56Becca woke the following day after a full night's sleep, something that usually evaded her. She'd spent much of her life suffering from insomnia, nightmares, stress, and the constant urge to flee, so perhaps her inability to sleep was understandable.
She yawned and stretched, eyeing the golden morning sunlight that shone through the window. After dressing, she walked to the dining room, amazed that there remained no evidence of the storm. All of the water had drained away and the ground and trees were dry. Back east, she would have slogged through sodden earth for days. She listened and heard no noise from the dam, the sluices silent.
Becca walked halfway to the front door then stopped to watch several yellow-breasted birds fluttering in a cluster of low bushes. One of the tiny birds g
