The Fountain That Trapped Souls Forever

Three kids went looking for adventure.
Colby and Miguel had chased the legend for years—an ancient spring deep in the Florida Everglades, said to be the Fountain of Youth.

This time, Colby brought his younger cousin Bonnie.

They set off at dawn, mist hanging low over the swamp. Skeptical but curious, Bonnie followed as they navigated past a decaying sign: Canaan Corners – Boats ’n Bait.

Trouble came early. The Laevich brothers—Wade and Lyle—mocked them, stole their food, and disappeared laughing. But Colby stayed focused.

By midday, the kids waded through thick swamp water. Then they found it: a rusted Spanish helmet. Chainmail. Artifacts lost to time.

They were close.

Soon, they reached a stream—shimmering pink, flowing uphill. At the clearing’s center, a glowing column of water floated, folding endlessly into itself.

It was mesmerizing. It was wrong.

Miguel knelt beside it. “I want to try it.”

“No,” Bonnie warned. “Not yet.”

Colby filled a canteen. But then—a groan.

A skeletal knight emerged, whispering, “Help me… I drank… four hundred years ago.”

Others followed—ancient, rotting conquistadors, eyes hollow, hands outstretched.

“We cannot die. We cannot sleep.”

The kids ran.

Near the road, the Laevich brothers lounged by the bait shop.

“Back so soon?” Wade jeered.

Then Lyle saw the canteen.

“Smells sweet,” he said—and drank.

So did Wade.

The kids said nothing. As they walked away, Bonnie whispered:

“You’ll never grow old.”

The brothers laughed.

And kept laughing.

Even as their skin cracked.

Even when their teeth fell out.

Even when the hunger came…

…and death never did.