Lady of the Swamp

Diego pulled up to the old building in his Jeep, shutting the engine off and sighing, rubbing his eyes briefly;. Another day in paradise with five boat tours, plus cleaning up for the inspection later that week; he locked his vehicle and wandered to the entrance of the building. Taking his time, he surveyed the crowd of people waiting for him; sighing before pasting a customer service smile on his face and quickening his stride. “Good morning, folks! We'll get started in just a few minutes.”, he called out as he jogged into the building. Diego pulled the keys to the boat off the hook and went out the back door to the dock. A trail of people were following him as soon as he opened the back gate, and he suppressed an eyeroll when he saw some of his regulars.

Yes, Diego had regulars. The same few people would come back week after week to go on one of the tours and hear his stories. He would have thought that once would be enough, but clearly he was wrong. He motioned for the crowd to come forward, staring out into the murky waters as they got settled on the covered boat. A movement towards his left caught his eye; turning his head to look, he didn’t see anything beyond a few ripples in the water. One of his regulars, Clark, tapped him on the shoulder, clearly impatient to get going. Suppressing an eyeroll, Diego turned and clapped his hands once. “Alright, let's get going! I'm Diego Ramirez and I'll be your tour guide today. I see some familiar faces here, so y'all will have to bear with me as I go over a few things.”, he said, raising his voice to be heard over the murmurs in the group.

He went over the rules of the tour: keep all limbs inside the boat at all times and no standing up while the boat is in motion. “I don't want to have to fish anyone out of the swamp today.”, he finished, a few people giggling at the thought of it. Finally, he sat down and turned the boat on; it roared to life almost instantly. Again, something caught his eye, this time in front of him, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary as he scrutinized the water. Shrugging and looking back towards the crowd, he pulled the boat away from the dock, starting up his spiel about the wildlife in the swamp. He came to a stop about fifteen minutes later, turning and watching the group of small children as they watched the alligators swimming in the water. Diego smiled lightly as he watched them squeal in delight as their parents took photos, trying to get both their children and the animals in the same shot. This was the part of the job that he loved, watching the kids be absolutely enthralled by wild animals.

Finally, he was able to move on deeper into the swamp, where he started up on the different myths. This was the highlight of the trip for a lot of people, as he always had different stories to tell. This time, he told the story of Two Toed Tom, the giant alligator who had gotten his foot stuck in a trap, cutting off three toes as he escaped. Then, he told the same story he always told of the lady of the swamp. Day after day, he told the story of how she was murdered, her body dumped in the swamp to be forgotten. “Now, this next one some of you may have heard already, so keep the heckling to a minimum.”, Diego said, turning the boat off and swiveling around in his seat to face the group. The boat drifted in the murky waters as the slow, gentle current moved them. He started the story, and some of the regulars groaned, but he waved a hand at them. His eyes were on the kids that were watching him, attention completely caught by how he weaved the tale.

“Her boyfriend reported her missing the day after she was murdered; of course, they didn't know that yet. Authorities finally found a shoe and some DNA evidence that suggested she had been dumped out here and left for the animals to eat. They dragged the swamp for days, but never found a body. No one was ever charged for it either; no body, no crime, right?”, he chuckled, looking out over the water. “People swear that they can see her spirit out in the swamp right about this time of day, and sometimes at night too. That when the light catches just right, they see the spirit of a beautiful woman, drifting over the murky waters.” He paused for a moment before shrugging and clapping his hands, startling several of the people aboard the boat. “So I've heard anyway, I've never seen her myself, so who's to say?”

Diego watched as several people shuddered at the story, even some of the ones who had heard it before. He continued on, waxing more poetic nonsense he didn't believe about the swamp as he continued to drive the boat through it. He was good at his job; by the time the tour was almost over, he had all of his guests listening to him with rapt attention. Stopping for some final photos of the wildlife, he looked out over the water, watching as the sun slowly rose higher in the sky. Wiping his brow, he sighed at the thought of being out on the water in the heat and humidity the rest of the day. Then, he heard a splash close to the side of the boat. He ignored it, assuming it was some fish or a log. Then, something hit the boat just enough that it started to rock in the gentle water. Diego turned in his seat, looking over the edge of the boat. He reached back and grabbed an oar from behind his chair, lowering it into the water, searching for what could have hit them. As he leaned down, peering into the water, he thought he caught a glimpse of something. At first, his brain dismissed it as an alligator. Then, he caught another glimpse; it had an almost human shape to it. Diego's eyes widened, yanking the oar back into the boat and standing up.