He hated being called Sissy instead of Carl, but in his heart he knew he was a bit of a wimp.
In another part of his heart, Sissy loved Janet with the long blonde hair, the most beautiful girl in the village. Janet appeared to love Sissy, too. They kept exchanging long glances, her bionic eyelashes fluttering. The looks felt more and more meaningful - until they stopped.
Sissy knew it was all his fault. He lacked the courage to approach her, the imagination to know what to do or say.
Stupid, pathetic. He hated himself and took to going on long walks in the woods, trying to think of ways to beat himself up, while doing little about it. One day he came across a beautiful, hidden lake. A few swans, a few fish, a birds or two - and Sissy. That was all that was there.
He stared for hours at his hateful reflection - the image of a young man who was born to fail. Occasionally a swan's wings or a gust of breeze would disturb the surface water, and Sissy became fascinated how his face became refracted, almost re-arranged. Was it an improvement? Would he ever recover?
Suddenly, he saw a reflection of another face alongside his own. Janet's! For a split second he resented it - her- being there and it must have shown.
"Nah!" Janet, who had been about to embrace Sissy, changed her mind. She pushed the beautiful but pathetic young man into the water and held him under till he drowned.
