Sea Change: Ray Of Hope

It began with coffee, as most things do.

I took a sip of black coffee and looked across the table at Chris. He and his wife Kate were in the coffee shop when I'd bumped into them, and I'd joined them for a few minutes of hanging out.

Chris had once been my intern, and had gone into a career similar to mine---Local tourism, history research, freelance writing. He asked,"Has Ian invited you to do a speech at Kettle Creek or Hyner this year?"

"We've discussed it," I said. "Don't have a date yet, but it's looking pretty good."

"Doing your tours this year?"
"Oh, yeah, I'll send you the flyer."

"What's the summer reading theme?" Chris asked.

"This year, it's oceanography," I said. "Not the easiest thing to plan around in central Pennsylvania, but I'm trying to make it work. Looking for programs that involve the ocean, or close to it."

"The Susquehanna Seal," said Chris.

"Funny you  should bring that up," I commented. "I usually tailor some investigations around the summer reading theme. Back in 2019, when it was space, Paul and I looked for UFOs all summer. Last year, with animals, we hunted cryptids. This year, we're looking at a summer of water monsters."

"You know a lot about water monsters, do you?"

"I know you're not supposed to feed them."

"I suppose that's a start. What else is  there, besides the Susquehanna Seal?"

"Bunch of water monsters around. The thing is, this kind of feels like....I don't know, closure, to me. I was about to go to New York and look into the Silver Lake Serpent when COVID all came down and the world changed, you know?"

"You were going all the way to New York to check out a water creature?"

"I was checking out the water creature to avoid spending too much time with Paul's Cub Scout Pack. There was one little guy, Alex, who drove me nuts. His mother runs the pack. One of these days, I'm going to hit Alex's mother. With Alex. They had the camping trip to Silver Lake planned."

"But then COVID...."

"Yeah," I said. "COVID came, and derailed everything. In fact, as best I can recall, I was working on the Susquehanna Seal the week before it all started. Since then, I've worked on a bunch of UFOs, dealt with three dog deaths, quit ghost hunting and gone back to it, changed my uniform twice, and had a summer full of cryptids. Seems to me like if I can spend the summer making progress on water monsters....Well, maybe I can get back some of the confidence I've lost."

I took the tongs and turned over the chicken, then closed the grill and sat down at the picnic table. Paul was messing around bringing everyone cups and plates for our family dinner outside. I picked up my can of beer---Can't grill without a can of beer---And took a drink.

"You want to go to Raystown sometime?" I asked Michelle.

"Okay," she said. "What's in Raystown?"

Tif grinned. "You're going after Raystown Ray," she said.

"I am,' I agreed.

"What sort of unknown creature is Raystown Ray?" Michelle asked.

"In Raystown, there's swimming and a playground for you and Paul. Water monster for me," I said. "I kinda tried to do a search for Pennsylvania water monsters, but it kept giving me my own articles. Really started pissing me off. So I decided to go for Raystown Ray, a vegetarian water monster in a manmade lake. When it comes to Pennsylvania lake monsters, Ray's kind of the boss fight."

"Is Ray the only one?" asked Tif.

"There are a few others. The Ogua, near Pittsburgh...."

"Didn't you investigate that one a couple of years ago?"

"Nah, that was South Bay Bessie, up in Erie. Not gotten to the Ogua yet. I've never investigated Raystown Ray, either, though I've always kind of wanted to."

"Well, the next day you're off, then," agreed Michelle.

"Is the food done?" Tif asked.

"Few more minutes," I said. "I might do a little prep work for Ray---Check out the Susquehanna Seal again or something. I've investigated the Susquehanna Seal before, but it's good to keep in practice."

I went to check on the food. Tif rolled over while I was flipping the chicken. "Gonna practice on the Susquehanna Seal?" she asked.

"I can use the workout. Last time I recall investigating a water monster was the Altamaha-Ha last summer. When I was a kid, the water cryptids were always my favorite. I chalked a Loch Ness Monster on the wall of my dad's garage. I was always out looking for a monster in the Schuylkill River near my grandfather's place."

"Was there one?"

"Well, hope dies hard. I only had access to just so many bodies of water as a kid."

"Think you'll find a water monster this summer?"

"We can hope. Looks like that's going to be my main summer activity."

"Gonna go out for a bit," I told Zach at the desk. "See if I can round up some prizes to raffle off for our Clinton Challenge."

"Okay," he said.

"We got people counting their reading hours every week, competing with Clinton, New York and Clinton, New Jersey to see who can read the most," I said. "Need some raffle prizes for this thing."

"Take your time," he said.

I went outside, got my bike, and rode downtown. I stopped and hit up a couple of businesses for gift cards, and then biked over the the Susquehanna River.

There were a couple of families at the public beach. I walked down the levee and scanned the shore, looking up and down the river. Doing this sort of research always makes people look at you funny, but I'd long since gotten over that. I watched the river for a while, and then walked down to get a water sample.

As I dipped a sample tube into the river, a little kid came up to me. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting a water sample to test," I said,

"What's your name?"

"My name is Lou."

I tested the water with my litmus paper, and it ranked in about a seven. Pretty much ideal for supporting aquatic life. I walked along the edge for a little, looking at the environment.

There were a couple of gingko trees growing on the shore. I had a thought, looking them over, and I walked back to my bike and rode off.

I walked into Tif's apartment after work. She was sitting at her desk. 

"I picked up the bed that was delivered," she said. "I tried to call you because the box fell in the doorway and blocked my way in, and I was trapped, but I figured it out."

"Well, I'm glad you're not trapped."

"What's up, Daddy?" she asked.

"I need to take a look at that Hynerpeton poster I gave you," I said. I walked into the bedroom and looked at the poster.

"Yeah, the Hynerpeton," said Tif. "Archaeologists discovered a prehistoric creature right here in Clinton County."

"They did." I examined the poster, which had labelled Hynerpetons and some of the foliage from the era. "I'm thinking about this, lately. There was a creature discovered here....And there were articles about a water monster in the river....."

"You think the Susquehanna Seal could be a leftover Hynerpeton?"

"It's a theory. Not sure it could survive the Pennsylvania winters---Hell, I have trouble surviving the Pennsylvania winters---But if the species was able to stay fed.....Look, this plant...Otzinachsonia Beerboweri. Those have to have been found locally; they're named after the river. The Native Americans used to call this whole valley Otzinachson. Did I ever tell you it meant 'Demon's den'? They believed this whole place was haunted."

"Well...."

"I know. But if there was one native plant they could eat, they might have evolved to eat others. They've had millions of years."

"They could survive the winters by burying themselves in the mud, like some frogs do."

"Could be. I need to work on that this summer, see if I can find any evidence for or against. We have a water monster and our own personal amphibian, and they could be connected."

Raystown Lake runs for twenty miles, and you can tell you're in the tourist zone before you ever get anywhere near the water. There's a million places selling supplies, firewood, camping spaces, and other things. We stopped at the visitor's center first, and went in to look around.

We immediately got sidetracked by the penny machine. After a couple of dollars, Paul and I ended up with a few flattened pennies with fish stamped on them. We walked through the gift shop, and Paul picked out a doll that he liked.

"Not a lot of Raystown Ray stuff in here," I observed. "I expected I'd be able to get a t-shirt or something."

"Found a patch," Michelle said, and handed me a Raystown Ray patch that cost about $3.50. I took it to the register.

"So, I'm sure you get this all the time," I said to the girl at the counter,"But tell me about Raystown Ray."

She smiled. "Ray's a mystery. We don't see him much. We have a photo over there, but not much else. He doesn't show up too much. We like keeping it a mystery. We have a display here...." She slid a frame over to me, showing a little information about Raystown Ray, and two photos of footprints.

I examined it, and clicked a photo of it. The prints looked liked fakes to me; too well-defined, no changes in depth or clarity.

"I'll take this," I said, sliding the patch over.

"I'm ready to go swimming," Paul said.

"That's our next stop."

At seven, Paul likes the water far more than I ever have. We drove down to the beach area, and he was n the water within a minute, wearing his new bathing suit. Michelle set out the lawn chairs and sat down. I changed into my cryptozoology vest.

It was a new black fishing vest----Generally, anywhere you're going to investigate a water monster, you'll see no shortage of fishing vests around. I had blue fingerless gloves and a survival bracelet, and a Loch Ness Monster pin on the left side. It was loaded up with everything I needed to look into Raystown Ray.

"I'll get your water sample, Daddy," said Paul.

I handed him a sample jar. "All yours. Go ahead."

Paul splashed into the water without hesitation, and filled it up. I watched him pour a little out and then refill it a couple of times, until it was filled to his satisfaction, and then he brought it back to me.

"You want to handle the litmus paper?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I pulled the kit out of my pocket and handed it to him. He tore off a piece, dipped it into the water, and compared it to the chart on the package. "A seven," he said.

"Seven is good. Seven means the water can support life."

"Well, obviously. Otherwise I couldn't swim in there."

'Well. I mean like fish and stuff."

"Water monsters."

"Water monsters."

He happily splashed back into the water, and I walked around Raystown Lake. I followed the path, and found that it wound back and up the hill, to a little lookout area with a concession stand.

I stopped at the edge, working my way around to the best point. I could see Paul splashing around down below, and I had a good view of a couple of miles of lake. I got out my binoculars and scanned around. For a second, I thought I saw something, but it turned out to be just a boat. 

I spent about half an hour up there, checking around for any sign of the monster. There was plenty to see, but  nothing paranormal. So I turned and headed for the concession stand.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Well, I'm going to wait for my family to get hungry," I said,"But what can you tell me about Raystown Ray?"

"He's a myth," she said immediately. "A long time ago, one of the council people came up with the story to boost tourism. It probably keeps people away, though, because they're afraid to get attacked. Ray's just a myth."

I nodded. "Thanks."

I walked back down to the beach, where Paul was still going at it. I sat down beside Michelle. "Man, these people really do not stand behind their product."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how you go down to Punxsutawney, and you can't get anyone to say anything negative about the groundhog? It's exactly the opposite here. At best, nobody's interested in Raystown Ray, and at worst, they flat-out say he's not real. I got better interviews than this looking into South Bay Bessie. Hell, I got better interviews than this looking into the Altamaha-Ha, when n old man told me I was going to get eaten by an alligator."

"So it's not real?"

"Doesn't seem so. Raystown Ray is almost certainly a publicity stunt that the locals don't seem that fond of. That would explain the fake prints, and the fact that Ray is often said to eat plants. Nobody wants to swim when they might get attacked by a water monster."

"Well, Paul's having fun."

I watched my son splashing around in the water.

"Yeah, it wasn't a wasted trip."

Two nights later, I sat in a bar with Tif. We tried to go out once in a while and have a drink together. Paul was in his dance class, so tonight had seemed a good time.

"So Raystown Ray was a bust," I said. "That one is a hoax. I'm really surprised the story gained so much traction, particularly since the locals don't seem to fond of it."

"I'm sorry about that, Dad," she said.

I shrugged. "I'm just as happy to get to the truth of it. I mean, I'd love to meet a water monster, but I'm also glad enough to debunk one. That's what it's all about, really---Not finding the paranormal, but finding answers."

"Well, summer's just beginning."
I took a drink of beer.

"True," I said. "There's always the Ogua."