As I dived down beneath the ripples of the reservoir some strangely familiar shadows came into view. Was this a sunken village? I looked for food for my cormorant children but a mystery was just below me and I wondered what secrets could be down there?

Later that day I once again plunged beneath the wavelets and viewed the drowned village. Six houses were submerged and their silhouettes danced in the sun on the surface. I came up for air and then circled high above the reservoir. I headed to the north-western tip of the huge water source and without hesitation dived beneath the calm, cold water. There below me was a decorative church slowly being strangled by the growing reeds. Soon the wooden door would perish from the force of nature and the stain glass windows would shatter from the waters pressure.

I could imagine long ago the church bells ringing in the ears of passers-by as they walked down the steep cobbled lane. As I paddled through a crumbling alleyway my webbed feet felt the calm, blue water rush past them. The distorted chimneys no longer spat smoke out of their pots but were homes for fish feeding their young. It was strange to think that many moons ago people roamed these same streets chatting and whispering but now all that remained was a vast reservoir above some rotting, derelict homes. Despite the debris the water was clear and fresh so I could see every inch of intricate decoration on each lifeless wall.

My adventures were far from over but I went back to my nest and my children. All my family were special to me so I told them my secret. That night we played among the undulating reeds enjoying the underwater wonder, the reservoir’s sunken village.