock... then I grabbed Ben's right hand and forced him to touch a certain spot on the top of my head so he could feel the deep gouge in my skull... just as I had done the first time he had doubted me, six years before. I hissed at him: "What about this, Ben? Remember this 'souvenir' she gave me? Am I faking that, too?"
Ben snatched his hand away... but there was no fear in his eyes this time, merely resentment. "Just because you have a dent in your skull doesn't mean you got it from being attacked by an elderly, axe-wielding psychopathic woman who has the right foot of a gigantic bird!" He actually laughed in my face. "Looking back at all those crazy stories you told... and expecting us kids to take them as the Gospel truth... I just have no respect for you any more."
I felt my heart sink at the young man's words, and I turned to look out at the lake again. For some time I just stared vacantly at nothing, before finally mumbling: "I'm sorry you feel that way, Ben. I had rather high hopes for you, but now..."
The young man practically spat his response at me. "Well, you can forget it! I can't think of a single reason to believe anything you say to me--"
Suddenly there was a loud commotion out near the center of the lake. Nathan and all the other young boys were having too much fun to notice, but I heard a loud splash, caught a glimpse of something briefly moving on the surface of the water... and saw three geese fly away while honking loudly as a large cluster of feathers floated on the section of the lake where the birds had been swimming just a moment before.
It was some time before Ben spoke again... and when he did, there was great unease in his voice: "What just happened?"
For a moment I said nothing; to me it had all been a blur, but Ben's eyes were younger than mine, so his vision was sharper. At last, all I said was: "You tell me. What did *YOU* see?"
Ben didn't respond for nearly a full minute... and when he did, his voice had an accusing tone: "You said the squid only feeds at night."
I kept my voice as calm as possible. "No, I said that it *MOSTLY* feeds at night. But it's too damned big to get into the shallow water near the shore, so our boys are in no danger where they are..."
Ben sat blinking in silence for a while... until he finally asked gently: "And what about The Chick-- I mean, what about... 'her'. Is... is 'she' still out there?
I sighed deeply. "I honestly don't know. They never caught her, but it's been at least 5 years since the last time they found a camper's scattered body parts out in the woods, chopped up with a two-handed axe. That was her 'signature', so to speak. Plus, she was old when she attacked me, over forty years ago, and nothing lives forever. Granted, there have been a few 'disappearances' in these woods in recent years, but there are other things out there that could be responsible." I turned to look Ben in the eyes again. "*PLENTY* of other things."
Ben gazed back at me, ashen-faced, mouth agape. "How... how can you keep coming back up here, year after year?"
I snorted derisively. "How could I *NOT*?! The Boy Scouts won't close the damned camp, because it's how they earn their money... so whenever something 'unpleasant' happens, they come up with a cover story to try to explain it away. They just say that a kid got lost in the woods, or drowned when he went swimming after dark, or some other nonsense. *SOMEONE* has to warn you boys about the real dangers! And to answer your earlier question: No, I don't enjoy terrifying you Scouts, year after year... but if my telling you those stories prevents you from going someplace bad and doing something stupid that will likely get you killed... Well, I figure it's worth giving you boys a few sleepless nights, as long as you go home safe and sound at the end of the trip."
For a while, Ben was utterly silent... until, at last he said "I'm sorry, I never realized... I mean... Thank you."
I nodded. "No problem. And I'm sorry that I scared you so much that you never completed the Mile Swim Challenge."
Ben slowly shook his head. "Looks like I'll never complete that challenge. No offense, but there's no way you could convince me to go back in that lake now." He laughed nervously. "Still, I suppose that it could be worse; if you hadn't scared me out of the water back then, I'd probably be squid chow right now..."
I smiled wryly. "There are other places where they hold the Mile Swim Challenge... safe places. I'll ask the Camp Master to allow you to practice in the Camp Pool -- normally they only allow the Camp Staff to swim there, but the Camp Master owes me a favor, so I'm sure I could get you access for the rest of the summer. Hell, I might even be able to arrange it so you can attempt the Mile Swim Challenge in the pool."
Ben's smile was heart-warming. "Thank you, Mr. Riter! I appreciate that... especially after what I said to you earlier! I don't know how I can ever repay you..."
My voice quavered a little as hope slowly began to rise within me. "Actually, I do have a favor to ask of you -- that's why I arranged for us to be on lifeguard duty together today. I've got a problem that I need help with, but please understand that as far as I'm concerned you owe me nothing, so you have every right to say 'No' to me."
There was more than a touch of trepidation in Ben's expression. "What sort of favor?"
I took a deep breath and slowly started explaining. "The truth is that my health is failing. Oh, I'm not going to keel over dead anytime soon... but I just can't go camping anywhere near as often as I did before. But that means I won't be able to come up here as regularly as I used to... so I won't be here to warn the young Scouts away from danger. I... I need... someone to... handle that task for me..."
Realization quickly dawned on Ben's face. "Why me? Why pick me for this?"
I looked the young man straight in the eye. "Because you're smart and tough, and have a great memory. Because you've always been willing to do what's necessary, no matter how difficult the job may seem. Because you're a natural leader, and I can easily see you being a Scoutmaster yourself someday... but perhaps most important of all, because the other Scouts all trust you, so they'll *BELIEVE* you." I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head. "You're not the first Scout who called me a liar to my face; far from it." I opened my eyes again, and gave voice to my fears. "I've never personally 'lost' any Scouts... but I worry. What if... what if the day comes when none of the Scouts in the troop *BELIEVE* me anymore?" I sniffed back my tears. "So I need someone else to give those warnings. I never wanted to saddle anyone with this kind of responsibility, but I just don't see any alternative other than giving the job to someone else... someone that the younger boys will listen to. That said, I'll understand completely if you feel like it's too much for you..."
Ben stared at me silently for a few moments, then he turned to look back at Nathan and all his friends splashing around in the shallow lake water without a care in the world. For several minutes, neither of us uttered a word... until, at last Ben said in a hoarse whisper: "All right. Tell me everything I need to know."
I slumped in my chair as tears of relief started streaming from my eyes. "I think we should start with the tale of Cropsey's Rampage, and how his ghost still haunts this land seeking revenge for his slaughtered family..." As I told Ben the first story, I felt my spirit take flight as though a great burden had been lifted off it. It would take some time to teach Ben everything I knew, but we had the whole summer ahead of us...
-- "There are more things in heaven and earth ... than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--- HAMLET, Act I, Scene 5
NOTE: ellakite really does have a dent in his skull, and will explain how he acquired it if asked. But be warned: You won't like the answer... so would you really want to know?
This post is an entry for THE REAL LIVEJOURNAL IDOL (therealljidol), Season 10, Week 14. It is based on the prompt "Campfire Stories".
To find links to all the stories written by my fellow competitors and vote for the ones you like, please CLICK HERE.