Unloaded guns

She prayed and prayed and prayed, and would tell people that the only travel companion she needed in her life was Jesus Christ, Son of Man, who, it seemed, had never heard of her.

she prayed on her knees with steel wool in her hands, trying to rub out a stain that had glommed into the floor and accreted into a sticky solid mass with ambitions to hang on. She prayed in the shower and in line to get on the bus. She prayed while her food spun slowly in the microwave, and she prayed at night as her head hit the pillow.

she prayed away the day and could not have it otherwise