Irena 1

As a girl, Irena made sure every animal in her village had a name and a story. If they didn't tell her their name and story, she told them. Even birds, the gypsies of the animal kingdom, were identified. Irena kept a journal and carried it with her everywhere. Into it went all the animals' stories; their lineage, where they lived, who their mates were, who their enemies were. She sometimes made inferences she would later have cause to revise. Her handwriting was incredibly tiny.

One day when Irena was rowing in her father's skiff on the lake at the edge of the village, a sudden gust of wind blew the journal overboard and it sank to the bottom. Irena rowed to shore, crying all the way. That night it occurred to her that she had neglected to record the stories of the fish in the lake. They must have claimed her journal as an act of revenge. From then on, Irena kept all the stories in her head.