"Bone Lake Part 2" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Lori Brant felt wonderfully rested as she awoke in her new home. It was so quiet in the country-no traffic-no sirens-no people. After a quick breakfast of bagels and fruit, Lori set out to explore her new surroundings.

Her Uncle's house was huge with eight rooms on two levels. Lori was surprised to find an enormous library on the top floor with hundreds of volumes. One section of the library was devoted entirely to physics. The floor below contained a well-equipped kitchen and several bedrooms.

The biggest surprise of all was found in the basement. Some kind of laboratory filled the entire space. Lori could only guess at the purposes of some of the devices. She made a note to herself to look through her Uncle Simon's papers to figure out what was going on here.

As the sun set, Lori took a seat on the wide deck overlooking the lake and sipped her coffee. A strange rhythmic sound seemed to be coming from the woods on the opposite shore. Lori had no idea what it could be, but she grabbed a flashlight and went outside.

A narrow trail wound around the lake and Lori followed it looking for the origin of the sound. As she came through a tangle of blackberry vines, a creature that couldn't possibly exist stared at her. 

The thing was about three feet long and somewhat resembled a caterpillar. It had large eyes the color of violets and the strange crying sound came from an opening in its tail. Instinctively, Lori connected the bizarre creature to her uncle's laboratory. 

The animal did not resist when Lori placed it in a blanket and took it back to the house. She offered it food and water, but the bowls remained untouched.

Lori spent the night looking through her uncle's papers and discovered that the devices in the basement were some sort of port to other dimensions. The creature she found in the woods must have come through the port and then escaped. 

From another part of the lake, a larger and more dangerous fugitive watched the house and waited.

"Matty" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Matty sat on a log and watched a large Heron spear a fish in the shallow waters of Dumas Bay. She regretted ditching school, but a sense of unease threatened to overtake her, and she had to get away.

Matty stayed at the park until the sun began to set and knew that she had to go home. As expected, her mother was angry that she had skipped school and once again Matty had to hear how irresponsible and careless she was.

The next morning, Matty loaded her clothes and other belongings into her old Corolla and headed for the interstate with a vague plan about going to California. As Matty drove through downtown she noticed a girl about her age wearing a skimpy outfit and pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. 

The hopelessness in the girl's eyes disturbed her and Matty turned her car around and headed home. Her mother was waiting for her on the porch of their tiny house. 

"I'm sorry you missed work because of me" Matty said.

Her mother smiled and held Matty close. "Everybody needs to play hooky once in a while."

 

"Bone Lake" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Lori Brant was resting her feet after a hard day of serving coffee when she heard the doorbell ring. Looking through the peephole, she saw a well-dressed older man. "Can I help you?" she said through the door.

"My name is William Phillips, and I need to speak with Lori Brant." the man said. Lori cautiously opened the door. "I'm Lori Brant. What's this all about?" The older man produced a business card which read: "William Phillips: Attorney at Law." 

Mr. Phillips sensed Lori's confusion and began to explain. "I served as your great Uncle Simon Brant's attorney for many years and after he passed it was my duty to find an heir for his estate." Now Lori was really confused. "I have never heard of an Uncle Simon" she told the attorney.

Mr. Phillips shrugged. "Unfortunately, Simon was a little eccentric and had no contact with his family for years. It took me several weeks of research to find you."  "Are you saying that I'm the heir to my Uncle Simon's estate?" Lori asked. The attorney nodded. 

Lori motioned the lawyer to her tiny kitchen table, and he brought out a sheaf of papers. "To begin with, Simon left approximately $2.5 million dollars in cash and securities, several real estate holdings amounting to about $9 million dollars and his personal estate at Bone Lake which has been appraised at $4.3 million dollars.

Lori's eyes grew wide as Mr. Phillips recounted the amounts. Her family had never had that kind of money. "Are you sure that I'm the person you're looking for?" she asked doubtfully. "I'm positive" he said. "It will take some time to transfer ownership of the various accounts and properties into your name."

"What kind of place is Bone Lake?" Lori asked after Mr. Phillips had finished his presentation. For a moment, Phillips hesitated. "Simon liked his privacy and he built his home deep in the forest. The nearest town is twenty miles away and the roads are very difficult in the winter."

Lori considered her position. She had no close friends in Seattle so why not? A few weeks later, Lori quit her miserable job and packed up everything she had into her ancient Chevy and hit the road.

Finding Bone Lake was a lot more difficult than she imagined. The property was in the northeast corner of Washington and even the GPS on her cell couldn't find it. After much trial and error, her tired old car pulled into the driveway of her new home. The house was more impressive than Lori imagined it would be. The log cabin design seemed to blend in with the forest and Bone Lake could be seen about a quarter mile away.

After taking a nap, Lori walked down to the lake and took a seat on a large boulder. Feeling a weird sensation, she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her from the forest. The eyes seemed to hold a deep hatred of something and then they just vanished.