Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

It is summer, and the narrator waits for the heat and oppressiveness of the season to take hold. It has been raining for a week. All at once, the air becomes oppressively hot, and she knows that summer has truly arrived. The creek that she visited all winter and spring has changed. The rain has sloshed mud over the log she sits on. She sees a starving dog, a broken whiskey bottle, and a snake. In the distance she hears the backfiring of a garbage truck as the workers attempt to impress two high school girls.

She recalls a flood the previous year caused by Hurricane Agnes. Everything looked different as the water rose and covered the roads. She and her neighbors gathered to blockade the bridge so that cars would not try to pass. She became disoriented as she stood on the bridge and looked at the water. Debris floated downstream, and she was astounded to see waves. The spot where she gathered praying mantis eggs was replaced by a waterfall. The neighborhood children were in their element, delighting in the altered landscape. They managed to corral a snapping turtle into a washtub and waved a broomstick in front of its mouth, hoping to convince the turtle to snap the stick in two.