The Ocean's Daughter QUOTES

1 " For a moment, Stuart and Helen stood silent, just watching Lyric darting in and out of the white-fringed brine. Helen wondered if perhaps the child was smiling, maybe just a tiny bit, but her back was to them and it was difficult to get a glimpse of her face. But this Helen knew—the only times this strange, quiet child seemed to find any shard of peace was when she was close to water. The waves seemed thrilled to see her, and together they reared up like wild horses greeting each other before the waves crashed down on the stony shore with their hooves. When smaller waves came, the girl closed her eyes and slowly let her arms sway from side to side, as though listening to some music that the others could not hear. It made Helen’s ears prick up and strain, but it was lost to her. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

2 " She had never seen him in pain before, not the soul kind. Yet he was now, and the longer he seemed left to his thoughts, the more it drenched him. Helen felt as if she didn’t know how to reach him, just knew she must try.

Her hand trembled as she raised it, and lowered it on top of his. It was not a careless touch—are they ever? But first touches hold an energy of their own, and Helen felt it surging from her. Giving, she hoped, some relief. Giving and not taking. That’s what she told herself. But when he pulled his hand back from under hers, she knew it hadn’t all been a gift. She had wanted something in return. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

3 " There are places in this world often believed to be empty, such as old homes or the sea, but the people who believe this are wrong. It is precisely because of what fills these places right up to the brim that we are drawn to them, and it’s for these very same reasons that we fear them. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

4 " How apart she felt, how apart she had felt for years, and she wished it was a feeling she could get used to. But it wasn’t. One by one, everyone else her age had married and had children, yet for her, the years of her twenties had slipped away, waving at her like hands from a leaving train. As they all moved on, she was left standing on the platform, absolutely alone, surrounded only by the smoke that stung her eyes and throat.
It was no different now. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

5 " With eyes still closed, Helen sensed Stuart drawing nearer. Perhaps it was his breath upon her skin, though it seemed to her more than that. It was as if their very souls extended their bodies by only tiny degrees, and now even though their flesh didn’t touch, their spirits did. She felt him in a way that was real, yet could not be measured, like how an echo can have a voice without having a mouth. She felt him in the heartbeats and the gaps between each, felt the air charged between them, felt the ache of her skin to have what their souls had found. To be touched, and to touch.

Then with the softest trace of his lips, Helen felt her tears kissed away. One, two, three of them, and he stopped. For a second, she was still, wondering if he would go on, if his lips would find her own, but only the roar of the wind came. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

6 " Helen looked around the room as though if he just looked too, he would see it. Would see the memories that she faced in every corner. She wanted to explain, but instead, her mind darted to the last time she had visited home, the Christmas before when she and her parents had only given gifts to fill the bomb shelter. The bleakness of war had penetrated their house that night, the depressing presents and rationed food nothing compared to the vacant seats around the table. The quietness had choked them. Now its fingers curled only around her throat. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

7 " There, with bare feet and drenched brown hair, crouched a child. Upon hearing Helen, the little one looked up until Helen peered into the eyes of a tiny girl. She seemed to wear only an enormous men’s sweater, with no identifying tag pinned to the front. Her knees were pulled up inside of it, thin pale ankles peeking out from underneath. The wool shirt alone was dry, as the rest of the girl’s head, hands, and feet were as wet as if she’d just been pulled from drowning. Tiny rivers flowed off her hair and pooled on the wool sweater, leaving it dark in splotches. Water droplets glistened on her skin, not running off, as though they couldn’t quite bear to leave her. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

8 " She lifted her hand and placed it on his chest, the exquisite little heartbeat radiating through her touch. Helen smiled, realizing she had found in this soft bundle something strong—unconquerable, even.

Something greater than any obstacle they might face as they made their way through the dark night. It was his soul, the unspoken words inside him that he wasn’t quite ready to tell her, but oh, they were there. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

9 " Helen stayed on that wood floor, her knees curled toward her chest, as though she could hold herself together that way when everything inside felt like it was exploding. How she hated these episodes. The first time one had happened to her so many years ago, she had thought it was a heart attack, but now she knew all too well the sensation of her organs rebelling. It forced her body to shake furiously against her will. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks, and she couldn’t seem to produce a single positive thought to counter her panic. That was my only chance! What am I going to do? What am I going to do!?

How long she lay there, she did not know. When Helen finally came back to her senses enough to notice the world around her, she saw that the light through the window had shifted to a sunset glow.

Breathe. Just breathe, she commanded herself. It was then that her gaze caught on a rectangle of cream paper stuck under the kitchen drawers. How had she missed it? She knew she had swept thoroughly. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

10 " She scanned the mess on the floor where several of the book’s pages were bent, and the glass of the frame had a single crack etched across it.

Bending over, Helen picked up the picture. Through shades of black and white, her mother radiated up at her. When The Wizard of Oz had come out with color, everyone had been amazed, Helen included. But after the film, while the others talked about the munchkins’ hair and Emerald City and Glinda’s dress, Helen realized that the color made you see things. Black and white made you see souls. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

11 " A flash flood had come into Helen’s life, careening down canyon walls. All that love couldn’t be trapped anymore—it had to find a path or it would destroy her. She knew now that the path didn’t lead to Stuart, but water, like love, is good at finding where it’s meant to be. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

12 " She had thought it would be easy from there. It wasn’t. It was simple, but not easy. There was joy, but terror, too, as though stepping back from a ship’s helm and letting the journey go. It sounded romantic enough until being dashed to pieces against the rocks. It was the loveliest tiny moments that would drench Helen in happiness, like when Lyric was nestled in the crook of her arm, resisting falling asleep. Helen had brushed a finger down the child’s nose. Her drowsy eyes had fluttered yet followed Helen’s finger, going cross-eyed just as Helen reached the nose tip. For a moment, the joy and love saturated everything. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

13 " At last they came to a hill and abandoned their bikes at the bottom. As they crested the knoll, Helen felt as though they were creeping upon some great secret and on the other side they’d find a giant sleeping or a black X with three shovels beside it. What they found was magic by a different name. Planes buzzed on runways like bees in a jar, and when one took off, a roar filled the air. As it lifted away from the earth, a breeze swept over their hilltop, and it left Helen wondering if they had been touched by the magic or if it was truly only a breeze. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

14 " Sitting down on a crate, Helen felt them, felt the vibrancy they had left behind like twilight after the sun is gone. She tried to picture their faces, their voices, but the details already blurred. They were slipping away from her, for they were never hers to keep. Turning her eyes to the ocean, Helen thought of all those boatloads of children on the water, needing somewhere warm and safe, and yet the ocean hadn’t listened to her plea. Everything she’d asked the universe had been ignored, snubbed. As she watched the waves, she tried to find peace in their steady heartbeat, but none came. The only thing she felt was betrayed.
Betrayed and so utterly lonely. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

15 " In each life, there come moments that feel as though they are a seashell from centuries ago caught and preserved in stone. All that is beautiful is there in full detail. And we are allowed to marvel as though time isn’t slipping away from us, as though it will always be here, in our hands.
That’s how Helen felt as she cradled the newborn in her arms and looked down at his tiny sleeping face. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

16 " And sometimes, if she was brave enough, she would turn to the memories of little James. Not the end, but the days before. When she would slide her pinky into his open palm and his tiny fingers would close tight around it. He would peer around the room with his brand-new eyes, and Helen thought that perhaps after the womb, this dark, tight space probably seemed about right. He was wonderfully oblivious to the danger they were in. She became his protector, and for those days, that was all she was. It changed everything. It changed her. And somehow, he in turn protected Helen. He was the sun that couldn’t reach them—he broke away the darkness. As she thought of him, of those red curls and blue eyes, Helen found herself feeling the warmth from him, even though he was gone. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

17 " Watching her with the other children, it struck Helen once again that there was something that still set the girl apart, something just out of reach. Lyric was remarkable. A breathtaking horizon and endless ocean, deep and mysterious. No matter how well Helen got to know her, she always felt as though she never truly would. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

18 " I’ll never see the ocean without thinking of you.” It was the closest thing to I love you too she could come up with. Perhaps it meant the same thing, just said with different words. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

19 " I could never do anything that would add to your pain.”
With that, he leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead, soft and sad as moonlight. Helen’s eyelids fluttered down as she relished it, wishing it could last, praying the next moment wouldn’t come. But of course, it did.
Pulling back, Stuart looked in Helen’s eyes, perhaps for the last time. “I’ll write. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter

20 " The danger was not gone—Helen knew that. Each day spent together, the existence of this tiny charge was in her hands. It suddenly seemed the most perplexing fact of life—it was up to flawed, bruised, broken adults to bring up angels. Helen wanted to offer the child a place of safety, but no matter where Lyric went, that could not be found. Not for sure. If she stayed, they would each risk hurt, loss, and suffering.
But it was no more than anyone else could offer.
Helen realized, as she brushed a strand from the girl’s face and tucked it behind her small ear, that if she didn’t take that risk, she could be risking even more. For both of them.
Lyric blinked, yet the look in her eyes never left. Helen closed her own eyes and leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on the child’s forehead.
I will fail. She knew. I will fail you thousands of times more. But if we stay together, I will spend every day we have doing all I can to keep you from losing that look in your eyes. She nodded slowly to herself, to the unspoken words inside her. When you see me, I hope you always see a home. "

― Corinne Beenfield , The Ocean's Daughter