And So It Began
Something was wrong—very wrong.
A wave of fluids rushed over me. My head was lodged in something, and I couldn’t get away. What was going on? It was dark, so dark…I felt myself sliding slowly downwards, but to what end? The water was receding, but where did it go? Was I going to follow? Why couldn’t I move? So many questions clouded my mind, and I had no answers.
~
For the past many months, my life has been weird, but this is the strangest. It started about seven months ago. I began to notice small, hard things growing on my fingers. They wouldn’t come off. And then they grew on my toes! My body ached everywhere as my muscles stretched and my bones elongated. I was also insanely hungry all the time. This was very confusing to me. I had no control over any of it. I couldn’t escape it either, because I was trapped. I don’t know where, just a very warm and soft place with plenty of room. There, however, was no way out.
Slowly feeling had returned to my limbs, and I could move my legs and arms and head. But my head felt really heavy. Strange. It never had seemed so hefty before. I had reached up to feel it, and there was this weird fuzzy stuff coming out of my scalp! What is the matter with me?? And why was it still so dark? I couldn’t see, or open my eyes. I brought my hand down over my face, and stuck my thumb in my mouth. It was surprisingly comforting. I had sucked on it continually after that, gaining some small reassurance from this simple act.
Around the fourth month of being in my prison with no contact with anyone, I decided I needed to get out of here. I kicked like crazy, and pounding my fists against the walls. I tried to scream, but whenever I opened my mouth, no sound would come out. I had no voice. Why couldn’t I talk?? What kind of scary place was this? I never felt so alone….
No sooner had I thought that than I heard something. The first sound since my entrapment. It was loud, yet soft. It was all around me. I couldn’t get away from it, but I didn’t want to. It was a sweet sound, though I couldn’t understand what it was saying. Strangely it soothed me. Like it was telling me in some unknown language that I would be okay. And that this place wasn’t that bad. A little later another sound joined the first, this one was deeper though. They blended together and made such a lovely lullaby that I fell asleep.
Every day I listened for those sounds. They made me less scared and I didn’t feel so alone. Most of the time it was just the soft, sweet one, which was good, but I liked it best when both sounds combined. This was such a peculiar prison…
The days were long, and I had nothing to do. So I began to amuse myself by performing somersaults and pedaling my feet. The somersaults were the most fun, but they were hard to do. Somehow this room was becoming smaller, or I bigger perhaps, and it made somersaults difficult, so I didn’t do them very often. Pedaling was easier, and it was good exercise. Who knew when I would have the opportunity to run for it? I had to be prepared.
Then a month later I discovered I could open my eyes! I could finally see this place where I had been trapped for five months. It was indeed tiny. There were no colors, nothing else in the room. I couldn’t see the place from which the sounds came, but it had to be in here somewhere. But it wasn’t. It was just me. Speaking of me, I looked down at myself. If I had a voice I would’ve shrieked.
I was bright pink! The hard things were still stuck to my fingers and toes, and when I grabbed my face with my hands I realized they were sharp too. But worst of all, there was this tube thing attached to my stomach! It went up into the roof of my holding cell and then disappeared. What was this thing?? I also noticed that my stomach seemed a lot larger. I was becoming fat! No wonder I thought this place was smaller, it was me that was bigger! Well, I guess that’s what happens when you eat as much as I do…
~

And that’s been my life for seven months—at least that I remember. Now more craziness is happening! Will it ever end? I was sliding down faster and faster, and then I was stuck again. My shoulders were wedged in something tight. Where am I now? Am I finally going to be released?

Suddenly I felt like I was being squeezed, like when a boa constrictor strangles its prey. It was so tight, I could barely breathe. The squeezing went on for a couple hours or maybe a couple days, who knows? Then all of a sudden WHOOSH! I was abruptly set free from my cell! Finally.
~

The first thing I noticed was how bright it was. It hurt my eyes terribly, so I closed them again. There was also a lot of noise going on: beeping, shuffling of feet, sighs, laughter, and urgent voices whispering to one another. Then I noticed someone was holding me. He had something covering his face and head and he wore some type of protective gear over his eyes. Did it help block the brightness? That was the last thing on my mind because I decided right then this was all too much to take in at once and I opened my mouth to let out a silent scream. Except it wasn’t silent this time. I finally had a voice! My scream pierced the room very loudly and shrilly. No one seemed to care that I was frightened beyond belief, the person still continued to hold me, the noises were even louder, and even my own shriek scared me.
But one sound calmed me; I felt it all the way down into my core. I simply heard, “My baby, my baby…” coming from the other side of the room. I knew that sound anywhere! It was the voice that I heard from in my prison! I knew and I loved that voice! It was always so comforting and reassuring and wonderful. Now, however, it was full of pain and agony. What was the matter? Why wouldn’t someone explain what had been going on?
I was wrapped quickly in something soft and warm, and that helped me a little. Something else was placed over my head, and it wasn’t like the fuzzy stuff, but I didn’t know the name. Then I was laid down in a box with a light hanging above it. I was wrapped so neatly that I couldn’t move, and I was still terrified, especially after hearing that voice. It haunted me. Wait! The voice! I couldn’t hear it anymore! Where did it go?
Two people came to stand over me and they put something metal and icy cold against my bare chest. I squealed again, but now quite as loud. I wanted to hear what they were saying.
“This doesn’t look good.” The one said.
“Is she going to be okay?” the other asked.
“I’m not sure. That was a difficult delivery. The baby is fine, of course. But I don’t know about the mother…The father is going to be heartbroken if anything happens to her…”
“I know. He’s never left her side the entire time. He sure is devoted to her.”
“Come on—let’s go make sure nothing does happen to her.”
The men walked away. I didn’t understand anything they had said, but I knew it was something bad. And that it had to do with the voice, and that scared me more than anything else.
A couple ladies came over and examined me. I don’t know what they were looking for, but I must have been fine because they just put me back in the warm box. I wanted desperately to stay awake to see if the voice would be all right, but with the heat and the softness, I just couldn’t. I succumbed to the drowsiness.
~

A little later I awoke to the sound of excessive beeping and panicking voices. I twisted my head to try to figure out what was going on, but the box sides were raised up too high. I couldn’t roll onto my belly either since I was still wrapped in the wooly thing. I screamed. Somebody please tell me what was happening to the voice!!

A different man came over to me. It wasn’t one of the important ones from earlier, so who was this guy? He had a gentle face though. He was very tall and seemed caring enough. His eyes were very pretty, and they had a certain look in them. I couldn’t place it. It was more than attentiveness or concern. It was affection—love.

“Hello, little one. Welcome to our world.” He said quietly. I could’ve leapt for joy if I wasn’t bounded so tight. It was the other voice I knew! The one that made the sweet music! My face made a weird expression, one that I was unfamiliar with.

The man broke into a huge grin. “You smiled! You do know me! I thought the doctors were crazy when they told me and Nikki to talk to you.”

Smile? That’s what this was called? Interesting. Well, I liked it. And I liked this guy, and the way he looked at me.

“Matt? She’s awake now.” A voice called from the opposite side of the room.

“Come on, sweetie. Let’s go meet your mommy.” The man named Matt said looking at me. He reached down and lifted me up ever so gently. He nestled me in the crook of his arms, and I felt so safe, I never wanted to leave. I rode in his arms as he walked over to a rectangle shaped box that had more of the soft things on it, and this time a full grown woman lay in it.

She looked so tired and weak. She had the same fuzzy stuff on her head too, but hers was longer and lighter than mine. It appeared wet, though. And her face was bright red. What happened to her?
Then she looked at me.
With her tired, sad eyes.
She made that expression that I had.
She smiled.
At me.
She was glad to see me.
“Say hi to your mommy.” Matt said, and he slowly handed me into her waiting arms. He then sat down in the chair next to the rectangle, where I could still see him.
“Hello, my love.” She whispered in my ear—in her sweet, sweet voice.
She was here. She was okay. She had made it through whatever thing had gone bad. And she was happy to see me. That was all that mattered.
I smiled again.
My mommy smiled too. “She’s beautiful, Matt.”
“You both are.” He said as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Then he kissed my forehead.
My mommy fell asleep shortly after that with me still resting against her chest. I still didn’t know what new world I was in, but somehow I knew with people like these, it would be just fine. And so it began—my new life in this new world—with something new around every corner. Love always waiting for those who would seek it.
I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep—safe in my mommy’s arms.