Cityscapes

‘Jens’ and ‘shotgun’ and Jens looks at Sara nervously as he moves toward the passenger seat of the car. Sara touches Kayla’s arm, smiles sympathetically. The two girls sit in the back seat. In the car Sara asks where they’re even going.

Zach says he doesn’t care, says he wants to go somewhere with some space. Jens says they could go to the floodway and looks to the back seat at Sara. Sara says that would be fine, says she likes it there. She turns away from Jens and looks out the window. The car is quiet and tense, like the inside of a balloon. The floodway is a man-­‐made waterway that surrounds Winnipeg and protects it from flooding.

When the water is low, as it is this year, the floodway becomes a valley with spare grass and low shrubs and only a thin creek running through it. There are also periods of high water, which prevent heavier and taller vegetation from growing. The floodway can only grow so much, the floodway only waits. They arrive at the floodway and Jens looks to the backseat. Kayla has moved to the middle seat in the back and has her head rested on Sara’s chest. Sara has her arm around Kayla and is touching Kayla’s hair, while looking out the window. Sara could be a mother, thinks Jens. He feels suddenly very old. They get out of the car and walk out onto the floodway. It is flat and spare and further out it begins a soft curve to the north. The night is very calm and there are no clouds. Kayla moves to Zach and says some things to him. Zach is quiet and doesn’t look at

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