Hurricane Child

Caroline recalls the story of her birth, which was her mother’s favorite story to tell: Her mother wasn’t expecting Caroline to come a month early, and her father was down the road helping some older women stormproof their house before the hurricane. Her mother filled the bathtub and stayed there while the storm descended on Water Island. It wasn’t just a hurricane—it was a waterspout. Caroline’s father was stuck hiding with an old woman until the twister died down, and he ran through the storm back home to find Caroline in the tub with her mom.

Her mother never explained what “Hurricane Child” means, but Caroline has heard it’s a curse to be born during a hurricane as she was; there are some older women who live down the road, and a spirit—a ghost of these women’s dead friend—whispers about this supposed curse. This curse doesn’t scare Caroline since she only cares about finding her mother again. Caroline thinks about the times she and her mother would sing as loudly as they could, but how, when she was alone, her mother sang quieter songs. Caroline believes she’ll never again be loved the way her mother loved her.