A Mother

(Originally posted to the Fembot forums February 27, 2003)

A woman gives birth and suffers a miscarriage. She loses her mind. There is blood and black goo everywhere. The next time she was seen, she had just given birth to a baby boy. Her mind had gone. In fact, the only thing she could think to say was, in her last moments, that she loved him very much. That he was her son . He was not her son, he had been taken from her. A man was taken away from his mother. What was left of her was now a man who would never know his father, never have a mother . My father was still in shock when I told him what had happened. He had no words, no explanation, nothing. All he said was "That's horrible. How could that happen? How did that ever happen?" And then, when the couple came back for a visit, I asked them if they were going back to Earth. My dad said they weren't, because they didn't want to go back, to see their son. To see what happened to him. Because he was dead and the mother was gone.

Aiden had been a successful space explorer, traveling to galaxies far and wide. But now, his path had taken him to Earth, for the first time in years. He had left the planet to escape the pain of losing his wife, who had died during childbirth. He had been so excited to meet his newborn daughter, but instead, he was left with an emptiness that he could not fill.

On Earth, Aiden was overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the busy city. Everywhere he looked, he saw families and children, and it only reminded him of the one he had lost. He felt a deep ache in his chest, and for the first time in years, he felt a tear run down his face.

But then, something strange happened. Aiden heard a voice coming from a nearby alleyway. He followed the voice, and to his surprise, he found a little girl sitting in the alley. She had bright blue eyes, and a spark of life in her smile. Aiden knew, without a doubt, that this was his daughter.

Aiden scooped up the little girl, and couldn't believe his luck. He had found his daughter, and he was determined to never let her go. He took her home with him, to the planet that he called home. He built her a home, and filled it with love. He taught her about the stars, and about the galaxies far beyond.

And every night, Aiden would look up at the stars, and thank the universe for giving him back his daughter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The mother was generally discontent with her life. She never believed she had a real purpose, and always thought she should have died that day. Her father was a good father, besides the fact that he never looked her in the eye. He also never spoke to her, choosing to speak to the wall of their house instead every time she asked him a question. Generally, men were not interested in the mother. They ate their food and drank their drank, but she was never looked at the way she wanted to be looked at. The feelings of complete misery scratched at her insides everyday, until one day, she woke up and discovered that the flesh on her legs have disintegrated and all that was remaining was bone.

"Dad. Look at my legs." The mother went to him, crawling on the floor with her rotting bones dragging behind her.

"Dad. Do you hear me?"

As soon as she entered, she noticed that her father turned his head to look at the wall. "I do hear you. What happened to your legs?"