The people with folded wings

It’s a far-off country, he would say. Those people with wings keep them folded up, the wings under their suits and dresses, but at the right moment, just when they need to fly, the wings unfurl and off they go. They never drown with the ship—they lift off at the very last moment. When everyone else is sinking into the sea, there they go, up to the clouds.

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman