Noah’s Ark

My shoes were wet. This wasn’t the problem, of course, but it was the first thing I noticed. The real issue was that I wasn’t able to fully walk on water. Instead, I was sinking as I took steps.

“Hey! Wait up, lady!”

My lips pressed together in thought for a moment. I could still make it look like I was crossing the water’s surface if I was running. So, I ran.

“Are you crazy?!”

“What the fuck is she doing?!”

“We’re going to need to tell the rescue boat that they’ll need to do a second rescue….”

Pushing onwards, I tossed my hat back onto the beach, letting my hair run freely. The glasses, being of modern design, would remain on even in the water.

Two steps… three steps… four…

But it was getting harder. I could feel the water rising with every step. It had already reached my ankles. Worse, thanks to the shallow water, what I was doing wasn’t even easily distinguishable from running along the bottom without any miracle. I let out a growl that surprised even me.

“I just need to keep going….”

Silently cursing out a certain pigeon which wasn’t doing its job, I took another step. At this point, running was impossible.

Five… six… fuck.

I wasn’t going to make it. I was already knee-deep in water. I guess… I should just back out now. There’s nothing to be gained if I can’t show off a miracle to the crowd.... Even if I save him, it won’t do much to help build faith in gods. I sighed and began to turn back to the crowd.

“Elysia, above all you must be kind.”

I felt blood pounding in my head as an inexorable frustration squeezed my entire being. What am I supposed to do? If I save him, then it will only make me look like a Mod, not a prophet! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to disappear… like you.

But before I could think further, my upper body was suddenly submerged in cold water – my body was moving on its own. I had begun to swim towards the boy. It wasn’t the same foggy feeling as when I had been manipulated into using a large miracle to end God the Father. It was more like an instinct imprinted onto my being. My very soul was rejecting the notion of leaving this child to drown. Me? Saving someone from drowning? I’m such a hypocrite….

After I swam a certain distance, the riptide began to tug at me, drawing me towards the boy. I could make out his face. The expression on it intensified the frustration swallowing my heart, while his violent shouting made the pounding in my head all the louder.

“Help! Please! Mum! Someo-!”

Before he once more fell under the waterline, the boy was crying out in fear. He was screaming for someone to save him. Maybe… if I can just save this one boy… then….

I dived under the waves and grabbed onto his rash shirt, dragging him above the water. Hearing him spluttering, I exhaled in relief. However, as with many victims of drowning, the boy began to violently thrash, grabbing onto my head and pressing it down as if to try to drown me. For me, of course, that wasn’t a problem. I simply approached closer and grabbed him tightly, preparing to drag him back to shore. Slowly, the boy began to relax.

“Take deep breaths to calm down. I’m going to take you back.”

The boy, still dazed, nodded slowly. It might have been the better option logically to simply keep him above water and wait for the boat, but my decision wasn’t entirely logical. Despite knowing that it would only further accusations of me being genetically modified, I simply wanted to get this situation over with. It’s not like they wouldn’t come up regardless.

I began to swim with one arm while holding the boy over my shoulder in the other. The current would be dangerous to pull through directly for a regular human, so I made some effort to feign normalcy by swimming a hundred metres laterally to avoid the riptide before returning to shore. While a crowd was gathered where I approached, there was one woman at the front of the crowd… Jude.

When I got out of the water, still carrying the boy, she rushed at us far faster than anyone else in the crowd. She offered us both towels, before embracing the boy.

“Noah!”

Noah, for his part began to cry. I felt my lips curl faintly at the sight. So, Jude did have a son. But before I could admire their parent-child bond further, I heard a voice yelling at me.

“What the hell are you doing, Mod!”

I turned, seeing a group wearing blue patches in the crowd. Resisting the urge to attempt to roll my eyes for the first time, I glared at them instead. A blue-patched man with a balding head took particular offence to that.

“A boat would’ve come! Jackson Cliff is barely out of town! Don’t dirty our children with your filthy Modded mitts!”

“Yeah, go back where you came from!”

Their attitude was almost a cartoonish caricature of xenophobes. This is way beyond the pale of a normal dislike of outsiders. I think I have a guess as to what is going on here…. Nevertheless, I could feel a familiar anger boiling up in me. It was the anger I had felt for years under my time with Michael. I looked the balding man in the eye to answer.

“If you took more interest in ‘where I came from’, then your… scalp… would be looking far better.”

This sent displeased murmurs through the crowd.

“Who does she think she is?”

“This little….”

“She …”

I returned my gaze to Jude, who was now nervously guiding Noah out of the crowd, as I felt my heart beginning to beat faster. The pounding in my head returned tenfold, and my vision narrowed. These mortals… these mortals are the ones who I am supposed to gather faith from? They’re looking down on me….

The blue-patched group approached. They were most likely not intending to get directly violent, but it was a clear effort to intimidate me.

“Stop.”

They didn’t listen and continued moving. As I watched, time felt as if it was slowing.

I hate them… but I need them to build faith. … And, I did this to them, didn’t I?

The contradictions in my feelings were endlessly compounding. With every breath I took in this world of slowed time, I could feel a relentless tension building within me. Finally, I burst.

“Fuck off!”

===

The onlookers were forming a semicircle around Elysia. At her shout, they abruptly felt an oppressive aura emanating from her. Many flinched, and most broke out into sweat. Either way, all were sensing the same thing: danger. The instincts of the primates which humans thought they had long since evolved past resurfaced once more to warn them to stay away from that woman.

A particularly brave member of the group with blue patches spoke up.

“Wh-what are you-”

Elysia, however, had long since passed the point of listening to the blue patches.

“If you had actually adopted basic safety measures, that boy would never have been in danger. And what’s with the lifeguard? That geezer couldn’t swim out and help someone if you pumped him full of speed!”

Realising that they weren’t in physical danger, the crowd’s fear slowly turned to nervous bewilderment.

“Why in the world are you charging those ridiculous taxes on non-residents staying here?! You people are blind! This is Drewville! You want to rebuild from the Great Flood? Do you really think this place can fix itself without outside help?!”

Elysia paused at her mention of the Great Flood and steadied her breathing. She glanced at the blue patches and frowned.

“Well, I suppose I do know why.”

With that she walked off, leaving behind a crowd that, as it got past its initial dismay at Elysia’s menacing aura, was growing more and more furious.

===

I was about to leave my room, having packed my things into the suitcase. I wasn’t thinking rationally anymore. My brain refused to process what was happening. I was wrong. I need to try somewhere else. Maybe I can try to convince Adam…?

As I went downstairs, I saw Jude and Noah were waiting for me. I examined her wearily.

“… What do you want?”

Jude, rather than responding, gently tapped Noah on the shoulder. He moved towards me and held a white flower up.

“Thank you for saving me, miss!”

I carefully took the flower from his hands. I felt the tips of my lips twist upwards. I scratched my chin.

“… It wasn’t a problem.”

The boy gave me a bright smile.

“I don’t think it’s bad to be a Mod!”

I tilted my head slightly. I’m not genetically engineered, but what exactly…. I kneeled down to Noah’s height.

“Why do you think that, Noah?”

“Because Mum says it isn’t!”

I looked to Jude and saw her expression darkening. She hurriedly jumped in to explain.

“Noah had his heart regrown with stem cells in Los Demonios. The other kids can be… cruel about it.”

So even that is counted as genetic engineering here? I sighed and patted Noah on the shoulder, putting on the best smile I could.

“You’re right, Noah. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

And, I’m sorry.

After that, I caught the next train home to Strait.