Leaves

Prompt: Describe a lake as seen by a young man who has just murdered someone.

Source: fictionwriting.about.com

Response:

It's cold. It's been cold for weeks now and the leaves are turning and falling, clouding up the water's surface. It'll be weeks more before the leaves are blown all away and the lake freezes over, but I picture it that way anyway.

The water looks pretty. It looks pretty harmless. I imagine what it would feel like to drown in it though, to swallow that water and take it into your nose, into your lungs and feel yourself shutting down.

I look at the swirled reflection of myself. I'm pretty too. I look pretty harmless. I imagine how he felt while he was drowning in me and I smile even though I feel sick. A leaf falls onto the lake and I disappear.