It was a balmy day. Probably eighty-seven degrees and h-u-m-i-d.

The air was thick. But not thick like pea soup-thick, it was thick like the concrete of a fortified bunker deep below the Pentagon.

Regardless of the oppressive heat, the girls were having a great time.

Kai and I made another playdate with @SmithToYou and we decided to rendezvous at Italian Lake Park on Division Street in Harrisburg.

The initial plan, you see, was to feed the ducks. Or geese. Or whatever bread-eating waterfowl we could find.

But there were no geese or ducks or swans to feed our stale bread to.

Quick change of plans- the little fishes in the man-made pond would be equally as entertaining to feed.

So we did. Emptied nearly half of each of our bags of bread- divvied up into tiny little digestible bread-balls for the fish to nibble on.

About ten minutes into our feeding, from the corner of my eye I spied what appeared to be a large, serpent-like creature splashing about towards the middle of the pond.

Rubbing my eyes, I thought “just a reflection”. There was no way I actually saw a giant serpent swimming in Italian Lake in Harrisburg. There is no tributary leading to this lake. It’s man made and filthy. It’s a wonder that the fish who ARE swimming in there are still alive. There’s NO WAY I saw a giant serpent lurking in the murky lake.

We went back to teasing the guppies.

The girls loved it. Tiny bread ball by tiny bread ball, we gave those little fishes a feast they hadn’t eaten in who-kn0ws how long.

And then I saw it again…but this time, it was a DORSAL FIN cutting through the water. A shark of some sort!? “IMPOSSIBLE” I thought to myself.

@SmithToYou confirmed it with a shriek- out yonder- about halfway across the filthy water of the pond was a SERPENT. Three and a half feet long if it was an inch! With FANGS and RED EYES!

This was NO FISH. That ain’t no GUPPY.

Think the “Loch Ness Monster”. Think “Bigfoot”. Think “Jersey Devil”.

It’s simply not human…er, marine! An odd, perverse hybrid of shark, catfish and gator, perhaps. But this ain’t some normal fish that amazingly survives in a murky, filthy man-made pond in the middle of Harrisburg.

This thing is a monster.

Go see for yourself.

For now, I dub thee “Italiano Mostro Marnino” and vow to capture you someday, you filthy, slimy fish.