She was was making a quilt of the river, it was the antithesis of science. Twelve feet long and eight feet wide, the covering for a giantess.

"But who would ever use it?" Samantha asked.

"Basketball players?" her mother offered. They laughed together.

"I need it long so I can get the flow I wish."

"So it's not for using, it's for flowing," Samantha said.

"Exactly," Lisle said, clapping with delight. She was a good daughter, the best.

They believed each other's stories and knew they were not minor characters.

"It's a quilt for swimmers then."

"Night swimmers," Lisle said, "We are all night swimmers."

Even the retrovirus, she thought.