The Monster of Minnow Lake

Although Andy and Eva had been coming to Minnow Lake since before they could swim, they’d never been more excited than they were today. After a week of cloudy, muggy weather, the sun had returned in full force. Mom had sent Dad and the kids off with not just peanut butter-filled pretzel puffs but also their favorite chips. And most importantly, they’d brought Andy’s new remote-controlled boat.

“That’s an expensive toy,” Dad reminded Andy as he turned down the gravel road.

“Yup,” Andy replied.

“You need to take care of it. We’re not buying another one.”

“I know.”

“No speeding. No tipping. Stay away from pond scum. Don’t—”

“Oh, yuck!” Eva screeched. “What’s that smell?”

Everyone in the car covered their noses at once.

Dad rolled up the window. “I’m sure it’ll get better near the lake.”

It did not get better near the lake. It got much, much worse. When the Wanders rounded the final corner, they glimpsed the source of the smell: hundreds of dead fish floating on the water’s surface.

The kids gasped and looked at Dad for an explanation, but he could only shake his head. “I just fished here two days ago. Everything was fine.”

“What do we do?” Eva asked.

Dad hopped out of the car. “Don’t get in the water. I’ll find out what’s going on at the ranger station.”

When Dad disappeared over a hill, the kids wandered closer to the lake’s edge. “I’ll bet it’s a swamp monster,” Andy said.

“It’s not a swamp monster,” Eva replied.

“This is what happened in that old movie we watched with Grandpa,” Andy insisted. “First, the swamp monster came for the fish. Then—” He squeezed his sister’s shoulder.

“Stop.” Eva pushed Andy away. “It’s probably chemicals from a factory or something.”

“Exactly! That’s what created the swamp monster in the first place!”

Eva rolled her eyes and turned back to the car. “I’m getting the boat.”

“Yes!”

Andy’s remote-controlled boat was so fancy that it came equipped with a camera. The kids weren’t allowed in the lake, but Dad hadn’t said anything about the boat.

Eva handed Andy the boat and he set it in the water. “Careful.”

Andy squinted at the screen in the middle of his remote control. A dead fish stared back. “Let’s find out what happened to you, little buddy.” He motored around the fish into the open water.

“Check that out.” Eva pointed to a patch of brown scum about 50 feet away.

The kids held their breath while the boat’s propeller pushed through the water. As soon as the boat reached the brown patch—

Chug-chug-chug. The motor started lurching.

“Toxic sludge,” Andy muttered as he backed the boat out of the mess.

“Told you!” Eva said.

Andy steered the boat around a bend in the lake. Now, he could only see what the video showed him. This end of the lake was covered in brown muck, but Andy discovered that his boat could make it through if he went slowly enough. The boat crept farther and farther across the lake until—

Eva clamped her hand onto Andy’s arm. “Look!”

She pointed to the corner of the screen. Andy gasped. A man dressed in dark green clothes and knee-high boots stood near a van on the shore. Andy hid the boat in some cattails.

Both kids held their breath while Andy used the camera to zoom in on the scene. The man held an electronic device connected to a tube that snaked into the water. Andy couldn’t believe it. He was staring at a real-life supervillain. Suddenly, the supervillain looked directly at the boat.

Art by David Leonard

“AHHHH!” Andy tried to reverse.

Beeeeep!

The boat stopped moving and a red “MOTOR FAILURE” message flashed on the screen.

The man pulled his device out of the lake and ran toward the kids.

“AHHHH!” Andy and Eva screamed together.

“What’s wrong?” Dad came sprinting over the hill.

“Bad guy!” Eva screamed.

“Everyone okay?” another voice called. It was the bad guy.

“AHHHHHHH!”

“That’s the ranger!” Dad exclaimed before turning to the man. “So sorry about this. We just wanted to find out what happened to the fish.”

The ranger fished a clump of brown muck from the lake. “Algae. It’s not dangerous by itself, but when we get too much of it in the lake, it’s dangerous.”

Andy squinted. “So it’s toxic sludge?”

“It actually comes from fertilizer,” the ranger said. “When people use too much fertilizer on their lawns, the extra nutrients wash into the lake and feed the algae in the water. Bacteria feed on the algae and remove the oxygen from the water, killing the fish. The last few days of hot, cloudy weather only made it worse because warm water holds less oxygen.”

Andy blinked, trying to comprehend the explanation. “But what about my boat? You killed it with your, uh—” he motioned to the ranger’s device “—your blaster thingy.”

“This just tests the water quality,” the ranger chuckled. “Your boat got tangled in the algae when you tried backing up. I can grab it for you.”

“That’s very kind,” Dad said. When the ranger left, Dad turned to Andy. “You drove your new boat through algae?”

“I didn’t know that would happen!”

“That’s not—” Dad stopped himself and rubbed his temples. “Okay, look. Why did these fish die?”

“Algae.”

“Yes and no. Really, the neighbors caused the algae to grow out of control when they used too much fertilizer.”

“But I’m sure they didn’t do it on purpose!” Eva pointed out.

“That’s exactly my point,” Dad said. “God put humans in charge of caring for his creation. That’s a huge responsibility! When you’re taking care of something valuable—whether it’s a lake or an expensive toy—it’s your job to educate yourself to make sure you don’t accidentally ruin it.”

Just then, the ranger returned with Andy’s boat. “I untangled the algae from the propeller. Good as new!”

“Can you fix the lake, too?” Eva asked.

“I’ll finish these measurements, then start spreading the word about fertilizer. Once our neighbors know how to take care of the lake, I think they’ll do the right thing.” The ranger smiled at Andy and Eva. “Want to give me a hand? I’ll let you use the blaster!”

What‘s the Point?

God called his creation “good” seven times in Genesis 1—that means he values what he created. We honor God when we learn more about the earth so we can best manage the world he has made.