The retreat was nestled in off the highway and surrounded by luxurious gardens all meticulously manicured.

This was to be a silent retreat, a time for me to meditate and try to come to some understanding of myself. Not to discover myself, but more to understand who I was.

The running the retreat had appeared in a long white flowing robe and introduced us to the purpose of being here.

Our destiny was in our hands, we could come away enlightened by the experience or we could go back into the mediocrity from which we had come.

I was ready to embrace the time; I had convinced myself that the weekend would be a good thing for me.

It was remarkably peaceful, the gardens set my mind at ease, and my fellow participants all seemed focused and committed.

By late afternoon I had found a spot away from the guesthouse and by a small pond and here I wanted to practice my meditation.

I was well into it when I heard a sound. The water in the pond was being agitated. It bubbled up as if a force was pushing the water upwards.

Then a head appeared. Then a body.

Then a look of shock as I was spied sitting watching.

The head belonged to a small man who shook water from his head and gasped.

“So frightfully sorry to interrupt you,” he said, “wasn’t expecting anyone to be here. Lovely day though isn’t it? Never mind me just go back to what you were doing.”

The calm of my meditation had left me. I was speechless even more so when he dived back into the water showing me a bare pink bottom as he disappeared.

I relayed my experience to the retreat leader who appeared concerned. “A little man toy say, appeared?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“That’s ok, you’d have been in trouble if his siren daughters had appeared. I’ve lost a few men to the pond over the years. Difficult to explain to the families, the police and what have you. I’ve asked them not to come to the surface when I have a retreat on. Sometimes the memos just don’t go through.”

With that, he walked off and left me wondering what I had just experienced. “I’ve imagined the whole thing,” I thought to myself. “They said meditation could take you to new and wonderful places.”

The next morning I went back to the pond. I couldn’t believe my eyes…..

Written for: https://new2writing.wordpress.com/2021/12/30/writephoto-the-retreat/