12/07/2025
Most Seattleites stroll around Green Lake without giving Duck Island a second thought. That the little clump of trees and brush near the northern edge of Green Lake is adorable and picturesque, what of it?
Constructed in 1936 under the WPA, Duck Island was meant to serve as a wildlife refuge. But records show that during its construction, a young laborer named Mateo Reyes vanished. His tools were found neatly stacked on the shoreline. His mother later reported receiving a postcard of a handdrawn mallard signed only “M.R.” and postmarked from a city that doesn’t exist (on this astral plane, at least).
To this day, no one is permitted to set foot on the island. Park rangers claim it’s for the protection of nesting birds, but locals know: the island moves. Sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically, and just before dawn. Witnesses claim the island appears farther west than it was the night before. Some say the ducks that live there migrate not just through air, but through dreams, carrying important messages between sleepers.
In 1959, famed University of Washington coxswain Stan Pocock reported seeing a “barefoot man in a wool vest” sitting silently on the shore of Duck Island during early morning crew practice. The man was gone a moment later, and the ducks that morning flew in concentric circles instead of their usual V.
If you find yourself near Green Lake at dawn, look to the island. But don’t try to step foot on it. Some doors open only one way.
Dream Record #0113-GreenLake-DI
Reported by R. Nguyen, Archivist
