Nature's Hidden Trap

There was no reason be on their guard; they were just curiously inspecting the lakebottom which had been recently exposed by drought. Before they knew it, they would be waging a desperate battle against a natural peril they never expected they would encounter: quicksand!

They did not mind getting a little muddy -- after all, they had been here hundreds of times, and never seen the lake water so shallow! But quickly the situation turned dangerous. One girl ventured out too far, and the mud at once became deep and grippy. The more she sank into the muck, the more churned up and sticky it became. She turned back and reached for help, but the way the entire lakebed was liquefying, any rescuer would risk becoming trapped as well!

Mustering their courage, the other girls stepped out deeper into the rippling, water-like ground. The deepest girl was swallowed by brown slime all the way to her neck, as she desperately stretched out for her friends, hoping they would not become a helpless victim like her. The beautiful nature they came here to enjoy now threatened them, overpowering them, as it sucked them into its muddy, hidden trap.