O Macbeth: I will write about how my character kills yours.
âDonât tell me youâre chicken,â Zahra negs as she slides her thong down her legs. Goosebumps sprout across her bare skin as a sudden gust of wind blows past them. âI took you for a lot of things, but not a coward.â
The taunting works in Zahraâs favor, somehow. Harry starts stripping off her clothes one by one, dumping them in a small pile on the lakeshore. Harry glares at her all the while, and Zahra gives her a wolfish grin before leaping into the lake. She catches a glimpse of Harryâs naked body diving beneath the surface, the water inky black in the night. Zahra can begrudgingly admit that underneath all those tacky clothes, Harryâs actually got a banging bod. What a shame.
âRace you to the deep end, Henri.â Without waiting to hear Harryâs surely aggravated retort, Zahra begins taking leisurely strokes to the center of the lake. Harry gets there first, a fact that Zahra only discovers when she gets hit in the face with a sudden splash of lake water. What a sore winner.
The new moon makes it hard for Zahra to see Harryâs expression as she says, âCome closer,â in her most enticing voice. âI want to tell you something.â But it doesnât matter what Zahra says, because she erases the distance between them with one long stroke. Harry doesnât move away, perhaps paralyzed by her own curiosity.
Without a word, Zahra reaches for Harryâs face and gently brushes away wet strands of hair. Harry flinches slightly, as if expecting something entirely different, but eventually relaxes against Zahraâs touch. And thatâs when Zahraâs grip tightens, and she pushes Harry beneath the surface with all the force she can muster.
Of course, Harry struggles. Her arms flail, splashing water everywhere, and she manages break through to the surface twice before Zahra pushes her back down. In the end, Zahraâs will is stronger. Eventually, Harryâs arms go still and the water around them calms.
Zahra emerges from the water like Aphrodite being birthed from sea foam. She feels like a goddess, otherworldly, now having taken a life. Zahra burns her clothes so that it takes weeks before anyone thinks to check the lake for a body. Theyâll call it a tragedy, and Zahra will agree that it was divine.
