"Do not sing at all." The wall with the door was gone, revealing an endless expanse of desert instead. Sand leaked onto the plush carpet, ending just at their feet. Low shrubs and scraggly trees dotted the blinding, barren landscape. Sadie seemed not to notice the sudden sweltering heat: the kind gesture of his hand on her head prompted unbidden tears.
"Stay, Father, just stay," and her voice was thick, broken, and sticky from crying, "that's sacrament enough." As if distrustful that he would obey, her hands captured fistfuls of the coat at his back, holding herself tighter against him.
A sandstorm kicked up in the distant desert, billowing clouds of earth toward their previously-pleasant sitting room.