The wet treasure

A silvery light shone from the water. Maike moved carefully through the bushes, towards the light. There, under the starry sky, the small, dark pool shone brightly, like a thousand silver coins glittered in the depths of the water. Maike gazed down the water, but it’s substance was to muddy to see through it, only a few closed lilies drifted in the evening breeze.

It was an uncomfortable night. All day, they had walked through the Woods without Mercy, fighting the plants and mosquito’s. They were tired and had little else to eat but raw turnips. Now, Gijs and Wendelmoed were asleep, and Wilfryd went somewhere with the two horses. Maike felt too hungry to sleep, so she walked a little in the wood. Seeing the silvery shining, she forgot about her quest for food, and stood staring at the pool.
It was pitch dark all around her, the tops of the trees covering the sky. Small noises sounded from around her, and she recalled the stories her mother told her. “Don’t get to close to the water, dear, or the Wapper will catch you, honey”. She never actually saw the Wapper, but she had seen its moves under the surface of the water, it’s long arms dragging alga along. Once, she thought she had seen the pale face of a drowned boy in the stirring waters close to her house. She didn’t dare to cross the bridge for weeks after that.
But the water in this pool hardly moved. The wind blew small waves on it, sparkling the silver like it was freshly polished.

Could it be possible the Wapper wasn’t home right now? Maike pondered about this. If the Wapper was out for the night, the silver was unguarded. Even if it was asleep, it could be possible to get a hold on the silver.
She touched the surface of the water with her hand, and draw little circles. The water wasn’t cold, and didn’t stink as much as the slough Wilfryd fell in earlier that day. She removed her clogs and walked in the pool, just a few steps. It felt muddy and slippery, and she held a twig of a large weeping willow in both her hands. If the Wapper awoke, she would be pretty save, she thought.
A strange sensation spread around her ankles. Frightened, she looked down. A quick, pale thing moved in the water, touching her, cold and wet like the hand of a drowned man. She jumped on the shore again, looking back, terrified. A large fish jumped out of the water, caught a fly, and went under the surface again with a big splash. The night went quiet again.

Birds called out to each other, ripping the darkness. Maike hardly heard them, gazing at the silvery shining. She felt tired and hungry now, but with her thoughts on the silver, she couldn’t go to sleep. Finally, she made a decision and removed most of her cloths. Carefully, she walked into the water. After a few steps, the pool was to deep to stand upright, and she swam to the middle of the water. There, she couldn’t see the shining any more. Confused, she looked around. Then she dived, her eyes opened, looking for her treasure.

Something caught her arm. She started screaming, but feeling the water in her mouth, she shut up. She moved wildly to loosen herself, but her movements seemed idle in the water. Then, something caught her leg.
It must be the Wapper, she thought. She saw red eyes coming closer to her, and the treasure glittering below her. She fought to return to the surface of the water, longing for a deep breath of fresh air, but the slimy limbs that caught her arm and leg didn’t let go, entangled her even more; it dragged her deeper down, towards the silver. The treasure, however, was no longer on her mind. She wanted her life! She wanted it badly. Maybe she cried, but the tears drifted away in the black water.

Suddenly, she felt something cold on her face. Then someone slapped her in her face. She shrieked, and then felt happy she heard her own voice. She could breath again! She opened her eyes and mouth, gasping for air, and saw Wilfryds face hovering above hers.
“Maike, are you all right?” Wilfryd asked. His voice seemed to come from a long way away. He got her up her feet, and the water ran down her body, flowing out of her dress. Her ears popped.
“I think I’m all right,” Maike answered.
“What is it you were doing here on your own?” Wilfryd asked, worried, “You could have drowned if I wasn’t near.”
Maike looked back at the pool. “There was a treasure under the surface,” she whispered, “But is is gone now. The Wapper must have taken it to the bottom of the pool.”
Wilfryd gave her her clothes and after she was dressed, they slowly walked back to the camp, following the bank of the pool. Hunger and sleep took hold of Maike, and now she felt cold too. She shivered. Wilfryd hung his cloak around her shoulders.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Maike said as Wilfryd remained silent.
“You were hungry and sleepy, maybe you have been imagining things?” he replied.
She bit her lip and looked over her shoulder to the blackness of the pool.
It could have been her watery grave, she thought. If she had drowned, nobody would have found her on the bottom of the pool. But then, after they went past a big willow, she saw the shining again.
“Oh, look, Wilfryd! There it is again, I wasn’t imagining!” She turned around, to gaze at the treasure again. Now it looked if there was even more silver in the pool. She took Wilfryds arm and squeezed it gently.
“Oh, little sister,” Wilfryd whispered, “You haven’t been dreaming, but you must be confused. That shining is the reflection of the moon on the surface of the water. There is no treasure, there is no silver. You nearly drowned hunting a mirrored light!”
Feeling silly, Maike walked silently after Wilfryd towards the camp.

The moon sank away in the dawn, and mists rose up from the damp soil. The weeping willow bent over the black, bottomless pool, and saw the Wappers treasure glimmering below the reflection of the moon. The willow wept. This night, the treasure tempted the young girl, but she didn’t drown entangled in the roots of the tree, and the willow was hungry again.
Tears ran down from its twigs and fed the pool.

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