The duck pond keeps its secrets at the shallow end

“The secrets are at the shallow end. Everything else is just a fairy tale. No matter what the story might be, all the real secrets are at the shallow end.” Barry listens patiently to his uncle and then gets up to leave. Any small hopes he had, are fading quickly as his uncle’s eyes phase back out of focus.

Not for the first time Barry wonders what his uncle sees when he reminisces about that night. It must be something intense. It only takes the mention of the duck pond to scatter the old man’s concentration. However, Barry thought maybe after all these years, it might be easier for his uncle to remember. Barry remembers that night very well. He spent it in terror. Therefore, it remained fresh in his memory.

He turns the corner, and walks down the hallway leading to the exit. They will just have to go for it. Maybe there actually is a shallow end. It’s tough to say. The old park was there for almost a hundred years before now. Furthermore, the duck pond was the center of the park. Everything outside the duck pond was an added feature. From the past.

The Duck Pond Before

In the old days: The park was three blocks over and one block down. Barry could walk there in ten minutes. In fact, he often did. And today was no exception. The park is close to his Grandmother’s house. Therefore, he spent the afternoon there. It was late summer and Barry wanted all the time he could get on the last few days of his summer break.

With this in mind, it was important for him to get back, before his uncle. If his uncle were to find out Barry was at the park, Barry would get teased mercilessly. He didn’t know what the big deal was. Every kid played at the park. There were swings and a slide as well as a merry go round. In fact, Barry knew that his uncle once spent a lot of time in the park. Therefore it was nothing unusual.

Later that same evening Barry is helping his Grandmother clear the table, when the front door opens, and Barry’s uncle comes rushing into the house. He doesn’t stop or even act like he sees Barry. He just rushes off to his room. Next thing Barry knows his uncle is yelling, and rushing around frantically. Barry is in the other room, but he can hear his uncle repeating the same thing again and again. “They’re there now, they’re here now.”

The Secrets Are at the Shallow End

Barry stands looking at the old pond. The memory of that night with his uncle fades, and he looks around at his team. They will only have one chance at this. The city begins the demolition tomorrow. If they don’t do it now, whatever is down there, would be found by the city engineers. If anything is there, he reminds himself. Of course Barry believes something is there. He believes that something has been down there for over twenty years.

Furthermore, he wanted to be the one to find it. Especially considering no one who was there that night, can remember anything. He looks again at the picture his uncle took all those years ago. It’s incredible that no one can remember this. In fact, after frantically searching all around all those years ago, his uncle found the Polaroid camera. Then his uncle went back to the duck pond.

Later that same night, Barry was still awake when his uncle returned. Everyone was glad to see him. And of course everyone had questions. However, his uncle had no answers. In fact, his uncle didn’t even remember returning to the house for the polaroid camera. A convincing story, except for the picture. The one showing an alien spacecraft and his uncle, floating in the duck pond.

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