The Lakes Are Still Breathing
$6.00
Fresno’s waterline stories—moons that wink, hums that answer back, and rules for leaving dry.
The lake doesn’t shout. It breathes—and remembers names. This short story tells about what happens when two children touch a forbidden artifact they know they shouldn't, and wake up something that should have stayed asleep. A bell tolls, and the scent of water exists where it probably shouldn't. Did the children grow up and get away, or do they follow the bell into the depths? Read it as fiction if it helps. Read it as lore if that's better. Either way: don’t speak the poem out loud.
What’s inside
Short prose cycle from Fresno’s lakes and spillways (story-first; darkly and moody)
Format: PDF (phone-friendly; printable).
Tone: Horror hostess / snarky, with practical edge.
Content notes: implied drownings, liminal water, psychological unease (non-graphic).
Safety: Never stash belongings at or near a haunted shoreline; travel with a buddy.
“If the lake hums your name, let it finish. Don’t sing the second verse.”