Not far from our city, at the 4th kilometer of the highway, there's a lake with a small stream. It's a popular spot for swimming in the summer for those who don't like the city beach by the river. It's a popular spot for parents with children because the lake deepens gradually, without cliffs, making it unlikely to drown while swimming. Plus, the lake bottom is pleasant—sandy, not muddy.
In the mid-1980s, at the end of summer, on a clear, sunny day, a group of young people went for a picnic by the lake. They brought a barbecue, meat, beer, badminton rackets and a ball, and a battery-powered tape recorder—basically, they were planning a cultural getaway. They arrived in their Moskvich and were delighted there were no kids to disturb them. They settled in, splashed around, started grilling kebabs, turned on some music—everything went according to plan.
At one point, one of the girls noticed a group of four people emerging from the forest on the opposite side of the lake and heading toward the shore. It's worth noting that our lake is narrow but long, and the most popular swimming spot is located at one of its ends, close to a dirt road. Therefore, from this vantage point, the opposite shore was quite far away, and the vacationers couldn't make out the details of the people's appearance. Two of them were short, like children, and the other two were taller.
At first, the arrival of the newcomers didn't bother anyone—no one has a monopoly on recreation at the lake, especially since the new group seemed to have decided to set up camp far away from them so as not to disturb them. The only thing that was a little perplexing was why these four people had emerged from the forest from a direction where there was no road at all.
About ten minutes passed, and the young people noticed another oddity in the newcomers' behavior. First, they settled down near the shore in the most inconvenient spot for swimming. There was no sand, only grass and bushes, and the bottom was mixed with soil, so instead of swimming, it was like being smeared with mud. Second, they did nothing but sit motionless next to each other, looking at the young people relaxing. The girls slowly began to feel goosebumps on their skin, while the boys weren't particularly worried—they were outnumbered and, if trouble arose, they could overwhelm their opponents with sheer numbers.
Then all four rose simultaneously and entered the water. They didn't undress or anything—they simply entered and began either walking along the bottom or swimming until they all disappeared beneath the surface. The astonished boys and girls watched them, waiting for them to surface, but the strangers never did. Incidentally, their entry didn't cause any ripples in the lake—the surface remained smooth.
Everyone on the other side was absolutely terrified. The group quickly packed up and headed back to the city.
As it turned out, only four people had drowned in the lake in all that time. Two of them were children.
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