Impossible Storms: Laura E. Richards’s Short Story ‘Maine to the Rescue’

In her allegorical short story, “Maine to the Rescue,” Laura E. Richards highlights the courageous perseverance of the young girl, Maine, during a terrible blizzard. “Blizzard Is Coming,” 1910, Julius Sergius Klever. (Art Renewal Center)

Whether figurative or literal, storms are the strongest forces that test mental and physical ability. When we courageously persevere and fight through these storms, we can conquer our fears and prove our strength.

In her allegorical short story “Maine to the Rescue,” Laura E. Richards highlights the courageous perseverance of the young girl Maine during a terrible blizzard. Though it is not clear when she wrote this story, it seems that Richards based it on the Great Blizzard of 1888 that plagued the northeastern coast of the United States.

All the girls at Miss Wayland’s School discuss the intense snow outside. Virginia complains that it should not be snowing in March, while Massachusetts “is as calm as usual, and Maine is jubilant” to see such substantial snowfall.

However, the storm soon grows worse. All the girls, except Massachusetts and Maine, grow anxious. Even Miss Wayland says, “There has never been such a storm [in New York] in my lifetime!” Despite the heavy snowfall, incredible winds, and dropping temperatures, the school is a safe haven against this blizzard.

As they sit at tea, they recognize a sound behind the wind. It is a child! But no one can tell where the cry is coming from, due to the heavy snow.

Without hesitation, Maine volunteers herself to go find the child: “It is a child! […] I am going of course […] If [the weather] were freezing, I wouldn’t cry.” She dresses herself in the warmest clothes and snowshoes. Then, with a ball of twine, she flashes out the door.

Once outside, Maine is confronted by a strong wind. The wind throws her, but with determination she stands up, “sets her teeth, folds her arms tightly, and stooping forward, measures her strength once more with that of the gale.”

Maine fights the wind, snow, and confusion until she stumbles upon little Benny Withers. Though she cannot see much through the blinding snow, she puts him on her back and trudges forward.

Against All Odds

Walking blind with a child on her back, Maine, against all odds, returns the boy to his home. Yet she does not stay in the Withers’ warm house. She plunges back out into the blinding blizzard.

Using her twine, Maine successfully tracks her steps backward to the school, where the girls welcome her back with joy! She is covered in snow, her face is scarred, and she is stiff. Nevertheless, she is cheerful and ready to go back out again.

Richards shows that even though Maine endures the harshest winds, snow, and ice, she remains steadfast. She remains cheerful and hopeful all the time, never allowing her courage or perseverance to fail.

In his novel “Pudd’nhead Wilson,” Mark Twain writes: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” We must not be afraid to test our strength and face our fears.

When we are confronted by the many seemingly impossible storms in our lives, we must have courage like Maine. For with such courage, we can fight, persevere, and conquer our fears. We can battle storms and achieve the impossible.