‘The Search’ by Colleen Anderson

The droning of summer thrummed the day with expectation. Pine trees poked at the sky, lessening the sun’s glare. In the lake’s placid, deep blue depths, hidden things moved. The water humped, a darker shade growing, and Tanis stood, her breath contained. The shape didn’t breach, dissipating into shadows and mystery. She waited, hoping. 

Tanis sighed, sitting again on the bench, the liquorice and orange of her ice cream cone tingling her tongue. Her attention followed the ancient stone hills rolling up on either side of the valley, which had long ago become a natural reservoir. The full, heavy air had been waiting for a thousand years with the patience that only nature can endure. Had it always been this way, knowing secrets and waiting for others to discover them? 

She stared at the glassy water and thought that shadow, there, might be the lake monster, but she knew better. Ogopogo’s elusive trail wound through Okanagan Lake’s long, deep trench. She would wait forever if she needed to. She rubbed at her eyes and sighed.

“What are you doing?” 

A boy stood to her right, lanky, in tattered shorts and a striped shirt, maybe a year or two older and more interested in her ice cream cone than the lake. 

“I’m searching for N’ha-a-itk.” She stumbled over the unfamiliar word, so it came out as naa ah teek.

He scratched his head, hair a dark brown tousle, and squinted at her. His worn sandals were in his other hand as he worked his toes into the pebbled sand of Peachland’s narrow beach. “What’s that?”

“You know.” She pointed to a picture in one of her books — a smiling green serpent with horns. “Ogopogo, but that’s not its real name.”

The boy scrunched up his face and rolled his eyes. He seemed torn between letting the lures of summer pull him in another direction and learning more. He looked out at the water and back to her books.

For a moment, she couldn’t say anything, licking furiously to keep the ice cream from dripping onto her books. The sun itched her skin, and her legs had an inner shiver that almost hurt. If she watched long enough she’d see the lake monster, no matter how many years it might take.