Flustered, Zadie’s eyes popped open. “Fuck.” She took another drag of damp air, felt her stomach rise and fall. “Come on. You can do this,” she whispered on the exhale. She closed her eyes again and tried to think of something relaxing. The beach …

Warm sand. Sea breeze. Sun glinting off the water.

A good book and a good chair.

Waves tumbling and breaking.

Her mother beside her, pointing to a storm on the horizon.

Nora wading into the ocean as the waves turn gray.

A wave swallowing her whole.

Zadie shook her head in frustration. If the beach couldn’t mollify her, then what could? Maybe she was doing it wrong. She needed something to focus on that had no expectations of her, that didn’t try to force her to be happy but allowed her to find peace in whatever she was feeling.

Zadie placed her hands on her abdomen and began to hum.

She didn’t think about what she was humming at first. She couldn’t even hear herself over the rain. She could just feel the vibrations in her throat. Once she realized what the melody was, lyrics began to mold themselves around the notes, dove-soft syllables that melted like wafers on her tongue.

“Hush, darling, hush

It’s almost dawn

The birds are singing

I must move on”

Zadie’s pulse began to slow in time with the song.

“You’ll say I didn’t say goodbye

But we’ve been over this a thousand times

Wings were not meant for flying

In place”

Her mind was a screen door. Music flowed in like air while her thoughts paced outside.

“I want more for you

And for that I’ll take less of you

I’ve taken enough from you

Already”

Her stomach sank while her head seemed to float.

“Hush, darling, hush

It’s almost dawn

The birds are—”

Falling.

It was brief, but a premonition all the same. She started the chorus over.

“Hush, darling, hush

It’s almost—”

Creek.

“Hush, darling, hush—”

The creek is falling.

The creek is falling? The strange message meant nothing to Zadie. Her premonitions were always a little cryptic, but this one didn’t even make sense. The water level was rising, not receding. If the rain continued the way it was, it wouldn’t be long before the creek flooded.

When the creek floods … She half remembered Myron saying something about this that first night on his back porch. They were looking out over the valley—

Zadie jumped to her feet and ran out into the rain. “Myron!” The men whipped around as Zadie stumbled to a stop in front of them, hair already drenched, blinking the raindrops out of her eyes.

“That bluff you can see from your house. You said it turns into a waterfall?”

“When the creek floods, yeah,” Myron answered.

“Do you think it might flood today?”

Myron looked over at the rushing water. “I’d say it’s likely.”