221 Mother's Lament

“I had this cousin when I was little.” Her gaze drifted. “She had a baby,” she continued. “Everything was normal—a beautiful little boy."

"Abby, do you really think this'll help?" I asked.

"He got sick in the nursery, so they put him with the sick babies. He did just fine and all; it’s just that my cousin was discharged from the hospital before her baby was.”

“What's your point?”

“She had to leave that hospital without her baby. I remember thinking what a strange feeling that must be—to go and be pregnant all of that time. I was only a child, so her pregnancy seemed to go on forever. Anyway, then to go and have the baby, and then to have to leave with nothin’.”

Silence was my appropriate response, because she treaded grim territory.

“I remember how sad, because she bitched and bitched about it. And when her baby came home a week later, all of the fanfare had already fizzled. No glory. No relatives’ welcoming the two of them into the home. No drop-ins to show off the baby to. Missed all that. She felt gypped. Nothing...but a beautiful baby.”

“Yea, I guess that’s weird,” I agreed, out of politeness, but I was wrong. She wasn’t sympathizing.

“Wasn’t that all just too damn bad!” she seethed. “She had her baby to raise--the important part--but she was all upset over stupid crap. A beautiful baby, yet she's furious over some ritualistic inconvenience. Back then, I loved her for her disappointment, but I so hate her now. She should know what it's like to leave the hospital without your baby because he’s dead!”

She was beyond any help I could offer. All the king's horses...

“Ready? Got all your things?"

“Yea,” she sighed, then laughed. "Her kid ended up a bum. Drugs. Had a kid he never saw. Nothing but torment her whole life. She blew raising him.”

"The important part."

"Yeah."

"So, you're saying, ' good for her'?"

"Of course not," she said, re-engaging those parts of the brain that keep our reptile in check. But after a pause, admitted, "Well, yea, I guess I am."

Sometimes the reptile means well. Sometimes the reptile prevails.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Thursday, August 8, Day 221 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Accompaniment photos were AI-generated but the pathos was not.

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THIS CHALLENGE GRINDS ON, 366 WORDS AT A TIME...

There are currently three surviving prolific, pathetic, and copacetic Vocal writers still participating in the insane, inane, Spokane 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, challenge originator

• Rachel Deeming (challenge participant)

• Gerard DiLeo (Bulbous Actuator, 4th Class, which is pretty scary when you think about it)

Read them. Support them. Let them reproduce happily!