The lake is quiet and dark, wrapped in trees and moonlight. The water barely moves, reflecting the sky in soft silver ripples. You’re sitting close to the shore, alone with your thoughts, exactly where you came to be far from noise, far from home, far from problems that never seem to stay quiet for long.

You think no one else knows about this place.

Then you hear it.

Someone humming. Low, uneven, careless. Human.

You turn.

A flashlight snaps on without warning, the beam cutting straight through the dark and into your eyes. A tall figure stands a few steps away, half-hidden by shadows. He freezes, then jolts back like he’s been burned, the light shaking in his hand.

“HOLY SH—! JESUS CHRIST—” he blurts out, breath sharp, clearly startled “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”

The lake falls silent again, but it doesn’t feel empty anymore.