By: Eric Liu

On Sunday morning, I woke up early to make breakfast. The time on the digital clock read 6:30 in boxy red digits. Sifting through my mental cookbook, I searched for a recipe that wouldn’t take too long… Ellie had said that she wanted to wake up early to show me a “surprise”. Earlier in the week, a nice coworker had offered to take up my shift for the weekends, which meant I could spend all the time I wanted to with my little sister. I was going to make the most of it.

Pancakes sound good. I excitedly dashed over to the pantry, collecting all the ingredients required. Soon enough, sizzling filled the air, as well as the warm, sweet scent of pancakes.

The time flew by and before I knew it, the clock read 7:02. The pancakes were done and on the table, as well as a bottle of syrup. Satisfied with my work, I went to wake up Ellie.

“Hey Ellieee…”, I whispered in my little sister’s ear. I was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching her chest rise and fall with slow, easy movements. I shook her shoulder, then said a little louder, “Time to wake up… I made pancakes for you!”

“Ughhhh… go away.” She mumbled, half asleep.

“What about your surprise?” I asked her. Did she forget? Probably, I thought, with a little laugh.

“I SAID I DON’T CA– Oh yeah.” Her outburst caught me by surprise. Were children usually so… angry? But there was no time to think about that, because Ellie had already jumped out of bed and started to make her way to the kitchen. She was still in her nightgown, but that was okay. She could change later when we were getting ready to go outside for her “surprise”.

When I reached the kitchen, Ellie had already sat down at the dining table, still in a bad mood.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” I asked cautiously. I had never seen her like this before. Should I have been worried?

“Nothing… just… hangry, I guess.” She murmured.

“Okay, then eat up!” I replied. I was relieved that it was nothing more than hunger, but that relief quickly disappeared as soon as I saw that nothing changed even after she had eaten.

“Let’s go already.” She kicked her heels against the legs of her chair impatiently, while gripping her fork a little too tight. What’s up with her?

“Okay, okay. But you have to put on something first, got it? You can’t go out in just your nightgown.”

“NO!” She screamed. “I’m done waiting!” She scurried out the door after hurriedly slipping on her shoes. I sighed and followed her. Maybe I should’ve just stayed at work this weekend…

When we finally reached her “surprise”, I was confused to find that it was just a small pond. It had an odd electric thrum to it, as if we were hearing the echo of drums from some ancient hymn. I noticed my little sister beside it, almost so close that if she moved a single inch further, she’d fall into it. Moss and grassy weeds covered the banks of the pond like a natural frame to a mirror.

“Get in with me.” It sounded more like a command than a request. Since when had she gotten so demanding? I looked over at Ellie, who had kicked off her shoes and was already dipping her foot into the water, breaking up the surface into ripples. She looked over at me expectantly, then held out her hand, as if offering to lead me somewhere. At this point, I was getting very concerned for my younger sister. It was like she wasn’t my sister at all.

I noticed a small scar on the back of her hand. Since when had that gotten there? It wasn’t fresh and red, either. It was old and wrinkled, like it had been there for ages, which was… impossible. I took her hand anyway, playing along.

“Where is it?” I asked, pretending to search for it. In reality, I was rubbing my thumb along the strange scar on the back of her hand. The bones beneath felt so pronounced. Was it just me, or did I feel it getting larger? It felt like the surface of the lake was amplifying the throbbing of my heart tenfold. Thump. Thump. Thump.

As we waded further into the pond, the cold seemed to seep into my bones. I looked down at my sister’s hand again. My stomach dropped when I saw that the scar had snaked its way up her arm. No. This shouldn’t be possible.

“Ellie, we’re leaving, okay? We can revisit another time.” My voice was tight with fear. I was waist deep in the frigid water, but Ellie… Ellie was also waist deep. My younger sister only reached my hip. Her head should have been fully submerged by now… my breathing quickened, until it felt like I was almost hyperventilating. The scar had almost completely covered her body working its way along her neck. Her grip was tight on my hand. That was when I realized it wasn’t a scar. Rather, it was like Ellie was shedding her young skin and revealing a haggard, wrinkled, old body beneath… like an insect shedding away its husk.

No. That’s not my sister. It clicked in my mind. We were chest deep in the water now. She finally turned to face me. I screamed when I saw the face that wasn’t Ellie’s. It was of an old sea witch, twisted with age and hatred, burning with malice.

I shrieked out my final words.

“Where’s Ellie?”