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Time's Up

There wasn't enough time. There just wasn't enough time. Lorelei rewound and replayed the events of the past 24 hours, over and over in her mind. She simply could not hold on to both of her children and cling to a tree at the same time. Not for the lack of trying, though. She just wasn't strong enough to fight the current. The water rushed in so quickly that she hardly had time to think. In fact, she didn't think. She just reacted. She grabbed the two most precious things in the world, her children. Adam, being the oldest, was the one she sacrificed to the raging torrent. He was ok. . .well, about as ok as a seven year old boy could be under such circumstances. He was a brave little boy. Braver than most men would have been. His lower lip quivered only once when he looked into the terrified eyes of his eighteen month old baby sister, Mia.

"Let go, Mama. I'll be ok. If you can't find me in the morning, Daddy will. And if he can't, then Nana and Pawpaw will come and get me."

Lorelei's heart dropped at the thought of Nana and Pawpaw coming to get her only son. You see, Nana And Pawpaw were in heaven.

"No, baby. I can't. I can't let you go!" Lorelei sobbed as the water continued to rise.

"You have to, Mama. I'll be ok. I promise." Adam gave a weak smile as the torrent plucked him from his mother's grasp.

"Adam! Adam!"

Lorelei's sobs rocked her already weakened body. Her precious little boy was whisked away right before her eyes by thousands of gallons of water. A piece of her died at that very moment. But she still had one child left, her sweet baby girl, Mia. She mustered all of her strength and clung tenaciously to that tall southern pine.

* * *
"Howdy do, Mrs. Morrison? Good to see you're doin' alright. And what a sweet little baby girl you've got there. By the way, where is Mr. Morrison and your son, uh. . .Adam?"

Lorelei didn't hear a word of Maynard's ramblings.

"If only I had've, had some kind of warning. I could've gotten the children out, but there was no time. . ."

"Did ya say somethin' Mrs. Morrison?"

When Lorelei didn't respond, Maynard continued his rambling.

"Phew! That was some kinda rain we had last night, wasn't it? I bet it hasn't rained like that in a hundred years. Shucks, it rained so much I thought it was Noah's flood all over again."

Maynard was the only one laughing at his attempt to be humorous. His laughter was cut short when he saw his Aunt Ida Mae coming his way.

"Maynard James Griswold III, what on God's green earth do you think you're

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