When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. GENESIS 3:1-7

Dusk was settling on a cold evening in the hill country of a small Texas town. A car came flying over the hill that overlooked the old community center towards the Cowhouse Creek in the fall of 1972. It was a deep creek and always seemed to have water even in the driest of Texas summers. Jessie was a young freshman that had just moved from the big Metropolitan city of Dallas/Fort Worth to this hill country town of only 312 people. He was walking toward the bridge after a long practice. He was not sure why he was walking in that direction, he was just trying to get some space away from the upper class boys, and that was when he saw the car pop up over the hill out of control.

It had rained a lot that week as a cold front moved in and the temperatures had dropped out of the 80s and into the 40s. The car began skidding and Jessie jumped out of the path of the bridge, but the car never made it across. The red Mustang spun and shot off the side of the bridge, plunging into the creek below. Jessie was shocked as he recognized the car. It was Ricky's, a classmate, only fifteen and without a driver's license. Jessie heard the loud squeal of the car, and a noisy splash into the creek. He could see the car sinking quickly as Ricky struggled to get out through the window. He hollered to Ricky as the car went out of sight into the murky waters of the Cowhouse Creek. Ricky was in panic and was screaming unlike any 5'10" thick-built farm boy would sound. He sounded like a frightened girl. Jessie ran down the mud and wet grass to the edge of the creek to help Ricky. He was under more control since he saw Ricky was alive and not in danger, but as he got to the edge, Nikki Gail, the only freshman girl in the class emerged screaming.

She was freezing and gasping for air in the water as she flailed her arms about to stay afloat. Jessie passed up Ricky who was seeking his hand for support to pull him out, and he dove into the water without thinking in order to get to Nikki Gail. The water stung him like he had dove into a hornet's nest. It was numbing cold, and he could feel the air go out of his body as his body sunk into the water. He swam as fast as he could toward Nikki as Ricky pulled himself to safety shivering on the edge of the bank relieved to be out of the freezing cold water, but still in shock of the flight from the bridge.

Jessie was a good swimmer, as he had grown up in a single parent home where his mother left him all day during the summers at the pool where she wouldn't have to deal with him. He grabbed Nikki and hauled her in pulling her toward the shore. Once she had gotten her breath and was no longer choking on mouthfuls of water, she began to scream again. She gagged and told Jessie that Nancy Lou was still in the car.

Nancy Lou was the same age as Jessie, but her birthday fell where she was in a grade below them. Nancy Lou was the most beautiful girl in the school, and one he had fell in love with "at first sight" when he started at the tiny country school. Of course, no one knew this but Jessie and his daily journal he had kept since moving from the city.

Jessie was losing his breath and was fighting the stinging pain of the cold water crushing against his body as he pulled Nikki Gail to the shallow water. He told her she could make it from there and to get to the shore, and he went back into the deep water, despite fearing for his own life while still numb from the pain. He had to find Nancy Lou. Nikki Gail shivered and cried as she stood on the bank of the creek and yelled for Jessie to find her best friend.

Ricky had run up the hill to look for help. Jessie went under and the water was black as night. He could not see his hand in front of his face. It was almost dark outside, yet there was some light, however, under the water it was pitch black. He could not hold his breath much longer, nor endure the pain of the cold water tearing at his skin. The deeper he went, the colder and more painful it became. He felt for the car, and fought to keep the flow of the current from pushing him off course from where he thought the car went down. Luckily, the current took him to the car, and he could feel the window Ricky and Nikki Gail must have gotten through. This seemed like an eternity of time as his lungs were about to explode, and he began swallowing the cold water as he fought to find the feel of a young girl's body. As he swam inside the dark water and felt Nancy Lou trapped to the passenger side seat belt, he fought to pull her free, but didn't seem to move her. He felt like giving up, and all of this was happening in seconds, but seemed a lifetime to him. As thoughts passed through in his mind, he thought he was going to drown while trying to save a girl that was probably already dead, and he was about to let go and give up.

He heard a voice and felt a pull of his arm. At first he thought Nancy Lou was conscious, but the voice...