Week 10 Story: The Unknown Monster

Six Friends decided to take a trip up to Lake Kilikiliana to get away for the weekend. Due to the typical dilemmas that they faced in school, they decided this would be perfect since finals week is three weeks away. There were three guys, Mike, Smitty, and Zach along with three girls: Dana, Jessica, and Emily. The lake has been around for hundreds of years and is a place where people are notoriously known for going missing. Each year, there is either a person or a group of people that try to debunk the stereotype that surrounds Lake Kilikiliana.

As soon as they pull into the parking lot, the crew immediately begins to bring out their sleeping bags, coolers, and other sorts of equipment out of the trunk. Skeptical about the place, Dana begins to question whether or not they should start heading down to the area where they should set up their tents.

"You guys I think we should turn back around" said Dana.

"Oh come on Dana, stop being such a girl, nobody is going to end up missing" declared Smitty.

                              (Lake Kilikiliana)                               

"While you two continue to bicker, Zach and I will go set up camp in the yellow area" said Emily.

Emily and Zach run off to set up camp next to the lake while the remaining four are parked right next to car bickering away the afternoon. Smitty and Dana continue to argue for about forty minutes and then are interrupted by Jessica. Jessica begins to question if Emily and Zach are done setting up camp since it is taking a bit of time to put up the tents. Worried, Smitty and Dana put their differences aside and go with Jessica and Mike to go look for Emily and Zach. When they get to the Yellow area, they notice really big animal prints and the belongings of what the gang brought along.

"EMILY!!....ZACH!!!" yelled Smitty. The crew begins to worry that the stereotype surrounding the lake is becoming true. The group continues to yell out their names for a good 10 minutes until they could not do it anymore. Scared and Worried about the two, Smitty begins to formulate a plan to go find them and go home.

"Jessica and Mike, you guys go search the red area of the lake and Dana & I will go search the blue area. Let's meet back at the yellow area in fifteen minutes" said Smitty.

The four split up and frantically search the hilly side of the lake to find their missing friends. Smitty and Dana continue to argue about coming to the lake while looking for Emily and Zach. Annoyed, Smitty then tells off Dana and leaves her in a certain part of the woods but not for long because of the rain. Fifteen minutes have passed and the two return to the yellow area waiting for Jessica and Mike to return. Smitty and Dana sit patiently for 15 minutes and then begin to wonder about Jessica and Mike's whereabouts. Smitty uses the walkie-talkie he had given to everyone earlier in the day to channel Mike but Mike does not respond. Dana then begins to worry that Jessica and Mike have gone missing as well.

"Smitty our friends are missing, I warned you about the myths surrounding the lake but you never listen to me, its either Smitty's way or no way" whined Dana. 

"Will you just shut up and let me think! MIKE! MIKE! CAN YOU HEAR ME BROTHER?" yelled a distraught Mike.

As the rain got heavier, Smitty and Dana regrouped inside the car and think about how they will find their four friends. Smitty suggested that they split up but Dana insisted on sticking together and going through well known safe areas to check and see if they stopped there. The rain eventually stopped and the two of them set out to look for the four missing people. During their trip, they come across the same animal prints found at the yellow area and the belongings of Jessica and Mike.

"These footprints...What kind of animal can this be that has gotten ahold of our friends?" questioned Smitty

"This monster has devoured our friends, we have to get out of here quickly Dana...Dana?....Dana?" 

Smitty then turns around to see Dana being eaten alive and swallowed by a huge, carnivorous, and powerful looking creature. Smitty then stands in complete shock as he witnesses the reason why people who go to Lake Kilikiliana never come back.

Author's Note: This story was based on the story, The Swallowing Monster, in the Apache storybook in the Week 10. I put my own twist on the story by having six characters and centering the story on two of the six characters listed. I made Smitty become the little girl of the story because like the girl in the book, he is not swallowed but I tailored it to him being eventually swallowed outside of the story instead of being spared like the girl was in the book. I also made the monster swallow the characters one by one instead of swallowing everyone at the same time just to give the story a darker perspective and have it seem like it is more of a horror movie than a book. I also left the story on a cliffhanger with the notion that Smitty will try to fight for his life just like the duel at the end of the story. The Swallowing Monster by Pliny Earle Goddard