She guides me, enticing me with her roaring glow. Full and content, no stains of darkness, only a gleaming circle bathed in light. Releasing the oars from my blistering grasp, I reach for the projected rays gently caressing the calm waters.

I am seen.

My skin illuminates, revealing the subtle, stretched lines that scar my fingers, revealing the gritty soil that lingers underneath my nails, revealing the now silver shine that mists my skin.

Revealing me.

My head is locked in a trance, my body like a magnet repelling the creaking trees that reach with their restricting branches for my arms, longing to stop me, to hold me back from this supernatural allure that haunts my conscience. I don't listen. Stumbling to the side of the boat, I desperately stretch every muscle in my arm, burns sear through my veins as I begin to lose balance. My bones move as if they have sold their structure, throwing me forward submerging my hands in the glistening ripples. Immediately, my hands are chained, engulfed in her demand, unable to release themselves from the tugging waters.

Only moments after ,they begin to pull.

I'm struggling, hopelessly tugging on my arms, begging to break free before they begin to sink further and further, faster and faster…

“Hey.” I take a sharp inhale and frantically try to calm my heart rate. “You almost fell in there,” he says with a warming chuckle. I uncomfortably reciprocate the gesture, “Sorry. First time” I take the next pause to observe the darkness around me. The enchanting glow has shrunk to a thin line, dribbling down the lake, produced by the now sliver of silver where she once was, no longer holding the authority to guide me.