Pāhonoa te oro

He moved through his days with a quiet rhythm, and in that rhythm, he found space for prayer. A constant, wordless turning of his heart toward God. But the storm did not relent. By the third day, the stream had become a churning, brown beast. Elias stood at his door and watched it creep closer. Fear rose in his chest. He had buried his wife. He had watched his children leave. He thought he had made his peace with loss. But this was different. This was annihilation.