PHOTO PROMPT © Erin Leary
The herons stalk the water on the far side, picking their steps carefully through the lilies and swards of weed. Cocking heads in preparation to strike for frogs, whilst on the other shore children splash, hunting the same frogs and hoping for newts. Tentively they wade further out, feeling the depth with sticks, prodding and dredging until the water clouds and becomes black with the disturbed decay of years of submerged leaves and rotting branches. They giggle when the water soaks their clothes, laugh at the black mud stench that rises, then scream as her face, Ophelia-like, breaks the surface.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries.
Michael Wynn 
I was waiting for something and it didn’t disappoint 🙂 lovely build-up
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Thanks. The picture reminded me of days spent hunting frogs as a boy and the terrific flora in Millais’ painting Ophelia, one of my favourites.
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Dear Michael,
Those poor kids are going to have nightmares for years. Well depicted.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle, fortunately we never discovered anything like that when we were hunting frogs. Although, reading the papers I do feel sorry for the dog walkers of the world sometimes, they’re forever making gruesome discoveries.
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Oh, I do like the scene you’ve built here. The lovely images of nature and then the shock of the face – even that is somehow gentle, and all the more disturbing for that.
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Thanks.I love writing about nature.
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