St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

The first story in the collection involves two sisters, Ava and Osceola “Ossie” Bigtree, who live with their father at Swamplandia!, “the island’s #1 Gator Theme Park and Swamp Café” (6). The story, narrated by younger sister Ava, begins with the girls staying at their Grandpa Sawtooth’s house while their father, Chief Bigtree, is away on the Mainland.

There is a storm, which Ava uses as an opportunity to speak to her sister because Ossie “has entire kingdoms inside of her, and some of them are only accessible at certain seasons, in certain kinds of weather. One such melting occurs in summer rain, at midnight” (4). Ava checks to make sure they are alone—referencing the fact that Ossie goes through spiritual possessions which she calls her boyfriends. One of these is Luscious, but Ossie claims that she is “dating” someone else now. She becomes possessed, which Ava knows “because I can see my sister disappearing, can feel the body next to me emptying of Ossie, and leaving me alone in the room” (5).

While Ossie is primarily concerned with her boyfriends and interpreting every gust of wind as a message from one of them, Ava takes most of the responsibility for the upkeep of Swamplandia! She is jealous of the way their father calls Ossie special and exempts her from chores. She describes how she feeds the gators—which are all named Seth—and helps her father perform n alligator-wrestling shows for customers.

Later that night, Ava wakes up to find Ossie is gone; she goes out into the swamp looking for her sister. She has done this before and knows how to wrangle Ossie back to the house when she is under a love spell. However, Ossie has gone into the marsh, and Ava hears the bellows of alligators and is too afraid to follow. She turns back, and Ossie returns in the morning from her ghostly meeting with Luscious.

While Ossie sleeps, Ava goes out into the swamp, where she meets an older man by the river. He looks at her “with the flat, lidless interest of the gators. He looks me to pieces” (11). At first, she thinks he may be a prospective customer, and then decides he is a gypsy Bird Man come to offer to rid them of pesky flocks of birds. He asks her if she can keep a secret and then makes several animal calls, including a gator. When Ava asks what bird he is calling with the last sounds, he replies: “you” (13).

Much later, Ava returns home and finds Ossie is once again gone, but her Ouija board is there. Briefly, Ava uses it to try to contact their mother, who is dead. She tells her mother she did something bad and sends herself to her room. Later, Ava feeds the gators live chickens for the first time. Despite the violence of the feeding, which always made her squeamish before, Ava now feels nothing. However, she does hope her father will promote her to line girl when he returns.

The next day, Ossie informs Ava that she and Luscious will be attending the Swamp Prom at the Bigtree Café. Ava must help decorate and play music while Ossie dances by herself. While this happens, Ava watches the dark windows for the Bird Man, although she tells herself he is gone.

After the dance, the sisters walk home together hand-in-hand, and the connection makes Ava happy. Although Ossie assures her that Luscious will not be coming that night, she is gone again when Ava wakes up. Her clothes are gone, and she left a poorly written note explaining that she has gone on her honeymoon with Luscious.

Ava is frightened and worries that, in fact, her sister is running away with the Bird Man. She runs after Ossie, feeling very alone and scared that her father is not there to help. Despite the bellow of the gators, she goes into the marsh, sure that “something hot-blooded and bad is happening to my sister out there” (22). Despite her fear, she is ready to defend her sister.

She finds Ossie by the pond, where she stands naked in the moonlight. Ava is struck by how womanly and motherlike Ossie’s body is, in contrast to her own. As if in a trance, Ossie walks into the water and submerges. Ava screams for her and pulls out a flashlight, illuminating a gator in the pond.

Finally, Ava wades into the pond after her sister and pulls her to the surface. Ossie fights her, and Ava “can tell from her filmy, sightless rage that she is still possessed” (24). She sees the imprints of her own fingernails on Ossie’s skin and watches “as they swell into puffy white welts. As if something were still clawing at her from within, pushing outwards, a pressure that is trying to break the skin” (25).