A Creek Runs Through It (and so did Crystal)

When I was 7 or 8 years old, a big storm flooded the little creek behind our house on Kerr Road in Jacksonwald. Normally the creek was about 2 or 3 feet wide, but rain had swelled it so much that it flowed over a small bridge that ordinarily stood about two feet over it. This particular bridge - just wide enough to get a car over - had two steel tunnels through which water flowed to the other side. When the rain stopped my sister Crystal and I went down to check it out. We stood on the bridge watching two men clearing rocks from the creek to allow water to flow faster. The bridge was totally under water, so I turned to Crys and suggested we step back so as not to fall off that side of the bridge. Little did we know, however, that we were actually a lot closer to the far side. We stepped back, and when I looked over to where my sister should have been she was gone! I looked around, perplexed, but couldn't find her. All of a sudden her head bobbed up from the creek on the other side. Crystal had gone through one of the narrow tunnels! Fortunately, one of the men clearing rocks saw and grabbed her before she could float by. I let out a sigh of relief. She was shook up and had plenty of scratches on her back, but she was alive. I thanked them and took her home. My reward? A spanking for not keeping a better eye on my sister!