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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/JamesCaligo on 2024-10-12 04:17:47+00:00.
I was trudging through the snow, approaching the edges of the ice. Today would be like any other day, except this one was significant to me.
I live in Siberia, and I’m a fisherman of frozen lakes. It can reach temperatures of - 51° F for those who are American, but that’s never an issue for us natives of this supposed wasteland. I call it that because it’s not as desolate as you might think.
On this particular day, I would go to a specific lake called The Child’s Call.
There are old legends about this lake, namely the fact that it was used to scare children away from it. A lot of my neighbors tend to avoid this place, but I was going to break the mold. I was not one to believe in meaningless superstitions, thinking that the lake was nothing more than a fairy tale that parents would warn their children about. All to keep them from falling through the ice. An intelligent means of teaching kids, but I always found it a joke that the adults warned other adults to avoid it during the winter. Ice fishing was banned here.
After growing up for 22 years in this hostile environment, I wwasn’t going to miss out on the plentiful fish hiding beneath the ice. I took my first step out on the slippery surface, almost feeling a hint of guilt.
“This isn’t so bad, I guess,” I tried to convince myself. It would be a test to erase years of scare tactics.
I kept walking out, with courage and greed, to make a bountiful amount of money from the sheer number of fish that one could get from out here.
And when I was about to reach the center, I was reminded of the old folk tale.
“Children may play in the woods, may play in the town, and may play in the berry bushes. But the man of bright eyes seeks for your soul young children. Stay far away from the creaking ice. The frigid waters will be your grave, and the bright-eyed man will snack on your soul.”
My mom would tell me this and give me over a decade’s worth of fear for something that was nothing more than a lesson to not play on the ice.
No matter, I came to my spot and began drilling my hole; my excitement about the plentiful amount of fish hiding in the safety of their icy shield was in for a rude awakening. I had everything set up and dropped my line. I could feel the nipping of the biting cold on my fingertips. Thankfully, I brought a hand warmer, which I could hide in my sleeves.
Even though I had not caught any fish yet, I felt accomplished. The rest of the town was fearful of the lake for generations. Who knows how long it will go on while I bring in excellent scores of fish while they all keep trying to go for the other lakes in the area. It didn’t make sense why this one in particular was singled out as dangerous, and I don’t care.
_______________________
Two hours had passed, and I was in for some great disappointment. I had yet to catch a single fish, even though you can fish here in the summer and get somewhere around ten a day. It made no sense that I was getting nothing now. Frustrated, I peeked into the hole I had drilled, trying to see what was the deal?
Nothing but deep, grave darkness stared back at me. I wondered why it was such a grim view.
The sun was already setting, and I thought it best to pack up and leave. The nighttime can get so much colder, and it becomes more challenging to see the town.
It still puzzled me about the nature of why there was no fish.
Still, I was compelled to pack up and return to my comfy home a little ways off. That would be about a 40-minute walk. It’s best not to get caught out here in the dark when it reaches - 70° C or - 94° F. Then it would be lights out for me.
Before I could begin my trek to land, the last vestiges of sunlight were suddenly obscured by a passing cloud, a thick plume that stripped away the needed light to provide a few more precious minutes of warmth.
But there was a sudden change in the environment. It got really dark all of a sudden. And I mean, it was nighttime instantaneously. And then, the pine trees began to glow with harsh blue lighting despite being covered in their blanket of snow. No, instead, their needle-like leaves burst into cyan-blue flames.
I was not expecting this change of scenery, and I thought I was hallucinating from the cold. But I soon learned that what I saw was more real than I’d like to admit.
Generally, the ice is full of air bubbles in this environment, so it’s impossible to see through it. But for some inexplicable reason, I looked down towards my feet and saw that the snow-covered top had blown away, and the ice was as clear as liquid water.
“I don’t understand,” I believed were the only words I could get out.
Down below, I could see the lake floor. Floating up were the bodies of distorted-faced children. They were tied up by their ankles, a rock holding them down. Their hands were free, clawing at the waters, trying to swim back to the surface. How could they still be alive? One boy, the closest to where I was standing, was looking at me. They could all see me as I looked down at them with my petrified expression. I felt my heart aching, and my stomach churned from the disorienting sight.
I’d say there were well over twenty kids of various ages. And they were still alive, trapped in the frigid waters and forced to endure the torturous temperatures.
But then I peered closer and saw someone else amongst them. A man was dressed in a black, formal suit and tie, but his head and beard were as white as the frost around my eyelashes.
But not too much longer, his head whipped up, and we locked eyes. His pupils had a deathly, white glow to them. The rest of his eyes were as dark as night. His skin was cracked all over, with white light escaping through the veiny spread of his brittle flesh.
“Come join the children. Come join the children,” he kept repeating.
I instinctively shook my head, taking a few steps back and ready to run, but I was so stricken with fear that I couldn’t move fast.
“Selfish adults. Never want to join the children. But at least we have each other,” he said again, his voice getting deeper.
I was able to snap out of whatever trance this thing had me under and ran. Despite the biting cold entering my lungs, I kept running, wanting to put as much distance between me and whatever that was. I didn’t care if I exhausted myself and gave myself frostbite. No, death would be preferable to whatever that thing had in store for me.
_______________________
Surprisingly I made it back home, and upon entering my cabin, I didn’t even bother to light the fireplace. I went straight to my room and collapsed in my bed.
When I awoke the following day, I slept for ten hours. It was still early morning, so I tried my best to go about my day. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had seen. That little childhood folktale couldn’t have been true.
Just as I was dumping a block of ice into the water container, three sharp knocks made me flinch hard, and my heart was beating at a thousand miles per hour.
I went to the door but hesitated. I don’t know why; I already knew who it was. My brother always came to visit me during the early hours.
I opened the door, and there he was. It was such a relief.
“Ah, you look like you stayed out in the cold too long,” he bellowed, quickly coming inside and shutting the door behind him.
I was so happy that he came because I needed reassurance that what I saw was a hallucination. After getting past the usual small talk, I brought it up. “Do you know about ‘The Child’s Call?’”
“That creepy lake that no one ever wants to fish in?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I mean, doesn’t everyone know about it. It’s only a lake,” he remarked.
“Is it?” I questioned.
“Why?” he asked before getting what I meant, “did you go fishing there yesterday?”
My breathing grew heavier as I remembered what I saw. “Yes, and I’m a little scared.”
“Baby,” he instantly started to tease.
I slammed my foot down. “I’m serious. It’s not a good place.”
His face was one of concern now. He could tell that I wasn’t being a wimp about the situation.
“Okay, tell me what you saw?” he sat on my dining room chair.
I told him everything. All the things that had frightened me, and how even when I close my eyes, I still see those scared children. Only the safety of sleep was enough to keep me from thinking about such nightmarish visuals.
"That’s so weird. I’m going to go there and find out for myself tonight.
“No, don’t do it!”
“I am,” he smirked at me, “I’m going to prove to you that it’s not real. It’s just a silly story to keep kids from falling through the ice, even though in this temperature, I don’t see that happening to begin with during this time of the month.”
I knew I shouldn’t have brought it up. I wish I had remembered this sooner, but my brother has always been like this. He likes to prove that he’s the man, braver than me, stronger, and always looking for ways to outdo me. I don’t know why? I’m not in a competition with him. It’s well established he’s the older brother, and I wonder if he’s harboring some sort of superiority or, perhaps more accurately, inferiority complex. But I was so desperate to get this off my chest, I didn’t even consider as to who it was I was talking to.
He got up and began gearing up to leave, we still had the whole day ahead of us, and I had to do my best to convince him not to go. But I also wanted to stay in the house.
I would watch from my window as he walked back to his house, which…
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