The Splinter Man of Lake Tawakoni

Before Lake Tawakoni was a reservoir, it was a valley thick with pine and secrets. They say one tree still grows beneath the water—upside down, feeding on broken promises. And from it crawls the Splinter Man: a bark-bodied figure with hollow eyes and creaking limbs. He doesn’t kill. He scatters. So if you hear wood groan near the eastern shore, don’t speak. Don’t lie. And whatever you do… don’t look into the water.