The sound of laughter bounced off the smooth surface of the water. Abby could see the floating dock in the distance by the light of the full moon. Rowdy teenagers or maybe college kids were jumping into the water. What would it have been like to grow up in a place like this, coming to the beach every day in the summer?

The water looked black and menacing beneath the night sky. Abby reached down and dipped her fingers into it. It felt warm to her hands, but cold to her feet. Its black lustre was simply an illusion, she could see her hand through the water which was clear.

"Are you coming in?"

Abby jumped up. "Who's there?" she said, looking around.

A young guy, probably from the group out on the dock, approached from the water. He shook his wet hair, the drops reaching the bare skin on Abby's arms. "The Ogopogo," he said.

"The what?"

He came closer. "The monster that lives in this lake."

"A monster lives in this lake?" Abby backed away.

He laughed and she turned to leave. Was he laughing at her for not knowing about the lake monster story? She wasn't going to talk with a stranger, no matter how attractive he was. He could drown her in the lake and no one would hear her screams. Abby sighed. So this was a lake and she hadn't reached the Ocean after all.

"Wait." The boy rushed out of the water and caught up to her. "I'm not making fun of you or anything, I promise."

Abby stopped and turned to face him. She liked the sound of his voice and was curious to get a closer look at him, despite her reservations.

"There really is a legend of a lake monster," he continued. Now that he was closer she could see his blue eyes, which glistened in the light of the street lamp. He stood only slightly taller than her and had a slim build with firm muscles. "Or a dinosaur of some sort maybe, or a large snake, no one's sure exactly what it is. It's called the Ogopogo." He smiled. "All the gift shops have Ogopogo t-shirts and stuffed animals. How long have you been here?"

"I haven't been in a gift shop yet," Abby said, her body tensing under his gaze.

"What are you doing in Penticton?" he asked, running a hand through his thick wavy hair to move it out of his eyes.

"I was...headed for the ocean." 

"Oh." His smile brightened. "My name's Jade."

Abby nodded but didn't offer her name, unable to shut out her mother's warning voice playing in her head. Stranger danger.

"You're not far from the ocean,'" he said. "Another five or six hours west and you'd be there."

"Well, then we almost made it." Abby looked out over the waters again. To her right the lights of the beachside establishments along the shore reflected in the water as far as the eye could see. To her left the lake seemed to end at an old fashion cruise ship, covered in thousands of tiny lights. "The ocean couldn't be more beautiful than this anyway," she said.

"It isn't," Jade said. "At least not to me. This is my favourite place in the world." 

Abby smiled. The ship's festive lighting made it seem like there was a party going on inside at that very moment. She wanted to be in there, dressed in a fancy 19th century gown and eating delicacies. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"That's the S.S. Sicamous," Jade said.

Abby headed to the water again. This time she didn't stop at the water's edge, but waded in. It felt warm to her feet, which had gotten wet previously, and cold to the rest of her. She heard splashes behind her as Jade followed in after her. When the hem of her summer dress touched the top of the water Abby stopped.

That's far enough, her mother's voice filled her thoughts. A memory long forgotten, now resurfaced. They'd taken a trip to a cabin at a lake, long ago when she was in grade one. You'll get your dress wet. Stop acting childish, grow up.

Closing her eyes Abby let herself fall forward into the lake. A small gasp escaped her at the sudden shock of cold. Jade was already in the water beside her.

"I like to pretend I fell overboard," he nodded towards the S.S. Sicamous.

"Or, more likely, were forced to walk the plank," Abby teased. Her tummy did a little flip when she realized how close Jade was to her in the water. She never joked around with guys, but with him it seemed easy. Maybe because he was younger than the men she'd been dating in the last five years. Before then, she hadn't dated at all, not in high school or even college. She'd been too focused on her studies, and for what? Her two degrees basically made her over qualified and undesired by employers, unless she moved to a big city like Toronto and got a high stress job.

"Yes," Jade said, coming in even closer.

"Yes what?" Abby blinked.

"I was forced to walk the plank," he continued with a mischievous look in his eyes. "Thrown overboard by pirates, by my own crew actually. I was their captain."

Abby evaded him and swam ahead, her tummy flips increasing by the second.

"Does the Sicamous ever get taken out onto the water?" she asked as she swam. Now that her body was used to the lake temperature it didn't feel cold anymore but somewhat pleasant.

"No, it's a museum now, permanently docked."

"Oh that's so cool!" Abby said. "I want to go. Is it open right now?"

"It's past midnight. This isn't exactly Vegas." Jade winked at her and she swam faster, trying to put a little distance between them.

"All the lights are on, so, I just thought maybe it was open," she said over her shoulder.

No matter how far they went, they never seemed to be getting any closer to the ship. Abby stopped to check if her feet could still touch the bottom. Her toes sunk into the soft sand and she breathed a sigh of relief. Jade moved in close beside her.

"I was thinking of going to check it out tomorrow," he said.

Abby swam ahead of him. Suddenly her feet touched something slimy and she screamed, kicking at it to get it off. She'd gotten tangled in weeds. The thought of the long underwater grass extending up from deep within the dark waters made her shiver. The more she kicked the more the weeds tangled her legs. All she could muster was a strangled cry.  

"You okay?" Jade reached down into the water and pulled the weeds off her legs. The lake floor was suddenly much deeper here and Abby couldn't reach. Jade grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to the shallower water where there was sand and no weeds. His fingers had a good grasp on her hips. The heat from his hands seeped through her thin dress and spread through her body, igniting an excitement in her that she'd never felt before.

Abby reached her toes down and they touched the sand. She was safe. With a shove she pushed Jade away from her. "Don't touch me!"

Jade lifted his hands out of the water as though in surrender. "Sorry."

"I..." She looked all around for a quick escape but was surrounded by a sea of black water. Jade had a worried expression on his face as he watched her. She turned away. It wasn't the scary weeds that made her heart pound at the moment, but the recollection of Jade's hands on her waist as he'd pulled her out.

"There's probably more weeds that way," Jade said, pointing toward the S.S. Sicamous. He'd lost his flirtatious manner and now seemed subdued, probably because she'd yelled at him when he was only trying to help.

"I have to go," Abby said, heading for the shore. Her mind was suddenly overrun by illogical fears of sea creatures and dark whirl pools. Jade called after her but she kept swimming even faster. This time he wasn't able to catch up.

The adrenaline drove her forward. She had to get back to the hotel, away from the black lake and the dinosaur sized monster that lived in it, and away from the boy who made her heat up with just one simple touch.