The Choice

The Saddest Thing I Ever Heard-

A mother, carrying a baby for months, awaiting the day she will finally see the day the child comes into the world. A mother, not by her own choice, a mother, created through another person's actions, because a man forced her to be with him that night, but she chose to keep the baby. Despite the circumstances, she decided to carry on. She knew it would be hard on her, but she wanted to do what would be best.

A mother, weeks from delivery, feeling the weight inside of her, the guilt from her situation, even though she knows it wasn't her fault. She knows she will have to live with the choice to keep the baby, and every day, will be reminded of what happened when she sees her child's face. She feels abandoned, lost, betrayed. As she slips into a deep sleep, her sister walks in on her, discovering her actions, rescuing her from bleeding to death. The mother and baby are both saved- it is a miracle, they are told. The sister does not know of the situation from which the baby was conceived; rather, she believes it was because of a boyfriend at the time. Still, she feels like she's saved 2 lives that day, and she has.

A mother, at full-term, ready to deliver a baby, is rushed to the hospital in labor. She is in horrible pain, which she feels she deserves because of her situation. She goes through hours of labor, and complications arise. The baby is born a few hours later, and is rushed to the NICU as the mother continues to lose blood rapidly. The doctors cannot keep up. The mother's body goes through a series of serious complications which eventually become damaging. The baby girl is barely breathing, and the body is weak and fragile.

Both mother and daughter quickly drop into a coma, connected to snakes of machines. They are alone, together in the hospital, in separate wards. The sister comes to visit both of them, having been told on the way to the hospital of the abuse leading to the pregnancy. She worries for her sister and niece, watching over them night and day, but for months both deteriorate, until it is finally left for the woman to decide what to do for her sister and niece, as she is the only surviving relative of either party.

The 20 year old girl cries as she allows her twin sister, and her sister's daughter, 6 months old, to be removed from life support. She doesn't want them to suffer any more than they already have. She cries as she holds her sister's hand in those last few minutes, then as she strokes the baby's head one last time. Life has been cruel. She walks away one last time, knowing things will never be the same.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 25 - I heard a song on the radio during the week and I thought the lyrics would make an interesting prompt for WoW. So, write the words "The saddest thing I ever heard" on your page, set your timer for 5 minutes and write the first words that come into your head based on the given prompt.