Empty

Empty.

Shallow.

Filthy.

It was a jarring sight.

Once a shimmering expanse, now a pit of muck, pockmarked with rubbish.

On the other side stood a creature I recognized. Its hands were bloody.

The last time we were together in this place, those hands were extending a ring. The mouth was moving, but I don’t remember the words.

Empty.

Shallow.

But the shimmering expanse, the man-made wonder, stretched before me. It looked real. It felt real. But man-made lakes don’t last. They require constant upkeep. Draining. Dredging.

At their core, they are little more than a pit of muck, pockmarked with rubbish.

Filthy.