crossing the lake

The soft golden light of morning trickled through the towering trees, dappling the ground with warmth. Birds chirped cautiously from above, and for a brief moment, everything seemed... calm.

Then, suddenly, a static buzz echoed from Jack's backpack.

"Hey, you six, listen!" a voice crackled through a hidden walkie-talkie.

The group froze. Brock flinched. Serena jumped. Rick let out a small yelp like a startled puppy.

But then Jack reached into his bag, pulled out the device—and smiled with relief.

"It's the scientist guy," Jack said. "Dr. Harrison."

"Oh thank god, for a moment I thought it was the snake with Wi-Fi," muttered Sunny.

Through the speaker, Dr. Harrison continued, "We've been watching everything through the cameras. You all survived that... creature. Incredible work. Tell us what happened."

Jack briefly explained everything—the chaotic escape, the massive snake, the glowing horns Rick had seen, and how they were now completely lost.

Dr. Harrison sounded tense. "Stay alive. That's your priority now. Keep moving. We've lost signal from most participants. You six might be among the last we can track..."

The walkie-talkie cut out with a soft click.

The group was silent for a moment.

"…That's comforting," Rick muttered.

They pressed on, tired and hungry, until they stumbled upon a vast lake shimmering under the sun. The water stretched far into the distance, too wide to swim across and with no bridge in sight.

"We're stuck," Lucky said bluntly. "Turn around?"

Sunny stepped forward, smirking with mischief in his eyes. "Why are you guys panicking when Sunny the Genius is here?"

He gathered fallen logs, vines, and large leaves. "This, my friends, is called a luxury cruise raft."

"Looks like a bundle of trash," Lucky muttered.

"Yeah, I give it five seconds before we drown," said Rick.

Still, it was their only option. Hesitantly, the group boarded the shaky raft. It creaked and swayed as they pushed off from the muddy shore. Water lapped at their feet.

Rick clasped his hands and began whispering, "Oh god, please no water creatures. Please no. No snakes. No tentacles. No—"

"GUYS! LOOK BEHIND!" Sunny suddenly shouted.

Everyone turned, screaming, clutching each other—

Only to find… nothing.

Sunny burst into laughter. "Haha! Gotcha! You all should've seen Rick's face! He looked like he saw his own report card!"

"I swear I will throw you into the lake," Lucky growled.

But just as they settled down again, Sunny's eyes widened.

"Wait… no joke this time… behind us…"

"No, we're not falling for that again!" Rick said. "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, you get thrown in."

But Sunny wasn't laughing.

Suddenly, the water lurched.

From beneath the calm surface, a massive shadow surged upward—and a colossal aquatic beast burst from the water!

Its body was serpentine, with slimy blue-green scales, gills flaring like sails, and glowing coral-like spikes along its spine. Its roar shattered the calm, and with one swipe of its finned tail, it smashed the raft to pieces.

Wood flew. People screamed. Water swallowed them whole.

Everyone panicked, flailing, trying to swim to the far shore.

Serena clung to a log, gasping for breath. Rick screamed, "WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!"

Brock helped push Serena forward. Jack grabbed Lucky's hand, and together they paddled desperately toward the far side. Sunny, with a chunk of raft under one arm, muttered, "Okay okay okay this wasn't part of the plan!"

The beast lunged again—when suddenly, from the jungle, a familiar hiss echoed.

The giant snake from earlier slithered from the shadows, coiling around a nearby tree, its eyes locked onto the water beast.

The two monsters let out ear-splitting roars and charged at each other.

A tidal wave of claws, fangs, and fury erupted behind the group.

Using the chaos, the six barely scrambled onto the far shore—wet, coughing, exhausted, but alive.

Behind them, the lake churned with destruction. Trees snapped. Water splashed sky-high. The two beasts fought like gods of the jungle—one of earth, one of water.

"Are… are we alive?" Rick asked, lying flat on the dirt.

"For now," Jack replied, catching his breath.

"No thanks to Sunny's luxury cruise," Lucky muttered.

"Excuse you," Sunny coughed. "It floated for five minutes. That's called success in my book."

"From where did you bought this kind of bad book" lucky replied.

Everyone laughed and continued to go further info the jungle