“The sound of thunder awake me, and when I got up, my feet sank into muddy water up to my ankles. Mother took Buster and Helen to high ground to pray, but I stayed behind with Apache and Lupe. We barricaded the door with the rug and started bailing water out the window. Mother came back and begged us to go pray with her on the hilltop. "To heck with praying!" I shouted. "Bail, dammit, bail!" Mom look mortified. I could tell she thought I'd probably doomed us all with my blasphemy, and I was a little shocked at it myself, but with the water rising so fast, the situation was dire. We had lit the kerosene lamp, and we could see the walls of the dugout were beginning to sag inward. If Mom had pitched in and helped, there was a chance we might have been able to save the dugout - not a good chance, but a fighting chance. Apache and Lupe and I couldn't do it on our own, though, and when the ceiling started to cave, we grabbed Mom's walnut headboard and pulled it through the door just as the dugout collapsed in on itself, burying everything. Afterward, I was pretty aggravated with Mom. She kept saying that the flood was God's will and we had to submit to it. But I didn't see things that way. Submitting seemed to me a lot like giving up. If God gave us the strength to bail - the gumption to try to save ourselves - isn't that what he wanted us to do?”
Quote by Jeannette Walls
Work
This novel delves into the life of Permelia Snow, a young woman who faces the harsh realities of the American frontier during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It chronicles her journey from a young girl to a seasoned woman, as she learns to adapt to the rugged environment and the demands of life on the prairie. The story is rich with historical detail and offers a poignant look at the resilience and spirit of its protagonist. more
Author
Jeannette Walls is an American author who gained fame with her memoir, 'The Glass Castle'. The book tells the story of her upbringing in poverty and chaos with her family in the American West. more
You May Also Like
“Stand free and stand human, and the whole world will stand by you.”
“Wild animals pay attention to caste and creed, humans pay attention to humanity.”
“No human being shall acquire a superpower, being human is such a superpower”