I love when my family takes me to the cottage. I immediately head for the shoreline and jump right into the lake. I love to swim in lake water, it's clean and there aren't any sharks to be aware of. But, I found out the hard way one summer, that sharks aren't the only predators, and there are monsters in the lakes. Follow me now and we'll take a little trip together through time and visit myself on that fateful summer day when I learned about the legend of the lake waters.
  It was a summer, no different from any other at first. We parked the car at the cottage and I bounded for the lake lickety split. Splash, splash, splash, I went, as I leapfrogged into the lake water. As innocent as a newborn puppy, I started swimming without a care. The rest of the family were particularly jubilant that day and joined me in the water just seconds later. That's where everything started going downhill faster than the floods from a breaking dam. With all that splashing and thrashing around in the water, I guess it was only inevitable. Why did it happen to me? Was I just an easy target? I personally can't answer that question, but I do know I barely survived.
  Picture yourself dog paddling around in a lake with no care in the world and all of a sudden one of your family members goes under, and stays under longer than normal. I started to get very worried and swam over to the spot I saw him last. Then all of a sudden I felt the most horrifying sensation anyone can ever experience in any water. Something started pulling at my leg, a nibble at first it seemed and then released. I panicked, I was confused, and I headed for the beach as fast as I could. But, whatever it was, grabbed my leg again, this time a better grip, this time I went under too. Was this how I was going to die? Being eaten by some lake water creature that had never been seen before? I struggled for my life, kicking and screaming underwater. Finally I broke the surface, I was free again, if only for a breath of air. This time the creature was slower to react, maybe because my kicking hurt it, maybe because it was going after the rest of my family. Even when I was frantically flailing for the shoreline, I still had to look back to see if anyone else was being attacked. I couldn't believe my eyes, my whole family was swimming around and playing in the water like nothing happened. Couldn't they see any blood in the water? Didn't they see all the carnage? Why weren't they rushing to safety? I couldn't stop to find out, for some reason it was after me and me only.
  I turned around to face the shoreline again and it was almost in reach. I could almost feel the sand under me, maybe I was going to make it, maybe I was going to be okay. Then in the blink of an eye, I was tasting lake water again. This time it had both of my legs and I couldn't kick at all, I was going under for the third time. Yes, it really does happen that way. I was so close, I wanted to live so bad and I wouldn't let it end this way. I'd fight it with my very last breath, I'll bite it and I'll scratch it, whatever it takes. So, I turned around to face it as best as I could and just then it abruptly released me. I don't know why, and I never did see it, but I didn't care, I was free. I broke the water hard this time, like a missile leaving a submerged submarine. One more breath and one more lunge is all I would need to reach safety. I had to try, I had to warn the world about this creature of the lake waters.
  I did it, I reached the beach, in one piece. So what gives? I was sure a limb would be missing. Where's all the blood? Looking to the water, I searched for my family. They could all be dead, or they could be screaming in terror. No, they were laughing, laughing at me. After all that, they were actually laughing at me. Confused once again, I twisted my head to one side and then noticed one of them saying something. Of course I couldn't understand a word, but I understood what happened. For some reason my family thought it would be funny if one of them grabbed my legs from under the water. The creature in the lake water was the monster I love the most and this indescribable horror was brought on by, by, a sense of humor. A sense of humor I'm glad I don't have.
  People don't realize how wrong a practical joke can be. Most people don't put themselves in our shoes. For me, it was a life changing traumatic experience, because I only know how to dog paddle. No, a simple animal like me, will never make the Olympics. I won't ever be able to return to the water again because of it. I'm a scaredy cat by nature and I will never be able to forget what my family did. I will hold a grudge forever. No more protection, no more alarming them to fires, and definitely no more of that man's best friend crap. This was serious, and it was an unforgivable thing to do to a loving dog like me. It's over, I'm outta' here.
  Hey, someone threw a stick in the water! Splash, splash, splash!