It was a crazy day, and I was in my room listening to music when I received a notification on my phone. It was a text from my friend Mindy, saying that she was going to college soon and wanted to plan a short trip with all of us for the weekend. We decided to go to Mindy's lake house, and planned to travel there in Jake's car. My friends and I have known each other since we were children because our moms were college friends. This might be our last trip together because everyone will eventually go to college.
On Friday night, I spent two days planning and packing for the trip. I was sitting in my room after dinner, thinking that we might drift apart after this trip and not knowing when we would see each other again. As I was falling asleep, I heard a song playing and thought it was in my dream. But the sound kept playing, and I realized it was my alarm. I woke up, slipped my feet into my slippers, and got ready to go. I had a bowl of cereal and heard the honk of the car outside. I grabbed my bags, said my goodbyes, and ran to the car.
We enjoyed our two-hour journey listening to 90's music. Soon, we saw the sign for the lake house. We all started screaming in excitement, but had no idea what was coming. Jake parked the car, and we went inside the beautiful lake house. We had lunch, changed into our swimsuits, and jumped into the cold lake. It felt good because it was summer.
We enjoyed ourselves at the lake for a few hours and didn't realize it was dusk. We all got out of the lake, dried ourselves off, and went back to the house. We changed into our casual clothes and went to the backyard, where we lit a bonfire because we were cold. We roasted marshmallows and mushrooms and enjoyed ourselves. Around 10 o'clock, we heard a strange sound that sounded like a gunshot from the other side of the lake. But we weren't sure what it was, so we ignored it and continued with our bonfire dinner.
All of us were talking, but Paxton was deep in thought. Suddenly, he said that we should go on a trek to the other side of the lake the next morning. We all agreed and went to our rooms because we had to leave at 5 in the morning and we were tired. As soon as I went to bed, I fell asleep quickly.
In the morning, the sun rays hit my face through the window, the cold morning breeze in my room, and the sound of the birds woke me up. We all refreshed and met at the breakfast table in the garden. We had breakfast, packed our little trekking bags, and were ready to go. We decided to drive to the other side and park somewhere in the forest, then start our trek. Noah wanted to walk from the lake house to the other side and start the trek there, but we decided to take the car instead. We parked it near a tree and started making a sign on each tree as we passed it, so we wouldn't get lost and forget the way.
We were halfway to the top when we realized that we had lost track of the lake to our left. We decided to walk left, rest a bit at the lake, and then move forward. We kept walking and saw the sparkling water ahead of us. We ran to the lake, but all of us stopped. There were a bunch of cows on the edge of the lake. We walked slowly to see what the cows were eating and were shocked by what we saw. It was a dead man, shot in the head, his legs partially in the water, lying at the corner of the lake. We panicked and didn't know what to do. Mindy suggested calling the police, but Jake freaked out. He said that if we called the police, they might think we did it. They would interrogate us about what we were doing there and we might get into trouble. So none of us called the police because we were afraid of being doubted. Noah found an ID in the grass. It was the ID of the man who was lying dead. His name was Jonathan Joseph.
We couldn't think of anything at that time. Carla said that we should just leave and not tell anyone about it. That way, we could be safe. All this time, Paxton was staring at the body. We asked him what was wrong, and he started crying and blaming himself. We all heard the gunshot last night but ignored it. We could have called someone and complained about what we heard, but we didn't and now we were talking about leaving the body there and pretending we didn't see it. He agreed not to call the police, but he didn't want to leave the body lying there. He realized that we had no other option, though. We all started walking back to the car with guilt, fear, and feeling like murderers.
We reached the lake house and decided to leave that day because no one was in the mood for fun after the horrifying sight we had seen. Our lunch was laid out on the table, but none of us touched it. We all lost our appetite and just wanted to go home, so we went to our rooms, packed our bags, and left. On our way home, we saw a barricade and a police officer stopped us. We were terrified when he showed us a picture of a man and asked us if we had seen him. It was a photo of Jonathan. They said he went missing two days ago, and it's a small town, so they were asking everyone if they had seen him. We were quiet for a moment, but Carla said that we don't know him and haven't seen him. The officer let us go. No one spoke a word on the way back home. We all felt guilty.
The water of the lake, which was fun and joyful for us, had now become horrifying. And no one spoke about that day, about the ID, or about the dead body ever again.
On Friday night, I spent two days planning and packing for the trip. I was sitting in my room after dinner, thinking that we might drift apart after this trip and not knowing when we would see each other again. As I was falling asleep, I heard a song playing and thought it was in my dream. But the sound kept playing, and I realized it was my alarm. I woke up, slipped my feet into my slippers, and got ready to go. I had a bowl of cereal and heard the honk of the car outside. I grabbed my bags, said my goodbyes, and ran to the car.
We enjoyed our two-hour journey listening to 90's music. Soon, we saw the sign for the lake house. We all started screaming in excitement, but had no idea what was coming. Jake parked the car, and we went inside the beautiful lake house. We had lunch, changed into our swimsuits, and jumped into the cold lake. It felt good because it was summer.
We enjoyed ourselves at the lake for a few hours and didn't realize it was dusk. We all got out of the lake, dried ourselves off, and went back to the house. We changed into our casual clothes and went to the backyard, where we lit a bonfire because we were cold. We roasted marshmallows and mushrooms and enjoyed ourselves. Around 10 o'clock, we heard a strange sound that sounded like a gunshot from the other side of the lake. But we weren't sure what it was, so we ignored it and continued with our bonfire dinner.
All of us were talking, but Paxton was deep in thought. Suddenly, he said that we should go on a trek to the other side of the lake the next morning. We all agreed and went to our rooms because we had to leave at 5 in the morning and we were tired. As soon as I went to bed, I fell asleep quickly.
In the morning, the sun rays hit my face through the window, the cold morning breeze in my room, and the sound of the birds woke me up. We all refreshed and met at the breakfast table in the garden. We had breakfast, packed our little trekking bags, and were ready to go. We decided to drive to the other side and park somewhere in the forest, then start our trek. Noah wanted to walk from the lake house to the other side and start the trek there, but we decided to take the car instead. We parked it near a tree and started making a sign on each tree as we passed it, so we wouldn't get lost and forget the way.
We were halfway to the top when we realized that we had lost track of the lake to our left. We decided to walk left, rest a bit at the lake, and then move forward. We kept walking and saw the sparkling water ahead of us. We ran to the lake, but all of us stopped. There were a bunch of cows on the edge of the lake. We walked slowly to see what the cows were eating and were shocked by what we saw. It was a dead man, shot in the head, his legs partially in the water, lying at the corner of the lake. We panicked and didn't know what to do. Mindy suggested calling the police, but Jake freaked out. He said that if we called the police, they might think we did it. They would interrogate us about what we were doing there and we might get into trouble. So none of us called the police because we were afraid of being doubted. Noah found an ID in the grass. It was the ID of the man who was lying dead. His name was Jonathan Joseph.
We couldn't think of anything at that time. Carla said that we should just leave and not tell anyone about it. That way, we could be safe. All this time, Paxton was staring at the body. We asked him what was wrong, and he started crying and blaming himself. We all heard the gunshot last night but ignored it. We could have called someone and complained about what we heard, but we didn't and now we were talking about leaving the body there and pretending we didn't see it. He agreed not to call the police, but he didn't want to leave the body lying there. He realized that we had no other option, though. We all started walking back to the car with guilt, fear, and feeling like murderers.
We reached the lake house and decided to leave that day because no one was in the mood for fun after the horrifying sight we had seen. Our lunch was laid out on the table, but none of us touched it. We all lost our appetite and just wanted to go home, so we went to our rooms, packed our bags, and left. On our way home, we saw a barricade and a police officer stopped us. We were terrified when he showed us a picture of a man and asked us if we had seen him. It was a photo of Jonathan. They said he went missing two days ago, and it's a small town, so they were asking everyone if they had seen him. We were quiet for a moment, but Carla said that we don't know him and haven't seen him. The officer let us go. No one spoke a word on the way back home. We all felt guilty.
The water of the lake, which was fun and joyful for us, had now become horrifying. And no one spoke about that day, about the ID, or about the dead body ever again.
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