EMERGENCY BROADCAST FOR MOTHS

The warning came through Channel Eight at 2:04 a.m. No one heard it except the moths.

By dawn they had gathered against every lit window in the city, spelling the same word with their soft brown wings: BELOW.

I worked nights repairing the radio antennas on the roof of City Hall. The transmitter showed no signal, yet its needle swung toward the river. My boss called it an infestation. I called it a message because the moths changed their spelling when we watched.

At noon the river began rising without rain.