Chapter 5

After what seemed like passing over to eternity, he kept on hearing people talking.

Peter regained consciousness, with his eyes blinking. The light from the sky was blinding at first but he slowly got used to it.

He heard someone say, " ... it looks like he is returning back to the land of the living..."

As Peter gained full awareness, he realised that he was lying on his back on the ground, with three grown men in their 50s. They were fishermen. Two of them were standing and one of them looked wet and was kneeling next to him.

Peter could make out the waterfall and then remembered where he was and what had happened before losing consciousness. Peter quickly tried getting up, but only managed to sit up rather than stand up.

The guy kneeling next to Peter put a hand on his arm, saying, "Whoa there! Take it easy young fella."

One of the guys stood up said to Peter, "You are a lucky young fella. Hank here has just saved your life." Hank was the guy who was wet and kneeling by Peter.

Peter thanked Hank.

Peter: Thank you ... Hank!!

Hank: Now would you mind telling us what a young fella like you was doing out here?

As Peter got fully awake, he told them everything. He told them that he came here with Miranda and that she disappeared, assuming that the lake serpent got her, since something under the water was trying to pull him down with it.

All three men gave Peter puzzled looks.

The third man spoke in an annoyed but a matter-of-fact tone, "There is no lake monster. We have never seen one in all the years we have gone fishing in the rivers and lakes of Serpent's Lake."

The second man spoke again, "If such a creature existed, you would have been dead instantly and we would have seen blood all over the river."

But Peter tried to protest.

Peter: But it got my girlfriend Miranda!!!

Hank: Girlfriend??? You were the only person we saw son. We didn't see anybody else. We first saw you appear by the waterfall, all alone. We saw you make a dive for it. You looked like you knew how to swim and then all of a sudden you started drowning for no reason.

The second guy: Are you sure you're ok??

Peter was puzzled that they didn't see Miranda but grateful that they saved his life.

Peter spent at least an hour talking to them. Talking to them made him feel better. He was still confused and upset about Miranda's disappearance, but all three fishermen insisted they saw no one with him.

Hank accompanied him all the way back towards the hill, towards his car. He assured Hank that he was fit to drive back home.

Hank drove away from the waterfall, and kept on driving. As he kept on driving, he had one question in his head: how come the fishermen did not see Miranda with him?

All the questions he had had, as to why everyone was ignoring Miranda or disapproved of him sitting down with her or that they told him to get himself a girlfriend was pouring down all over his brain.

He drove until he finally reached the same diner he ate the day before. Lucy, the waitress, was happy to see him. Because of his near death experience, he was not only grateful to be alive but also extremely hungry. He had ordered lots of burgers and chicken wings.

When Lucy brought him is food and watched him eat hungrily, Lucy came up to him.

Lucy: Hey Pete, slow down. Is everything ok?

Lucy gave him a look of concern.

Peter was sipping his cola, before he was about to talk to Lucy.

Peter: Lucy can I ask you something? Did you see a girl with me yesterday?

Lucy ignored Miranda the day before, up to the point of being rude.

Lucy blinked her eyes.

Lucy: Hun, you were here alone yesterday!! I didn't see anyone else with you. Can I ask you something?

Peter: Sure!

Lucy: Do you have a girlfriend?

Peter: Well she disappeared on me today.

Lucy: She disappeared on you? You actually do have one?? I sure was mistaken. That's too bad. I mean maybe she would have been more appreciative of you if I told her what you did yesterday!!

Peter was confused at her statement.

Peter: What did I do yesterday?

Lucy: Well let's see. You were imagining that she was with you and you gave her such a loving kiss. Even looked romantic too, if you asked me I just thought you were thinking about her, how you missed her and how you wished she was with you. Sorry, because yesterday, I thought you were kissing some imaginary girlfriend, implying that you were desperate for one.

Peter was feeling extremely disturbed.

Peter: (mumbling to himself) Did I just imagine her?

Peter started questioning his own sanity, whether he conjured up his own imaginary girlfriend. No one seems to see Miranda except him. Daniel and the rest of the kids in his class thought that he had a girlfriend back home and that when they saw him kissing someone at the back of the class, was him imagining she was with him. To them, he was kissing some invisible person.

He got up from his seat, and walked off the diner, until Lucy reminded him that he forgot to pay. Peter paid her, telling her to keep the change and he got back in his car, driving away from the diner.

He drove all the way back home, feeling disturbed about himself. He was feeling like this the whole day, even throughout dinner time. His mom asked him about Miranda but he was not sure what to tell her. If his parents found out that he had an imaginary girlfriend, they would call a psychiatrist and have locked up in a mental asylum.

He just decided to lie to his parents that they were not going to see each other for a while. His dad seemed to have liked that answer.

That night, he had trouble going to sleep, since he was thinking how in the world did he start seeing someone who wasn't there. He thought maybe it was because he was so lonely that his mind was playing tricks on him.

When he was lying on his bed, with his bedroom in complete darkness, he was thinking of what his plans should be for his fourth day at Serpent's Lake High

Peter: (talking to himself) Maybe I should sit with Daniel and the other kids tomorrow.

Peter thought that if he was hanging out with the other kids, then his mind would slowly drift back to sanity and that he would stop seeing this imaginary conjured up figure named "Miranda." The last thing he wanted was to end up in some mental asylum.