Necklace of Lagoons (Metaphor)
Very early on—mere pages into the narrative—a description of setting engages a metaphor that seems relatively of the ordinary. In fact, however, the metaphorical description of how the lagoons are interconnected contains a subtle foreshadowing of an object that will prove to be of substantive significance:
“The shack sat back from the palmettos, which sprawled across sand flats to a necklace of green lagoons and, in the distance, all the marsh beyond.”
We're like Giraffes (Simile)
Tate Walker stimulates Kya’s desire to read, and reading stimulates her desire to learn. Tate’s observation of this eagerness to learn is situated within a cleverly framed metaphorical image:
“Nobody's come close to filling their brains…We're all like giraffes not using their necks to reach the higher leaves.”
Filleted like a Fish (Simile)
There are two boys who become men who feature prominently in the life of Kya, the story’s protagonist. Although not directly linked to each other in any significant way except by virtue of their respective relationships to Kya, they will be inextricably linked forever by the time the story reveals all its secrets. A simile occurring roughly halfway through is another subtle case of providing insight that will only become fully clear later on:
“Chase was her first visitor since Tate, who had seemed as natural and accepting as other marsh creatures. With Chase, she felt exposed, as if someone were filleting her like a fish.”
The Marsh is Family (Metaphor)
Kya is known by the locals—not exactly affectionately—as “the Marsh Girl.” Tate recognizes that she and the marsh are connected in ways from which she could never be extricated. And even Kya realizes it in a moment of metaphorical epiphany:
“No, I cain’t leave the gulls, the heron, the shack. The marsh is all the family I got.”
Imagination Grows (Metaphor)
One aspect of the book is the development and nurturing of a creative mind. It is the story of the creation of a writer. Another metaphor used early in the proceedings for the purpose of foreshadowing hints at this aspect of Kya’s personality:
“Kya climbed in her brothers’ tree fort at the beach at search for sailing ships hung with skull-and-crossbones flags. Proving that imagination grows in the loneliest of soils, she shouted, “Ho! Pirates ho!”
