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The boy heard his mama crying in the night and his dad’s deep voice trying to comfort her.  It had been a week since the strange waters had started coming up from the old sulpher mine west of town and people were afraid.  Foul smelling, evil looking, dark water that seemed to swirl through the town’s streets with a mind of its own.  No one knew why.   The mayor had called a big meeting and the boy had gone along with his parent’s and his little sister.

He was 12 and understood a lot, but most of it had been scared people yelling and crying, making demands of the mayor, who had looked as scared as everyone else.  He had come away from the meeting understanding that the town was cut off from everything.  No phone lines, no cell service.  No traffic in or out.  Nothing mechanical was working.  Food was getting low and people were desperate.  No one was going to work since there was no way to get there.  The town was in stasis, just waiting.

He slipped out of bed and tiptoed out to the porch.  He stared out over the yard, now covered in dark, oily, black water, endlessly moving as though something was swimming just under the surface.  It was only a couple of inches deep.  He had his hand covering his nose.  The smell was horrendous:  rotten eggs, dead things, and something else, something almost evil.  It was getting harder and harder to breath when outside, so almost everyone was staying indoors now days.

Rumors were flying.  He had heard his mother talking to one of her friends the last time they dared make a trip to the grocery store.  Something about a flood like this happening a long time ago and the horrible thing they had done to stop it.  His mom had spotted him out of the corner of her eye and had shushed her friend before he found out what the horrible thing had been.

Now he stood in the dark, watching the water move, wondering if his life would ever be the same.