Everything the River Took

The water came up the main street at four in the afternoon, and by six it had taken the bakery, the bank and my sister.

That is how I tell it now, in that order, because that is the order people want. They want the bakery first because they remember the bakery. They want the bank because it was the first thing anyone rebuilt. And then they want Nell, and I give her to them last, like a coin at the bottom of a pocket.