The raft was comin’ on down the river mighty nice. It was dusk, a little foggy, and way too quiet for comfort. “Them things always come when it’s so quiet this way.” I said. I rapped a poplar rod on the side of the raft, rapid like, hoping to scare ’em off. The cracking noise died out across the water.

“That ain’t no way to keep ‘em away. That jus’ ’tracts ’em!” Jim barked at me.

“What do you know?” I asked. “Them things killed my pap, I know ’em well enough.” Though I knew that Jim had been right enough about other sorts of lore.

“You see that?” Jim asked after a quiet time.

“Yeah.” I said, softly. I saw a big, dark, massive thing was swooshing in the water a hundred yards away.

“That’s wunna them. We got no chance Huck.” Jim was shaking furious.

That’s when the thing come up outa the water, like a flash. It was black and green and had huge flippers like oars. It’s mouth look like it catched alot more than just fish.

“HUUCK! We gonna die!”

All I felt was the cold river water.