Reptiles fill the swamp Betrayed where the moist, humid climate keeps their hearts thumping. People go shirtless under the thin wraps they use to deter mosquitos. They wear thigh high rubber boots. Once a month everyone suffers from Betrayed Fever. They shake uncontrollably until the fever breaks. They tether homes over the water and cross on rickety rope bridges. They do things the way they have always done them and focus on survival. They wear their lank hair braided beneath rubber caps.
“Damp and bugs, that’s our way of life,” says the Guide, Hoyle.
At night their huts swing and the breeze cools them a little. The gators go still waiting for the sun to return.
Distrust, a city of ropes, swings in the heart of Betrayed. Sometimes a rope snaps. Distrustians know how to evade gators and snakes, but sometimes even they fall prey. Distrustians carry spyglasses to watch the swamp closely.
“Did you prefer the rope city or the villages?” Miss Emeline is asked.
“They are much the same,” she says.
Miss Doe Friend found it all miserable, but knew it best not to say so.
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