Lake Freedom
The lake is vast and calm. The only sounds are the cricking of crickets and the snapping of pictures. There’s only one spot where you’re allowed to take photos. People line up for years to get the perfect selfie; it will become their profile shot, you can be sure. The lake is photogenic. Beneath the surface, it’s a different story. The water is dark and shallower than you’d think. Eels with plutonium spots illuminate scattered syringes, appliances, and guns with German names. Among them are skeletons, some still clutching microphones. And sunglass lenses descend through the gloom like the scales of a dying dragon. The lake is a conspiracy. They say that’s the price.