Westbound, Bloor and Castle Frank

Caucasian woman, late teens, with long black hair, wearing glasses, long black coat, black skirt, and brown Clarks Wallabee boots.

Black Juice, Margo Lanagan (HarperCollins)

Page 64:

So the day passed, and several others like it. There was night and day of terrible thirst, born of the need to walk a straight line from our starting point. Then we came to a broad, clear river, and we swam it, and stood in the shallows on the far side and the water was magnificent in our throats, a delight across our backs.

She hates to be upside down in the water. The new swimmers were each told to pike to the bottom of the lake and grab a handful of sand, proof they’d come full circle. She’d managed her heels over her head, righting herself the moment her toes slid beneath the surface. She sank through the gritty water to the bottom, kicking sand into her hand. She broke sunlight, arm extended and palm splayed, knowing that back in the city they would be asked to defend their badges. For now, she didn’t care. She was learning a bigger life lesson, the means to an end.

30 in 30: Adam Sol reading from Jeremiah, Ohio. Buy it here.