Jack Andrew Ferry
Floodwater When people heard that God condemned us, many started praying. The rest of us carried on as we always had. And yet, the rumors spread to every ear in the city, each one taking the words differently. I often found Selene in prayer. She would nervously jump when I entered a room, saying that she was asking for forgiveness after seeing a man. Ida would toss her head upward toward His sky and laugh aloud at Him. Ida took as many partners as she was told to. Her regret was never visible in the cracks of her cheek rouge. Yet this was not the way for many people, who fell onto the streets to pray at the first light of dawn. They did not stop until dusk. Ida called them fools. “Praying to the air,� she tsked. There was something beautiful about it; the masses of people with their arms facing the sun, begging for forgiveness from a God they had no proof was there. I could tell Selene wanted to fall next to them, to embrace them, and beg for salvation. Ida 23
