Little rivers started forming first. We didn’t know where they came from, but they started showing up everywhere. And in the strangest places. Mrs. Belfre discovered one on 7th and Main, that started at the top of the Geller building.

Yes. The top. And the river just flowed down the side of the building and into the street, where it disappeared near John’s Bodega.

When Nancy quit mid shift, we had to pick up “the slack” though we were all strung so tight already. Rosie, the head nurse, randomly assigned the now-unattended patients. Even with just one person gone, we all ran room to room, rushing and barely taking care of our charges.

The scent of fresh-cut grass assaulted me, like the raucous play of the children in the park across the street. I squinted from the bright light. Several cars crept by, music streaming from their open windows. Rex, on his leash, whined. I had the plastic bag at the ready, sweat dripping from my clenched fist. He pulled on my arm to run toward the park, but I hushed him. He’d just have to go here, in the small strip of city lawn. Rex whimpered