The drought had been surprisingly short this time. Two months of no rain, then bam, a solid week of torrential downpour. No one asked any questions, no comments were made. It was appreciated, but the drought hadn’t been that bad in the first place, so no one noticed. But they did notice when the rain didn’t stop after the first week. Or the week after that. The topsoil was washed away, the crops that were holding what was left of the dirt killed off by the drought. New rivers were carved, a few washing away towns, leaving gullies in their place. It was biblical, or it would have been had any of the inhabitants even heard of the Bible. And then it stopped, as quickly as it had started. Only during the flood, new cities had appeared. Towering, alien cities, pillars of murky crystal enveloped in snow globe domes. Nothing and no one came out, and no one went in. At least, that’s the way it’s been. Until yesterday. Yesterday was different…