Sage Greene and the Mystery of the Lake Anne Monster
- The Reston Letter Staff
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Mystery Fiction by Arthur Semicolon Doyle
Sage Greene and her mom arrive at Lake Anne, planning to rent kayaks for some fun paddling on the water. But the boat attendant says, “Sorry, we closed up to be safe. There’s a monster in the lake.”
Sage complains, “That’s ridiculous!" He shrugs and points to a group of people nearby. “Ask the guy who saw it.” Sage approaches the crowd, which includes a news reporter and cameraman. The center of attention is… Chad Shady, her nemesis! He’s spinning a tale to the enthralled audience.
“It was the size of an SUV! When it emerged, it nearly capsized my kayak.” Chad exclaims.
“What did it look like?” asks the reporter.
“Like a giant squid. Tentacles were swinging everywhere!” he says, waving his arms.
Sage barges through the people to Chad. “Why has no one else ever seen it?”
Chad sneers at Sage. “Because it’s translucent like a jellyfish. I could see the boat dock, the buildings and Robert Simon’s statue through its body. The statue’s face was looking right at me through the monster’s BRAIN!”
Several people gasp. Sage rolls her eyes. “That’s a load of–”
“Did it look like this?” interrupts the reporter, shoving a phone at them. It displays pictures of Cranchiidae, also known as a Glass Squid, a transparent cephalopod. Chad nods smugly.
The reporter turns to the camera and says, “You heard it here first, live! This brave young man spotted a rare translucent creature in Lake Anne, Reston!”
Sage steps in front of the reporter and exclaims to the camera, “The only see-through thing here is his made-up story! And I can prove it!”
What was her proof that Chad was lying?
The Bronze Bob statue faces the Plaza, not the lake. If Chad had been in a kayak on the lake, and the creature was also in the lake, then Chad would have seen the back of Bronze Bob's head, not Bronze Bob's face.