TCHAPTER 1: THE NIGHT THE SEA TOOK EVERYTHING
The storm arrived without warning.
One moment, Amelia Carter was standing on the deck of a small fishing vessel, wrapping a blanket around her six-day-old daughter, Lily.
The next, the ocean exploded.
Waves towered over the boat like moving mountains. Rain slashed across the sky. The wind screamed so loudly that no one could hear each other.
The captain shouted orders.
Crew members ran in panic.
Then came the wave.
A wall of black water slammed into the vessel.
Wood splintered.
Metal groaned.
People disappeared into darkness.
Amelia felt herself thrown overboard.
The icy sea swallowed her whole.
For several terrifying seconds, she couldn't tell which way was up.
Then she remembered Lily.
Her baby.
The thought struck her like lightning.
She fought through the freezing water.
Kicking.
Reaching.
Praying.
When her head finally broke the surface, she heard it.
A weak cry.
Somehow, Lily was still wrapped inside the wool blanket floating nearby.
Amelia lunged toward her daughter.
The sea tried to pull them apart.
But Amelia refused.
With trembling arms, she grabbed the baby and held her against her chest.
Nearby, pieces of the destroyed vessel drifted across the waves.
Among them floated a cracked wooden raft.
It wasn't much.
But it was enough.
Amelia climbed onto it with the last strength she had.
The storm swallowed everything else.
The boat.
The crew.
The lights.
The shore.
Gone.
Only a mother and her newborn remained.
May you like
Alone in the endless darkness.
And the storm was only getting stronger.
