Happy New Year, everyone! With every new semester comes new responsibilities and with my 18 hour credit load this spring, I have changed my posting schedule to monthly updates. I hope to post every second Monday of the month, so please continue to check in on Young Literatus for my pieces. And now, for more of the story.
BIRTH
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I reached the edge of a lake. While catching my breath, I looked at the scenery around me. Everything was pretty white. The lake in front of me was still, a sheet of glass. The trees in the forest behind me were pretty bare. The blue sky was very far up and away. Hands on my hips, breathing through my cold nose now, I turned towards the lake again. A little girl sat at the water’s edge. She wore a bright pink skull cap with black mittens and a light pink puffer jacket around her, and she had the most piercing blue—or was that green?—eyes. “Be careful!” I called out to her, “It’s very cold in there”. She didn’t move an inch, just looked at me. Her eyes bore into mine and a visceral pain stabbed at my chest. It clenched down on me, tugged hard. My knees buckled under the sudden force and I hit the ground hard. A baby was crying somewhere far away. _____________________________________________________________________________
T-Plus 3 months: Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
T-Plus 10 months: Too Early. Too Small. Small eyes. Flat face. Tiny defibrillator. Assisted oxygen.
T-Plus 1 year: Safe. Home.
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I reached the edge of a lake. While catching my breath, I looked at the scenery around me. Everything was pretty white. The lake in front of me was still, a sheet of glass. The trees in the forest behind me were pretty bare. The blue sky was very far up and away. Hands on my hips, breathing through my cold nose now, I turned towards the lake again. A little girl sat at the water’s edge. She wore a bright pink skull cap with black mittens and a light pink puffer jacket around her, and she had the most piercing blue—or was that green?—eyes. “Be careful!” I called out to her, “It’s very cold in there”. She didn’t move an inch, just looked at me. Her eyes bore into mine and a visceral pain stabbed at my chest. It clenched down on me, tugged hard. My knees buckled under the sudden force and I hit the ground hard. A baby was crying somewhere far away. _____________________________________________________________________________
T-Plus 3 months: Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
T-Plus 10 months: Too Early. Too Small. Small eyes. Flat face. Tiny defibrillator. Assisted oxygen.
T-Plus 1 year: Safe. Home.