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morning to be brought back to town while the remaining girls went about their day. It consisted mostly of praying, reading their religious texts, and more prayer. They were all more determined than ever to prove their devotion after the departure of the first two girls.
The next two days played out in the same manner. On the second night, only one girl was chosen, and on the third, two more girls received flowers. They were now on the fourth day of their Journey and there were eight girls left, including Lyssa and her friends. Lyssa’s confidence began to waver and that day, during the times she wasn’t praying, she was deep in thought. She kept replaying the conversation that she had had with her friends on the first night. She couldn’t fathom that some men would hurt their wives, and that it was allowed. But what seemed to strike her even more was the fact that other women didn’t want children. This seemed like an impossible concept to Lyssa. They were taught from birth that their only purpose in the world was to be married and bear children. But some women didn’t want to. Lyssa didn’t want to. So where did that leave her?
These thoughts plagued her for the rest of the day. She moved robotically through her tasks, almost overfilling her cup for the Water Prayer. In her distracted state, Lyssa neglected the last part of her prayer that night and forgot to drink her sip from her water cup. Instead, she simply laid down, pulling the blankets up to her chin, and fell into a troubled sleep.
12
Lyssa awoke in the middle of the night to the sounds of men’s voices. Her eyes shot open and darted about the dark room in confusion. There was supposed to be no one else on the island besides the girls, especially no men. That went against everything she had been taught, everything the Church had told her. She didn’t see anyone in the room except her companions, but her eyes were drawn to a sliver of light that was shining from under the door that led to the