A man dreams he is sinking in the midst of a dying lake. Severe drought was causing the lake to recede at an unprecedented rate, but he had somehow found himself in the deepest part. The dreamer kept sinking despite furiously kicking his legs and flailing his arms as if dog paddling. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small red flannel pouch. The talisman promised to grant him three wishes in a dire emergency. It would give him the power to trade places with anyone he could touch. He had never used any of its wishes before, but he had never been about to die. As he sank, he told himself he’d guiltlessly sacrifice a swimmer if he had to. If only he could find one.
When the dreamer squeezed his pouch, what he saw seemed like a hallucination.
Gregg Robb stood by his father, Sean Robb, as the older man lay in a hospital bed. Gregg was sad, but stood to inherit millions when Sean died. He was also worried that the receding lake would reveal the body of the man he and his uncle, Mitch Robb, had killed. The man was a detective who had come to Sean’s house investigating the Brink’s truck heist Sean and Mitch had pulled off. Gregg and his uncle had stuffed the detective into a suitcase and dumped him in Lake Chagrin ten years before.
As he sank further, the dreamer squeezed the talisman again and saw another image.
Victoria Bright cried as she recalled her black husband Timothy’s final moments ten years ago. She held his hand as he sat against the tree two white men had lynched him from. She had shot the two men, but they lay behind her clinging to life. Victoria told herself the two men deserved to die while sinking to the bottom of Lake Chagrin. Those men had a long history of harassing Victoria and Timothy. If the drought-stricken lake disclosed the whereabouts of their bodies, she would be the prime suspect.
As the dreamer sank he squeezed his talisman again. A new scene appeared.
Teresa Payne stroked her mother’s head while the woman lay dying after being hit by Michael Payne, Teresa’s husband. Teresa wasn’t sure if Michael assaulting her mother, Andrea, during an argument triggered a PTSD flashback. But once Michael struck Andrea, Teresa grabbed a knife and plunged it into his torso until he could barely breathe. His history as an abuser ended that night. Teresa made sure the only thing he would touch was the bottom of Lake Chagrin. The receding lake now worried her. If the suitcase his body was in was discovered, she would be questioned before anyone else. Even though his death was ten years old, spouses were always the first suspects.
The dreamer could almost see the lake bottom and squeezed his pouch. Another image formed before him.
Nolan Devlin paced nervously behind his inebriated wife, Missy Devlin, who sat in an Adirondack chair. Missy had been married to Nolan’s twin brother, Dickie, but realized she chose the wrong man. She and Nolan killed Dickie so Nolan could replace him. Nolan then began his spot-on impersonation of his twin and gave Missy the loving husband she had never found in Dickie. Now Nolan needed to quell Missy’s anxiety as never before. When recent news reported a body had been found in the receding lake, she became obsessed about the possibility that Dickie’s body might be found. Nolan had been the consummate actor as Dickie for ten years, but now had to provide a sequel to his dastardly first act.
Teresa Payne stroked her mother’s head while the woman lay dying after being hit by Michael Payne, Teresa’s husband. Teresa wasn’t sure if Michael assaulting her mother, Andrea, during an argument triggered a PTSD flashback. But once Michael struck Andrea, Teresa grabbed a knife and plunged it into his torso until he could barely breathe. His history as an abuser ended that night. Teresa made sure the only thing he would touch was the bottom of Lake Chagrin. The receding lake now worried her. If the suitcase his body was in was discovered, she would be questioned before anyone else. Even though his death was ten years old, spouses were always the first suspects.
The dreamer could almost see the lake bottom and squeezed his pouch. Another image formed before him.
Nolan Devlin paced nervously behind his inebriated wife, Missy Devlin, who sat in an Adirondack chair. Missy had been married to Nolan’s twin brother, Dickie, but realized she chose the wrong man. She and Nolan killed Dickie so Nolan could replace him. Nolan then began his spot-on impersonation of his twin and gave Missy the loving husband she had never found in Dickie. Now Nolan needed to quell Missy’s anxiety as never before. When recent news reported a body had been found in the receding lake, she became obsessed about the possibility that Dickie’s body might be found. Nolan had been the consummate actor as Dickie for ten years, but now had to provide a sequel to his dastardly first act.
The dreamer can only escape from his dilemma through one of these four scenarios. Which should he choose?
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A: The dreamer used his first wish when he came upon a partially opened suitcase with a man’s head and arm protruding through its opening. When an alligator swam toward him, he grasped the partially encased man’s hand and put the talisman between their palms. His essence was transferred to the body in the luggage while his original body became a reptile’s dinner. The body in the suitcase regenerated and he freed himself.
He walked on the lake bottom toward the shoreline and saw another suitcase. This one resembled the first, but was unopened. He sensed the presence of another human body inside and began unzipping it. When he heard the rumble of another alligator behind him, he reached in the suitcase and put the talisman in the hand of the inhabitant inside. Once again his spirit was transferred to a new body while the old one was devoured. He closed the zipper while the alligator ate, but the talisman fell out of his hand and floated away amidst the debris of an alligator feasting and fish feeding. The zipper would not open when the feeding had concluded. The dreamer’s second wish and his talisman were gone. He was a in the body of murdered detective, trapped in luggage at the bottom of Lake Chagrin.
B: Later that day, Victoria Bright, the scuba instructor and ex-Marine, dove into Lake Chagrin to recover the bodies of the Wolfe brothers who had lynched her husband. After successfully locating their bodies, she secured them with rope and attached that rope to her boat. She paddled the boat to the shore. Next, she dragged both bodies to the shore, then to her truck. Darkness now obscured her activity.
When Victoria was securing the bodies in her truck, she heard a noise in the nearby darkened forest. Gregg Robb had come to the lake looking for the body of the detective he and his uncle dumped there ten years before. Gregg came at Victoria from the forest, but she impaled his abdomen with her diver’s knife. Uncle Mitch had climbed into the truck bed from the other side of her truck. When he leapt at her, Victoria quickly neutralized him with her knife. Victoria’s original plan had been to dispose of the Wolfe brothers in the earth of a construction site. Now she had four bodies to dispose of.
C: Nolan Devlin had spent ten yeas impersonating the twin brother he murdered. He and Dickie’s wife, Missy, secretly referred to him as “Nolan as Dickie,” and they had lived as man and wife. But now Nolan as Dickie had to retrieve his brother’s body. The receding lake might reveal Dickie’s corpse. Nolan as Dicke dove into Lake Chagrin and found his brother’s body. But Dickie was standing on the lake floor in his business suit and holding a small red flannel pouch. The talisman had granted Dickie his first wish; to be a conscious, aware being again. Dickie’s second wish was to re-unite with his brother. He was impressed by Nolan’s ability to accomplish the murder and become Nolan as Dickie.
Nolan as Dickie was so struck by Dickie’s apparent re-incarnation that he followed his brother to the shore. They went to find Missy to grant Dickie his third wish; to share Missy with his brother forever. Missy had become a nervous wreck over the possibility of Dickie’s body being found. When she saw Dickie she thought Nolan as Dickie was playing a joke. When she saw Nolan as Dickie in a diving suit, she panicked as never before. Both men subdued her and drug her into the woods. Dickie dropped the talisman near the path.
D: Teresa Payne found herself alone in the darkness at Lake Chagrin. She dove to the bottom to recover the body of her husband, Michael Payne. She found the closed suitcase she had stuffed him in and secured it to her canoe. One ashore, a patrolling policeman drove toward her. She gathered her gear and inadvertently picked up a red flannel pouch from the ground. Wishing to hide any personal effects that would welcome questions, she unzippered the suitcase and stuffed the pouch inside.
Teresa explained that her instructor, Victoria Bright, had advised her to learn how to dive in all conditions. Luckily for her, the policeman had also learned this lesson from the same instructor. After he left, Teresa began stowing her gear in her truck. Then she saw the suitcase move. When it would not stop moving, she partially unzippered it, hoping to see an animal that had somehow become trapped inside. The spirit inside the body of the detective murdered by Gregg and Mitch Robb fought his way out. Once free of his bondage, he eyed Teresa holding a knife. The man held up the talisman as a peace offering. His third and last wish had been to be truly alive again.
“It started as a bad dream for me. But something tells me you need this more than I did,” the man said.