The mother turns from the steering wheel and looks down into the hull. There's her baby boy, lying in their waste. How did they create so much garbage? It fills the entire boat. Maybe the boy shouldn't be lying in it, but he can't be moved. He's too weak, and she needs a plan. Her husband is out there, right now, trying to find sustenance for them. She could wait for him, or she could go herself. She looks at her daughter, at the cheekbones jutting though her matted blonde hair. Yes, she would go herself.
As the mother and daughter walk toward the town, they look for signs of life along the road. The girl can barely walk, she's so weak, and the hunger seems to have started in on her brain. The mother takes her hand and half-drags her. The walk seems never-ending along the life-less expanse. The mother is not much stronger than the child, she just has more will-power. She can convince her body that it's stronger than it really is.
They reach the town, and the contrast of its prosperity against their hunger seems absurd. There must be food for them somewhere here. The mother feels the bundle of bills in her pocket and sighs at their uselessness. They wonder through the streets and find wide smiles and laughter, but no food. They find people rejoicing, oblivious. How can there be such happiness, the mother wonders, while we are in such hell? Soon she loses hope, and her strength is nearly spent. So, she lets her body wonder back toward the boat that holds her son, daughter in tow.
As they leave the town, the two notice a pasture on the left, with a low wooden fence around it. They certainly didn't see this on the way in. They stop to get a look and see with their squinting eyes animals grazing. Life! The daughter tugs at her mothers skirt, pointing out the eggs lining the fence. She picks one up with one little hand, sticking the other one in her shirt. She pulls out a small white egg to compare to the one from the ground. The white egg looks plain and fragile next to the sparkling, jeweled egg from the fence, but it hadn't broke all this time. The girl looks up at her mother, and they both smile. Perhaps there is hope for them after all!
The two turn from the fence with confidence and head toward the boy they'd left behind. A figure appears on the left of their path. The mother turns to see a chocolate colored young man with European features in a chocolate robe, holding a scythe. She swings around and circles her arms around the chest of her bony child. The man rolls his eyes at her futile gesture and holds his arms out to them. The girl's feet lift into the air as the mother screams is despair. He pulls her little soul out through her little feet, leaving her lifeless body to fall to the ground. Her mother sobs over the little body, as Death turns toward the boat. "No!" the mother screams. "Don't take my son, too!"
Death stops and turns to her with a laugh. "You're son? He's been dead for days."
No comments:
Post a Comment