Corrected Eyewitness

A fishing trip in a mountain reservoir became a turning point in my destiny. An unusual dull force came from the old fiberglass pole, and I was dragged into the water, where I met a pale-faced mermaid with a scale-covered tail and sharp teeth in its mouth. Then, the back of my head pressed against the cold muzzle of a gun. The snap of the trigger was intertwined with the roar of a flock of birds flying away, and I fell into darkness. When I woke up again, the white light of the hospital, the doctor's "accidental" explanation, and the searching eyes of the patients formed a strange web. I was forced to make up lies, but after I was discharged from the hospital, I was haunted by repeated traumatic flashbacks - the crowds, the inexplicable tracking, the lingering feeling of the muzzle of the gun, making it difficult for me to distinguish between the reality in front of me and that fatal encounter, which one was real.