LAKE SURPRISE | Voy

The city aquarium had been a symphony of filtered blue light and murmured wonder, a place where the ordinary world felt suspended behind thick glass. You’d spent the afternoon there, moving slowly from tank to tank, a half-empty water bottle sweating in your hand. You watched jellyfish pulse like living galaxies, saw the slow, ancient drift of a sea turtle, and marveled at the sharp, silver schools of fish that moved as one mind. It was peaceful. Normal. ‎ But then, you’d overheard them. Two young adults loitering near the gift shop, their voices a low buzz under the ambient sound of bubbling tanks. ‎ "...fucking boring as hell," said one, gesturing to a school of passing fish with a pretzel. They're both not paying good attention, just walking idly through the aquarium. "No clue why my girl's so interested in this shitty place. Pretty my ass, where's the fuckin' sharks, man?" said the other. "Like it'd do anything but swim around. They wouldn't put anything in there that could potentially die, so where's the fun?" "...Yeah, well, I got a good idea. Remember that dumbass legend about that abandoned park by the pyramid? Just up the street?" "Shit, yeah, I remember that." "Bunch of fuckin' dorks, dude, believing some freaky fuckin' monster could survive for over 2 millennia at a goddamn lake in a fucking abandoned park. Like, get a fuckin' grip." He adds, "But, yeah. We want a real show? Go tell your girl to visit there. Payback for making us do this boring shit. ‎ The conversation moved on, but the seed was planted in your mind. A creature. A monster in the lake. An abandoned Egyptian-themed park, sitting in the shadow of this very aquarium. It felt like a paradox, a secret hiding in plain sight. Your rational mind dismissed it—urban legend, simple-minded gossip, nothing more. But the curiosity… the curiosity was a physical itch. What if it were real? What if something was there? The thought was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. What if you went in and something happened? What if you went missing, and no one ever found you? ‎ That night, the curiosity won. The moon was a thin, sharp crescent in a sky choked with light pollution, offering little illumination. You found yourself standing before a high, chain-link fence topped with rusty barbed wire. A sign, bleached pale by sun and rain, was bolted to the metal: ‘CONDEMNED. HAZARDOUS AREA. NO TRESPASSING.’ Underneath, in faded spray paint, someone had scrawled: ‘here there be monsters.’ ‎ Your heart hammered against your ribs. This was stupid. This was so, so stupid. But you climbed anyway, the metal rattling under your hands, the barbs snagging your jacket. You dropped down onto the other side into a world of silence and shadows. The abandoned park was a ghost of its former self. Pathways were cracked and choked with weeds. The crumbling remains of faux-Egyptian pillars and statues—a broken sphinx, a headless pharaoh—loomed in the darkness. The air was cold and heavy with a thick, unnatural fog that coiled around your ankles and seemed to drink the sound. The only light came from a few scattered, glass-enclosed candle fixtures that flickered with a weak, golden flame, their light barely piercing the gloom. It was utterly silent. No crickets, no wind, nothing. You clicked on your flashlight, its beam a stark, white blade cutting through the fog. You swept it across the desolate landscape. Six minutes of careful exploration revealed nothing but decay and eerie stillness. Your bravado began to curdle into fear. This was a mistake. It was just a story. You were alone in a dead place for no reason. You turned to leave, feeling foolish. And then you heard it. ‎ A loud, deep SPLASH! ‎ It came from the direction of the lake. It wasn't a fish jumping. It was something heavier. Something bigger. You froze, your breath catching in your throat. Slowly, you turned, your flashlight beam shaking slightly in your unsteady hand. You pointed it toward the source of the sound, toward the dark, still water of the oasis-lake. The beam swept across the inky surface, and for a moment, there was nothing. Just fog and water. Then, you saw them. Two points of light, low in the water. They weren't reflecting your light; they were generating their own. A luminous, piercing gold, like twin suns burning in the depths. They were eyes. And they were staring directly at you. ‎ The eyes shift, closing halfway seductively. Suddenly, the creature jumps up at you, a flash of blue, gold, and beige. You flinch, backing up, eyes closed with a grimace. A voice calls out from the void, "...Quite shy, aren't you, handsome? Come, don't be scared." You open your eyes, expression softening at the elegant, female voice. You stand from your shocked stance, tilting your head. The sight before you isn't at all what you expected. Light blue, sleek scales, a beige underbelly, with piercing golden eyes. Fins atop her head with earrings piercing the delicate skin. A strong, thick tail that's marked, similar to the rest of her body, in tribal, ancient markings. Protruding out of the water are her massive, firm breasts, resting on the dock with her nipples returning your stare. Behind her, her feet flutter in the water, her huge, rounded ass breaking the water. The pose and characteristics seem designed to entice, to tempt, and provide satiation. Her lovely, elegant voice begins again, a faint Egyptian accent. "It seems like eons since I've seen somebody as striking as you, darling. What brings you here?" You speak, but it's completely inaudible over a passing train. The sound makes the creature's eyes shoot wide, her mouth agape, revealing an impossibly long tongue and sharp teeth. "What... What was that?" She looks at you with a face of complete disdain. The seductive, sensual glint in her eye immediately falters, her scales looking dim. A motorcycle gang passes by as you try to get another word in, and she looks like she could burst into tears. "This... This place is.. nothing like the palaces of old. I know I should've expected the world to change, but.. this is beyond what I had in mind." She looks to you, the normal comfort she finds in an oasis visitor being the only thing she has right now.