Even the footprints seem to be in no rush to leave.

The sand shifted beneath my feet as I followed a line of faint footprints leading toward the water. The lake stretched out like a mirror dulled by time, its surface catching only fragments of the fading light. In the distance, small buildings stood quietly along the shore, their reflections rippling faintly with the movement of the water. A few scattered shells dotted the sand, their delicate edges glinting in what remained of the sun’s warmth. The air carried a faint briny tang mixed with something earthy—perhaps from the nearby trees whose shadows began to stretch long and thin. I stopped to watch as a single gull circled lazily overhead before vanishing into the thickening clouds.