Whispers from Lake Sarsar - By Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai

Written By: Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai

Category: Short Story

Competition: Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

Introducing "Whispers from Lake Sarsar," a compelling short story by Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai. Presented in the Short Story category, this narrative is part of Hashtag Kalakar's esteemed Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. The story is woven with elements of mystery and suspense as a group of adventurous high school students embarks on a journey to the enigmatic Lake Sarsar, only to encounter unexpected and unsettling events.

About the Work

"Whispers from Lake Sarsar" intricately unfolds a gripping tale set against the serene yet ominous backdrop of Lake Sarsar. The story captures the tension between youthful curiosity and the sinister secrets of the natural world. With vivid imagery and a haunting atmosphere, Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai explores themes of discovery, fear, and the unknown. The narrative skillfully integrates elements of folklore, creating an eerie and immersive literary experience.

Whispers from Lake Sarsar

Original Submission by Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai

JADAV PROWESS ASHOKBHAI

Whispers from Lake Sarsar

Harry with his friends decided to visit the Daryacheh Sarsar. Harry a scholarly high school student interested in Microbiology and entomology reads in a book about mysterious insects and diseases. He came to know that one of those insects are found in lake Sarsar just forty-three miles from their school, Harry along with the fellow highschoolers plans to go to the lake and collect the sample of that insect to study.

When his friends asked why was he so excited about the trip? harry concealed the truth under his smile. When the group arrived at the lake it all seemed like an abstract, the lake was surrounded by tall peaks covered with dense bushes and a surreal waterfall nearby which made the view more radiant. Strangely the lake was still but the weather was chilled with cold winds but the striplings ignored the stillness and touched the water. Here Harry warns the group that they should stay away from anything unusual and despite the weather was cold the lake was relatively warm. As Harry was collecting sample the group decides to take a swim they swiftly jumped in the lake splashing the water at each other and relishing, disturbing something beneath the lake.

As the group chattered inside the lake everyone heard a scream. Harry screamed realizing something abnormal about the lake, he told his friends to come out quickly. As they were changing their clothes, they all felt prickling persistent scratching sensation. After few minutes they all started having nausea with bleeding nose. As persistent scratch they all started seeing dark black veins started to form on their skin aggravating the itch. As everyone was perturbed with this, a guy scratched his skin so much that one of his veins burst open unleashing black blood coming through flesh with a strong fetid smell, fear and panic rooted in their souls. Harry started searching in his book about this but didn’t catch any great cure. One of the boys was fascinated of reading supernatural fictional where he read a similar story of a lake and a village present nearby wherein whole village was found rotten when they found out about lake. As they were discussing the story another boy found out a strange micro-organisms crawling all over them. Harry remembered what his teacher told about that lake “This lake is cursed by the Morse God as the villagers near this lake never cared about the holiness of the lake written in scriptures so the god cursed the lake {whosoever touches the lake will be infected by unknown uncurable disease}”. The story was still incomplete. The story being prevalent was still fragmented, no one knew the complete story.

The group decides to call ambulance but as they were away from the city the ambulance would still take time to reach there so harry decides to drive and convinces everyone to hold on till they reach nearby hospital. But as harry was about to drive he remembered there was a paragraph in the book which stated that if someone is infected by micro-organisms then they are highly contagious and can cause severe consequences if carried to the city. Now harry too was infected by these parasites and he had to decide whether to drive till city and spread the virus to the people of city or stay there and wait and watch himself and his friends die. Harry decides to not drive to the city and starts again looking for something from the sample of the parasites which he collected. This time he noticed something strange that the parasites were multiplying after sucking out all the blood from the infested person. After completely ruining blood of the victim the parasites would look out for another living being and so on. As harry found out this gruesome detail one of his friend got a stroke and passed out, seeing one of the member dying the group went completely cold.

As Harry told his fellow mates about what was happening with them, they all knew that they won’t be able to make it till hospital so every one from the group left now, wanted to meet their loved ones one last time but they knew that even that was not possible. And so, they had no other choice then to watch themselves die in the most terrible way. Harry was utterly still, was watching his friends die in front of him.

As harry also became unconscious and was about to pass out he remembered that, short research picnic turned out to be a horrible nightmare. As slowly he lost his complete sense and passed out, he woke up from the sleep and realised he was in the school library reading the book which talked about the mysterious insects and diseases.

About the Competition

The Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar offers a prestigious platform for writers to showcase their creativity across various genres. This competition provides an opportunity for participants to present their unique voices and engage with a broader audience, fostering a community of literary talent and innovation.

We extend our sincere gratitude to Jadav Prowess Ashokbhai for contributing "Whispers from Lake Sarsar" to the Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. This intriguing short story captivates with its mysterious charm and compelling narrative. Thank you, Jadav, for sharing your creative vision with us.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.