Neither above or below

The turtle, too, knows its way. The turtle, too, has been here before. The turtle watched the
ingress of water into the city, but unlike the humans, it watched without fear, without alarm.
It watched, instead, with patience. It waited to retake the land the humans had taken from it.

Hasan’s grandparents tell him the city was not always like this, but he has known nothing
but. His grandparents tell him the city sank, not just because of the rising waters of the sea but
because of human greed, human corruption, humans digging under the surface of the city,
lowering it inch by inch.