A short story I wrote for school. Note that Izzy, the protagonist, should not be confused with Isaiah/Izzy/Iz, my younger brother. Also note that the creature is called a Polydra, Izzy just doesn’t know it. Neither Izzy, in fact.
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Walking toward Lily Pad Lake, Izzy glanced behind her, but there was no sign of her family. She shrugged, sure they’d catch up. They were so slow, she could hardly help pulling ahead.
Occupied with her thoughts, Izzy didn’t notice how close she was to the “lake”–more of a pond, really–until she was tripping over a root and plunging into the frigid water. Spluttering and gasping, Izzy paddled furiously back to the shore and started to climb out, shivering. How was she going to explain–her thought broke off midway as something stirred in the water.
A flash of blue, a glimmer of green. Were those eyes? Hesitating, Izzy took a deep breath, steeled herself, and plunged back into the cold. She forced her eyes open and clapped her hands over her mouth, trying not to scream.
A vaguely crocodilian blue head stared at her with dark green eyes. Like some Lovecraftian beast, it was framed by grasping tentacles with a backdrop of huge wings, scales gleaming on hybrid flipper-legs, the most bizarre creature to ever stir in the Karura Forest. The initial shock wore off, and Izzy, entranced, reached out a tentative hand. The thing flitted just out of reach, curious but wary.
Lungs burning, Izzy paddled upward and gasped in the chill wind. A splash, and she was surprised to see the creature’s head poking out of the water, nostrils flaring, eyes wide as it studied her. Izzy smiled, and the beast dipped underwater, resurfacing within reaching distance. Izzy tried to hold still, paddling quietly and fighting shivers. A green tentacle poked tentatively, and she felt a brief thrill at the touch.
Suddenly four tentacles grasped her arm, and Izzy gasped at their strength. She grabbed a breath before it dragged her under, terror jabbing her. The tentacles kept their hold like steel chains, while the other four grasped along the pond’s bottom. The creature found its objective and flapped its wings excitedly, thwacking Izzy in the face. She rubbed her cheek as her new friend (Captor?) pried at a rock to reveal a hole hidden underneath.
The tentacles slightly relaxed their grip, and Izzy moved a hand towards the hole, pulling back as she felt a gush of warmer water. An electric thrill surged through her, greater than when the creature first touched her. Magic, she thought with a thrill.
Her breath was running out, and she struck upwards, the beast calmly swimming along with her. Gratefully swallowing the cold air, Izzy smiled at it. It responded with a more fearsome yet still well-meant imitation and splashed her with a wing.
“I’ll come back,” Izzy promised, painfully aware of time passing as she climbed out of the supposed lake. “I’ll visit you again, okay?” Green eyes blinked once before the unreal creature dove back under. What will I tell everyone? She wondered, shivering.
As she walked away from Lily Pad Lake, Izzy glanced behind her, but there was no sign of the creature.