Lake

Prompt: Seven photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Ones I used: this photo (boat by a lake); the second photo on this page (stairs); this image (three people by a street with a street sign in German); and this image (four people sitting by a lake). The copies we got were black-and-white (not grayscale) and did not have any names/text/photographer info.

I stood by the edge of the water looking across the lake. There was a boat in front of me. On either side of me were tall rocks with trees on them, and across the lake were more trees, which made reflections in the water. I hopped into the rowboat, which rocked back and forth a couple of times; then I started rowing.

I was near the center of the lake when I noticed that there were quite a few fish just below the surface and quite a few bugs just above. Quite a few fish jumped out of the water to catch the bugs.

"Oh, fish", I said to one of the nearby fish. "Why do you eat those bugs? What have they done to you?"

"They're tasty", said the fish. "Why do your kind eat us?"

"Oh no, have there been people fishing around here?"

"Oh, yes", said the fish, and I was suddenly transported to a street in Germany. There was a tall rectangular prism with three people standing on it. I didn't speak much German, but I caught a few words of what they were saying.

"Blah blah blah blah blah blah der Fisch?"

"Ja, der Fisch blah blah blah blah."

"Ich blah blah blah den Fisch essen?"

"Ja blah blah blah blah Fisch gegessen!"

I was then transported back to the lake.

"So you see?" said the fish. I didn't.

So I was transported to a different place. I didn't recognized it, but there were a number of walls that looked sort of like they were made of solid stone. Some of the walls had doors in them and there were lots of stairs nearby. There was a person climbing these stairs who said something I couldn't understand, but I caught the phrase "comí el pez". I opened the nearest door and walked through and found myself back at the lake.

"There", said the fish.

"What?" I said.

I was transported to a different lake, where several people were having a picnic. I couldn't hear what they were saying very well, but I caught the phrase "fish and chips". I was immediately transported back.

"I'm hungry", I said.

"Run for my life!" said the fish, and he swam rather quickly away.

"What?" I said. "I just want chips!"