September 8th marks the anniversary of the Great Storm of 1900 here on Galveston Island. Known to this day as the worst natural disaster to befall the United States, the Great Storm killed countless people and caused tremendous destruction to the city of Galveston.
The storm’s severity and its high death toll, the many individual and community tragedies it caused have long been fodder for stories ranging from historic accounts to fictionalized tales and countless ghost stories. A piece of Storm of 1900 lore I’m fond of is the story of the two horses that survived the storm by climbing upstairs in a Broadway mansion. I’m not even sure whether I picked up this story somewhere to later retrieve out of my subconscious, or if I made it up, but the story became a significant part of my Galveston novel, Storms of Malhado. The storm survivor horses in the novel play a symbolic role. They are there to underscore Suzanne’s regret at not choosing herself and her own aspirations, and instead succumbing to the attraction of a toxic relationship.
Over the past few days, I created a new painting of the two horses. It shows them at the top of the stairs looking down to the dark flood waters below. The star of this painting is Fiona, the more spirited of the two horses.
Recently I wrote a short story in her voice. The Mare in the Mansion is not just a story about surviving the storm. It’s also a story about grief and trauma. Have you read it yet?
The painting of the two horses is 9×12 inches acrylic on cradled wood panel. It is currently available.
