The construction of the Świnna Poręba reservoir in southern Poland has continued for over 40 years, with the deadline postponed again and again. Meanwhile, local residents have been banned from building new homes or even renovating existing ones. For decades, they were told that the project would be completed ‘any day now’. Now that the last residents are gone, only a few traces of their presence remain. I explore them in search of the relationship between humans and nature. I also seek motifs anticipating the long-awaited flooding.