still waters

Imagine this, if you will... A lake, with the water so still you can almost see the bottom. It is calm and peaceful, and everything is as it should be. Some people throw rocks into the lake, causing little ripples, but eventually it becomes still once again. 

Then, as if out of nowhere, a boat appears, disrupting the water. And even though the lake was happy the way it was, it seemed natural and normal for the boat to be there. It was different, but it was a good different. 

A man casts a fishing rod into the lake. The surface is disrupted again, but it became a normal feeling to have the line cutting through the water, even if only for a second or two. 

A little fish, who is very happy in the lake, notices the hook on the fishing line, and is immediately drawn to it. It's new and different, and even though it may be a bad idea, the fish is so caught up with this new introduction to the lake that it goes for it before really considering the damage it could cause. The fish takes a bite, and before it realizes what is happening, it is being reeled in to a world it's never known. But the fish is fine, as in a weird way, it feels like this is what was supposed to happen. Like with that one bite, everything the fish was ever supposed to be was becoming a reality. 

The man reels in the fish, taking it into his hands. He seems pleased with his catch, and the fish was everything he had hoped for. It was strong and beautiful, and he felt like this was exactly the way things were supposed to go. He looked at the fish and smiled, and his heart swelled with joy at his new acquisition. 

Then something happened to the man; he had a sudden change of heart. And even though he knew in his heart that this fish would make him happy, and that he may have just found the fish that was perfect for him, he decided it wasn't right. He decided that the cold fish he had at home would have to suffice, and threw the perfect fish he had spent all that time reeling in, back into the lake. 

The man turned his boat around, and headed back for the shore. And even though the fish was back in its home, the lake was never the same again. For once the fish caught a glimpse of the way it believed things were supposed to be, nothing would ever feel right again until that life became a reality. The lake had been permanently disrupted and changed. And even though it looked the same, it was still sparkly and beautiful, there was a turmoil under the surface that no one could see. A turmoil that changed the lake forever. 

The man came back to visit the lake every now and then, and would talk to the fish he knew was somewhere under the calm surface. He never threw a line in again, but knew if he ever did, the fish would probably be just as happy to see it as it was the first time. But maybe the next time, a little more caution would be used. 

For once you bite off more than you can chew, your world will never be the same again. There may be a turbulence deep down, that no one else can see. Because as long as the surface is calm and serene, no one believes that anything could be askew. But still waters run deep, and lakes can look very different on the bottom than on the surface.