The Child in the Womb
After Dark II: End of the World After Party
"The Child in the Womb" (Experimental Section 4 of 4: Death's Reflection)
Mother
I am with child.
Father
Get rid of the nuisance.
Mother
I know, my love. I know.
The unborn child is bitterly disappointed as it listens to the consenting verdicts. Not yet out into the world and it is already a nuisance. What determines it? How do they know?
I've already made arrangements with the local physician. Already? So clever is its mother.
Excellent. Would you like me to you, my dear? Courteous. So gentlemanly is its father.
Do not worry yourself. It is but a trifling matter. Trifling? The feeling of being turned upside-down and spanked. It must hurt.
The unborn child. It knows. It knows its mother's mind. It knows what she is thinking and feeling. She wants nothing to do with her unborn child. She wants nothing to do with her crippled husband. Unfaithful is she.
The unborn child kicks so she may know too. She cries tears every night. Not for her husband. Not for her child. It is undoubtedly tears of guilt. She understands this. The wants to abandon a broken family. The wants to escape and start again with a new clean slate. But what of the unborn child? Its existence to be erased so readily. An innocent not yet tainted by man's desires.
Clever—but cruel. Too cruel is she. Indeed, selfishness has no cure.
• • • • • • •
Lying on the cold slab, she knows what is to come. Every part of her selfish body anticipates the moment when she is free of guilt. To drop a weight and feel herself lighter. The unborn child shifts, acknowledging its mother's wishes. Yet, it is not ready to let go. Not when it has yet to start.
Do not be afraid, darling. Shhh—everything will be all right soon. Its mother whispers false endearing words as she glides a hand across her abdomen. And she smiles. To think of its demise is to think of her freedom.
Beautiful—but cruel. Too cruel is she. To witness its death is to witness her rebirth.
The unborn child ponders upon a question as it strangles its mother to death. How to continue living under such circumstances.
Whispers whispers and serene silence answers
Don't—
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