Location vault is a new category focused on locations in much the way that character bank is focused on characters. I’m sure other people have done similar things, but I couldn’t find any names for it, so I came up with my own use vault since it went well with bank, but sounded better with the word location than bank did. I plan to have more of these sprinkled through out the rest of the year.
The actual prompt is most likely based off a place I went on vacation last year, but only partially. That specific location is a tourist attraction in the middle of an urban area where people frequently go to swim. It is set up with a place where you can dive off the rocks into the freezing cold water and it is quite interesting.
When we went there I bulked at going in. It was not because I was worried about how deep the underwater cave went or the fact that they don’t actually know how deep that is, because no one has been to the bottom. I had no concerns about what might be down below the surface further than anyone had been or if the underwater cave connected to anywhere else. It was also not because it was too busy or I have an issues with swimming.
No, you read it above. It was freezing.
I got in my swimsuit and I stepped into the water and I was met with very cold water. Considering it was water and not ice, it had to be above the freezing point of water, but it was very cold. I really wanted to go in just because we were there for that reason, so I didn’t get out immediately and I did try going in deeper. I think I got in thigh high before I gave up and got out. I forget if I tried a second time or if I only made the one attempt.
Out of three of us I was the only who didn’t go in. I did spend a considerable amount of time in the nearby water play area which while it went over my head was no where near as deep and had a lot of things you could climb on. The water there wasn’t warm, but it was definitely warmer and I had a lot of fun.
Obviously the location in this prompt is rather different. While it is a pool of water that goes down so deep no one knows where the bottom is, it is definitely not a tourist trap at least not in the normal use of the words. It’s very possible that it isn’t the water that is making people disappear. Maybe the “pool” is actually the mouth of some sort of giant sand monster and this is how it gets food. Maybe there are dangerous animals in the area who prey on those who come too near the water. There even could be a portal to another place and no one is dying, or at least no one is dying there and instead they are being sent somewhere far away.
I tried to create a location that is rooted in reality since it’s based off a real place to some extent and could be used in both a real world story or one that takes place in some place that is not earth. You could put this location in many different genres and it would fit in quite well. Probably not comedy, but otherwise, most of them I think. Unless you really want to write a comedy with this location, in which case, have fun. Would you use this place in a real world setting or some other worldly one?