I rushed toward the small bar window along with the others, trying to see outside.
The desert night had turned strangely dark.
Heavy clouds covered the sky and flashes of lightning lit the horizon.
Then we heard something impossible.
Then, not a few drops, a storm.
The sound grew louder and louder as water slammed against the roof and poured down the prison walls.
“Rain in the desert.
” Amir whispered in disbelief.
“It almost never rains here,” another prisoner said.
“But this wasn’t ordinary rain.
It was violent.
Wind howled across the compound, rattling the iron bars.
” The watchtower lights flickered wildly as guards ran through the yard, shouting orders.
Then, suddenly, boom! A loud crack of thunder exploded above us.
The entire prison shook.
Prisoners screamed and stepped back from the windows.
Water began flowing through the prison corridors.
At first, it was just a thin stream slipping under the metal doors.
Then, it became stronger.
Within minutes, the water was already covering the floor.
“This isn’t normal rain,” I said nervously.
The guards outside were shouting in panic now.
I heard one yell, “The drainage gates are failing.
” Another voice shouted, “The river is overflowing.
” River? I remembered something for it once told me about this region.
There was an old dry riverbed that passed near the detention camp.
Most of the year was nothing but cracked sand.
But during rare storms, water from the mountains could rush through it like a sudden flood.
I looked at Reza.
He was standing quietly watching the rising water.
“You knew this would happen,” I said.
He shook his head slowly.
“I didn’t know how, but I believed God would act.
” The water reached our ankles.
Some prisoners began pounding on the cell door.
“Guard! Guard!” No one came.
Outside, chaos had erupted.
Through the window, we saw soldiers running across the yard.
Some were dragging equipment while others were shouting into radios.
Lightning flashed again and for a brief moment I saw something terrifying.
The outer fence of the prison had collapsed, crushed by a rushing wall of muddy water pouring through the desert.
The flood was real and it was coming fast.
Inside the prison corridor, alarms began blaring.
The loud metallic siren echoed through the entire building.
The water rose to our knees.
Fear spread to the prisoners like wildfire.
“We’re going to drown,” someone cried.
The young woman near the wall began sobbing uncontrollably.
Amir tried to calm her.
“It will be okay,” he said, but his voice shook.
“Even he wasn’t sure anymore.
Suddenly, we heard Keys rattling in the hallway.
A guard appeared outside our cell.
His uniform was soaked, and his face was pale with fear.
He looked nothing like the confident soldiers from earlier.
What do we do? One prisoner shouted.
The guard stared at the rising water nervously.
Then another guard ran down the corridor, yelling.
The lower blocks are flooding.
We need to evacuate.
But it was already too late.
A powerful surge of water rushed through the hallway, slamming against the metal doors.
The guard panicked and dropped his keys into the water.
They disappeared instantly.
Idiot,” the other guard shouted.
The water continued rising.
Within minutes, it reached our waists.
Some prisoners began climbing onto the small beds attached to the walls.
Others clung to the bars.
The guards outside were arguing loudly.
“We can’t open all the cells!” one shouted.
“There’s no time.
” Then a deep thunderous sound echoed across the prison.
“Craract!” A section of the outer wall collapsed.
Water exploded into the building like a tidal wave.
The guard screamed and ran.
The corridor lights flickered and went dark.
Now the only light came from flashes of lightning through the windows.
The flood surged into our cell, knocking several prisoners off their feet.
I grabbed the bars to keep from being swept away.
This is it, someone cried.
We’re going to die.
The water reached my chest.
Panic filled the room.
But in the middle of the chaos, Resza raised his voice.
Everyone listened.
His voice cut through the noise.
“Pray.
” Some prisoners stared at him in disbelief, but others immediately bowed their heads.
“Jesus,” Reza said loudly.
“You promise you would never abandon us.
” The storm roared outside.
“Lord,” he continued.
“If this flood came by your power, then lead us to freedom.
” Lightning flashed again.
And at that exact moment, something unbelievable happened.
The cell door suddenly burst open.
Not slowly, not by human hands.
The force of the rushing water ripped the metal door from its hinges.
The prisoners gasped.
The corridor beyond the cell was already flooding heavily, but the way forward was now open.
Reza turned toward us.
“Move!” he shouted.
“This is our chance.
” For a moment, no one moved.
Then Amir grabbed my arm.
Hassan K.
We pushed through the rushing water into the hallway.
Other prisoners were already escaping from nearby cells whose doors had broken open as well.
Guards were nowhere to be seen.
The flood had completely overtaken the lower level of the prison.
People were climbing staircases, shouting, and struggling to stay above the rising water.
Outside, the storm raged with terrifying power.
I looked back once at the broken cell.
My heart pounded.
If the flood had come even minutes later, we would have died inside.
But somehow the door had broken open at the exact moment we needed it.
Reza stood in the rushing water, looking toward the storm outside.
His face glowed with amazement.
Then he whispered something that sent chills down my spine.
Jesus has opened the prison.
And for the first time in my life, I began to wonder if he was right because the flood that was destroying the prison was also setting us free.
The prison was collapsing.
Water roared through the corridors like a living creature, smashing doors and sweeping debris down the hallways.
Prisoners shouted to one another as they struggled to climb the staircases toward higher ground.
Upstairs, air shouted, “The roof.
The flood had already filled the lower level completely.
Anyone who remained there would drown.
I grabbed the railing of the staircase as waves of muddy water slammed against my legs.
Behind me, Reza helped the older prisoners climb step by step.
Careful, he said, holding an elderly man who could barely stand.
Lightning flashed again, illuminating the chaos around us.
Cells were broken open.
Doors hung from twisted hinges.
The entire prison had turned into a river.
By the time we reached the second floor, water was already pouring through the windows like waterfalls.
This place is going to collapse, someone yelled.
A mirror pointed upward.
“There at the end of the hallway was a metal ladder leading to the roof hatch.
Dozens of prisoners rushed toward it, but suddenly we heard gunshots.
Bang! Bang!” Everyone froze.
Standing at the top of the staircase were several soldiers, their rifles raised, and behind them stood Prince Romani.
Even in the middle of the flood, his black coat was perfectly buttoned.
His face was pale, but his eyes still burned with anger.
“Stop!” he shouted.
The prisoners hesitated.
Water rushed through the corridor around our legs.
Ramani stepped forward slowly.
“You think this store will save you?” he said coldly.
He pointed his pistol at the crowd.
No one leaves his prison.
A woman cried out in fear.
The soldiers raised their rifles again.
But just as Ramani prepared to give the order, the ground shook violently.
Craya ash.
A powerful wave of water smashed through a nearby wall, flooding the hallway with tremendous force.