The Gray Lady of Galveston

It was a still, humid night on the Texas Gulf Coast. A bright silver moon peeked out from behind the deep-blue clouds every few minutes, and the waves lapped gently against the concrete seawall. If anyone had been out on the beach that late, they would have heard the far away wail of a ship's horn, and maybe the very near sound of a cat chasing a mouse down the dock. But surely no one at all was out that late at night. On this end of the island, grand resort hotels line the seashore. Restaurants sell fresh seafood and souvenir shops are cluttered with endless gifts that say things like "Life's a Beach in Galveston." The town is filled with sunshine and people and life, and very little would tell anyone that just over 100 years ago, a huge storm almost wiped the whole island off the map. Buildings and homes were leveled, entire city blocks were washed away forever. And the people…let’s just say that no one was ready for what the Great Storm was going to do. In just a day, everything changed for hundreds of families. People woke up that morning, and just like every other Saturday, attended to their businesses and homes. All over the island, mothers made breakfast and fathers read the newspaper. Then the wind began to pick up. Back then almost no one had equipment to track storms or guess how bad they might be ahead of time—no one understood what was about to happen until it was too late. Some people say that sometimes, late at night, you can hear the sounds of that storm again. The terrible groaning and howling of the endless wind, the creaks and crashes of the buildings as the water began to rise with the storm surge…and other things, too. Strange, eerie sounds. This particular night, as late as it was, someone was walking down the beach. Every now and then the clouds would let the moon shine through and its light gave just a glimpse of this figure who was wearing a long, hooded cloak, even though the summer night was very warm. They were walking fast and with their head down, sometimes almost breaking into a run so that the long garment trailed out behind. Just ahead were the pillars of a great dock jutting out into the water. A couple of streetlights shone dimly over the edges of the dock, making deep shadows on the ground. The figure looked over its shoulder one last time and then plunged into the darkness beneath the pier and disappeared from view.