“How much farther, Papa Smurf?”
“Not far now.”
Tony and his friends joked as they trekked up the steep hill, trying to take their minds off their aching feet. They had been walking for close to two hours since the ride-share driver had dropped them off at dawn at the foot of the trail that led to Lucid Pond, a secluded river none of them had ever visited. But the photos they had seen had sealed the deal.
“Dawg, we hadda go there,” Tony had insisted.
“They say the hike is a bit difficult, but the pond looks like it is worth every difficult step. What we say? Thursday?”
Everyone quickly nodded in agreement. A weekday would be ideal, as there would be little chance of having to share the space with anyone. And it meant a day off from classes.
“This is more than a little difficult, though,” Marcus complained, draining his water bottle before tossing it into the bushes.
“Who tell you to pack your bag like you going on a vacation?” Joan giggled.
Marcus frowned. “Well, I honestly thought we were going to spend the weekend. Ent it have a place to overnight? Plus, allyuh coulda tell me before we start to walk.”
“Dawg, it’s Thursday. How could it be a weekend? You mixing up this place with The Nile. This one is to spend the day and go back home,” Tony chortled.
“Like you never hear about a long weekend? Well, at least ah doh have to walk in the blazing sun with dis heavy bag. If wasn’t for these trees, I surely dead by now, yes.” He opened another bottle of water, guzzled it and dumped it into a nearby bush.
“Marcus, is everywhere you does go with your bad habit? So you couldn’t put that bottle in your bag?” Tony walked back to pick up the bottle.
Leah and Joan rolled their eyes.
“You continue spoiling Marcus. See if he will ever learn to be responsible,” Leah smirked.
“Why you doh shut up? Don’t get in me and my cousin business, please. If he want to pick up my bottles, so what?” Marcus huffed, struggling to take the few remaining steps to the top of the hill.
Picture perfect
The descent was much easier as they strolled past lush trees and bushes of varying types.
“Group shot!” Johann shouted, leaning against a large poui tree that littered the trail with yellow flowers.
“What’s that smell?” Joan’s nostrils flared slightly. She closed her eyes and slowly inhaled the fruity scent.
“It coming from here.” Johann raced ahead and picked up a small yellow fruit.
“It looks like a plum.” He took a little bite and grimaced.
“Sour as hell!” He tossed it away.
They continued down the hill, taken aback by the beauty along the trail, occasionally stopping to document the experience so they could show it to the world as soon as they could get a Wi-Fi signal. A gurgling sound hastened their steps, and its soothing call led them through a clump of tall bushes at the bottom of the hill. The five of them stood mesmerised by what lay ahead.
“OMG!” Leah shrieked in delight.
“Did we die walking up the hill and end up in heaven?”
A tiered waterfall cascaded down huge, smooth rocks, collecting in a foamy pond at the bottom before flowing into a second pond a short distance away.
“I can literally see everything in there!” Marcus shouted from a rock at the edge.
“Stones, fish, everything!”
He jumped in fully clothed, eliciting loud laughter from the others.
“Hey, your phone is still in your pocket,” Tony reminded him.
Marcus pointed to the phone in a clear, waterproof pouch around his neck.
“Way ahead of you, dawg. I’m gonna be getting some nice underwater footage today.”
The group spent the rest of the morning embracing nature in all its gleeful glory. When they eventually got hungry, they spread a blanket under a tree, chomped on the sandwiches Leah’s mother had packed, and drank water and iced coffee.
Lights, camera, action
“Anyone for All Fours?” Tony pulled a pack of cards from his bag pocket.
Joan, Leah and Johann planted themselves in position.
“I’m going to take a walk down the river.” Marcus picked up his bag. “I wanna see if there is anything interesting there to shoot.”
“We leaving in an hour, eh?” Johann reminded him.
He picked his way along the bank, his pouch still around his neck, with the camera inside, recording documentary-style footage. He came across another pool, a little murky but still interesting enough to capture some good footage.
“Maybe I should use my tripod for this,” he thought, rummaging through his bag.
He pulled out several plastic bottles filled with different things: oil for the food he thought they were going to cook, kerosene to start a fire, pepper and soy sauce, coffee and creamer, drinking water, salad dressing, Coke and vodka. There were also several packets of powdered seasoning and a few cans of tuna.
“I’m not climbing back up that hill with all this crap on my back, nah,” he muttered as he opened the bottles and poured the contents of each one into the water. He tossed in the empty bottles, cans and plastic packets, then looked around for a good spot to position the tripod.
He heard an unusual splash and turned around.
“Well, hello there,” he said with a smile, staring at a beautiful young woman swimming in the pond.
Her clear, bronzed skin glistened, and a gold-coloured comb kept the front of her flowing black locks from covering her face.
“I didn’t know anyone else was here. Mind if I join you for a swim?”
She smiled and nodded.
Hypnotised, he cast the tripod aside, jumped into the water and swam towards her.
“I’m Marcus.” He extended his hand as he drew closer to her.
By the time he noticed the fire in her eyes, it was too late. Even before he could scream, he felt something wrap around his waist and pull him under.
