The Stone Without a Day
Then there was light.
Her legs lay in the wet, dewy grass. The crickets were just going to bed and the still air was stale against her lips. She sat alone in a field full of stones, and her eyes traced into the letters.
There wasn’t a day on the stone in front of her, for he was never born. Therefore, he never died. She didn’t think of it that way though. She had felt him moving and had felt him living.
Her arm rested over her empty stomach, letting her fingers play with the hem of her shirt. Raising it up, slowly, she stared at the puffy pink scar. She lay with her back against the stone without a date and stared at the sky. One hand traced the pink line as her other hand clutched around a cluster of white pills.
Suddenly, she raised that steady hand to her lips and swallowed the pills that were dripping apart in her hand. She felt them go down her throat and in that moment, she felt the most alive she had ever been.
Slowly, she shut her eyes and remembered the day, the day that never made it to the stone.
How could she not of known? She had carried the dead around for a whole week, and no silence matched the silence of a hospital room without a baby’s cries.
Is still hurt her. Why? Why was it still hurting? Suddenly, the hole in her stomach reopened, and she could feel how it felt to carry around the dead. Her stomach was cold and her heart was broken. That’s the worst crying, when you are lying with your head against the wall and the tears running down your face. Her hand lay over her mouth so she didn’t make noise. Her heart broke and she thought of everything that had ever hurt, and her other hand was on her heart and then her stomach because they both hurt worse than anything had ever.
The end was coming and she wasn’t afraid. The warm tears streaming down her face are the only things that she felt in that moment, as the rest of her body felt like it was cold and drifting. In the distance, somewhere far away, she could hear a baby’s cries.
She tried her hardest to open her eyes, but she could only see darkness. She wanted to see her baby boy, but it was so black. As far as she could see, there was darkness.
The birds began to wake up and chirp around her and she could almost feel the heat of the sun warming her dying body. She let her head fall against the stone and she let the tears drip down her face.
The cries were closer to her now, and she could almost see something. It was nearly there.
And suddenly, there was light.
There wasn’t a day on the stone in front of her, for he was never born. Therefore, he never died. She didn’t think of it that way though. She had felt him moving and had felt him living.
Her arm rested over her empty stomach, letting her fingers play with the hem of her shirt. Raising it up, slowly, she stared at the puffy pink scar. She lay with her back against the stone without a date and stared at the sky. One hand traced the pink line as her other hand clutched around a cluster of white pills.
Suddenly, she raised that steady hand to her lips and swallowed the pills that were dripping apart in her hand. She felt them go down her throat and in that moment, she felt the most alive she had ever been.
Slowly, she shut her eyes and remembered the day, the day that never made it to the stone.
How could she not of known? She had carried the dead around for a whole week, and no silence matched the silence of a hospital room without a baby’s cries.
Is still hurt her. Why? Why was it still hurting? Suddenly, the hole in her stomach reopened, and she could feel how it felt to carry around the dead. Her stomach was cold and her heart was broken. That’s the worst crying, when you are lying with your head against the wall and the tears running down your face. Her hand lay over her mouth so she didn’t make noise. Her heart broke and she thought of everything that had ever hurt, and her other hand was on her heart and then her stomach because they both hurt worse than anything had ever.
The end was coming and she wasn’t afraid. The warm tears streaming down her face are the only things that she felt in that moment, as the rest of her body felt like it was cold and drifting. In the distance, somewhere far away, she could hear a baby’s cries.
She tried her hardest to open her eyes, but she could only see darkness. She wanted to see her baby boy, but it was so black. As far as she could see, there was darkness.
The birds began to wake up and chirp around her and she could almost feel the heat of the sun warming her dying body. She let her head fall against the stone and she let the tears drip down her face.
The cries were closer to her now, and she could almost see something. It was nearly there.
And suddenly, there was light.