It’s a Sunday morning so Uncle Luke is bound to be at the church. It’s not far; just a few blocks. Every little house Justin passes is shut up tightly for the night. On one porch there are several beer bottles that have been left lined up on the banister. There is a single orange flip-flop lying in the middle of the street. A rooster is strutting along the sidewalk on the other side of the street like he’s on his way to church, too. Shady darts across, pulling the leash tight and causing Justin to almost lose his balance. Shady gives a deep whuff! which causes the rooster to jump in the air a little before flapping its wings and charging toward Shady, who retreats.

There is something about the morning quiet that reminds Justin of the day before the flood, the day before it rained so much. He and Roscoe had risen early and gone down to the water’s edge. Roscoe had jumped right in the Cumberland, holding his head high out of the water as his small legs dog-paddled around in a circle, showing off. Then he had gotten out and shook off, so hard that he couldn’t hardly stop wiggling. There had been nothing but the sound of the river, the occasional song of a bird. The hills green and full of leaves. High summer. Then they had lain on the grass and watched the clouds, which were already turning green, a full day before the storms came. If he could have any day back, it’d be that one. The day before everything changed. But then again, he’d have never met Bell, or Evona, or even Shady.

He walks along with the leash in his hand and watches the sky for a time. The sun latches its heat to his face. But mostly he feels the cool air that is soothing itself over the island, moving in from the ocean in that last moment before the day will heat up.

There are lots of bright-red fire hydrants down the street and Shady has to pause to mark each one of them. He lifts his leg in the air, spurts out an arc of pee, a very serious look of concentration on his face.

At the corner of Olivia and Duval he isn’t completely sure which way to turn but he takes a chance on it and goes right. For a long while he is passing stores and restaurants—all closed this early on a Sunday—and then when he gets to the fancier shops he can see the white tower of the church up ahead. A man on a scooter zips by, then a couple of women who have been laughing as they approach him stop and spend a long time loving on Shady, who eats it up. The women have on party clothes—shiny, short dresses and big heels.