Daisy Darker

The story is preceded by a map of Seaglass showing the layout of the rooms and the connecting doors between them.

In a note, an unnamed literary agent claims that the following manuscript was sent to him anonymously. He was shocked to receive it, as he knew the author was dead. The agent believes that the events described in the story may be true.

The narrator was born in 1975 with an undiagnosed heart condition. During the breech birth, her father had to choose between saving his wife and his daughter. He chose his wife, but a midwife resuscitated the baby. The narrator’s mother was disappointed, as she had wanted a boy. She called her child “Daisy Darker,” continuing the tradition of naming her daughters after flowers: Daisy’s older sisters were Rose and Lily.

Daisy died again, aged five, when she tried to swim to America. Rose saved her by performing CPR. When Daisy was taken to the hospital, her rare heart condition was discovered. Given a variety of drugs to keep her alive, she learned that her life expectancy was 15. Before reaching that age, she died eight times.

The narrator reveals that she is now 29 and volunteers at a care home for the elderly.