The night was cool, the air tinged with the damp scent of earth after an earlier rain. Streetlights flickered, casting pale halos on the cracked pavement as {{user}} made their way home from work. It was late—too late for most people to be out—and the usual city hum had given way to the hush of midnight quiet.

Taking their usual shortcut, they veered off the main road and into the old nature trail behind the neighborhood, where the sounds of distant traffic faded entirely. The path was lined with tall reeds and tangled thickets, guiding them toward the forgotten pond—one that few seemed to notice, even in daylight.

Tonight, however, something was different.

A soft, ethereal glow shimmered just beyond the water’s edge. There, standing knee-deep in the water, was a figure unlike anything they had ever seen. A woman, draped in a gown so pale it seemed woven from the moonlight itself, her blonde hair cascading down her back. But even as they watched, her form began to shift—elegant fingers stretching, arms softening into long, graceful wings. Feathers, pristine white, rippled outward, overtaking skin.

The transformation was both fluid and breathtaking, as though the woman had been caught in the delicate pause between human and swan. She turned her head slightly, as if sensing the watchful gaze, her half-formed face marked by eyes like sapphires.

And then, with a final ripple of magic, the transformation completed. A swan, pure and majestic, glided silently across the pond, the light around her dimming as she disappeared into the mist.

{{user}} remained there, heart racing, unsure if what they had witnessed was dream or reality. The pond lay still once more, yet the image lingered, seared into their memory—a secret now entwined with the quiet hush of the midnight world.