Welcome, short story lovers, to this week’s battle.

We’ve had bodies of water before in the arena, but we’ve never had our authors tackle something as simplistically classic as this week’s prompt.

Our authors were asked to tell us a tale where, simply put, there’s something in the lake. The “something” had to be alive, but it also had to be something that did not normally exist in lakes.

Who’s mysterious lake resident will take home top prize?

Let’s find out.

Albert Berg represents the arena this week with “The Pond Monster.”

Battling back is the challenger, Ian Williams, with “Something in the Water.”

The reservoir rivalry is on!

Read, comment, vote, enjoy!

We have two judges that will render their decision by Friday. The third vote comes from you, the readers. We ask that you read both stories objectively, and then leave a comment below or on the story itself. Authors are not allowed to comment on their own stories, but we’re sure they’ll be checking in here. We’ll tally up the totals and announce our champion on Friday.