Before the floods came, they dreamed of becoming athletes, singers, teachers and just like their big sisters. Of giving back to their communities and making their families proud. Of growing up. When the Guadalupe River rose to historic heights shortly before dawn on the Fourth of July,

The first drops of rain had yet to fall when Ainslie Bashara, a counselor at Camp Mystic, noticed that one of the younger girls had begun to tear up. They were walking back to their cabin, Giggle Box, as another storm swelled over the Texas Hill Country. The girl feared what was coming, so Ainslie wrapped an arm around her.