The Name Whispered Back from the Malham Tarn on Still Nights

The village had one rule about the tarn: Do not say your own name at the water's edge after dark.

Nora heard this rule every summer. Her grandmother said it. Her uncle said it. Even the man at the post office said it.

'Why not?' Nora always asked.

'Because the tarn will say it back,' they answered.

Nora was sixteen now. She did not believe in old stories. One Friday night, she walked to the tarn alone. The air was cold and very still. Malham Tarn is a deep lake in Yorkshire. In the daytime, it is beautiful. At night, it is different.

Nora stopped at the water's edge. The water was black like a mirror. She saw the stars in the water.

'This is just a lake,' she told herself. She took a breath.

'Nora,' she whispered.

Nothing happened. The water did not move. Nora felt foolish. She turned to walk home.

Then she heard it.

It came from the water. It was low and slow. It sounded like the wind in the reeds.

'...Nora...'

She stopped. Her heart beat very fast. She did not turn around. She walked home quickly.

At home, her grandmother was in the kitchen.

'You went to the tarn,' her grandmother said.

'How do you know?' Nora asked.

'Your boots are wet.' Her grandmother looked at her. 'I went there once, too. I was young.'

'What is the voice?' Nora asked.

'I think it is remembering you,' her grandmother said. 'Once it knows your name, it never forgets.'

Nora thought about the black water and the stars.

'I will not go back,' Nora said.

Outside, the night was silent. The tarn waited on the moors, full of names it would never forget.