due today in 10 hours

Intro to Creative Writing  Professor Harrell  04/18/2018

PART ONE

Serah sat in her porch staring into the now deep grey sky. Thunder roared fiercely. She had often been afraid of thunder since her childhood. Even after growing up and knowing that it was harmless, she had still been thoroughly afraid of the noise. But not even the loudest and most fierce thunderstorm could shake her now. She already felt the void. Her eyes were deep red and swollen from crying. She severally questioned the existence of God; wondered why he let good people suffer, why it had to be her. She was sure she could give examples of people who had abortions, repeated abortions, and still managed to get many children afterwards. But this God, he just had to take away the one child he had given her after years and years of trying to conceive.

That was not all. She had a growth inside of her that was growing fast, eating away her only ability to give life. She had been diagnosed with a growth in her uterus. The plan was to give birth through a caesarean section and to have a hysterectomy since the growth had covered a large section of it. Now, the dream of having her own seemed bleak. She felt desperate. She would have taken a chance to die had there been a contest for death. She was sure she had prayed, involved God in all her plans; done things right. She just could not understand why everything suddenly went grey.

PART TWO

Wonder was a day old when he died. He had been born with some health complications, and the doctors had counted a few hours to his death. He lay motionless, with his delicate life being supported by the numerous buzzing machines in the children’s Intensive Care Unit. She had been allowed into the room to have her last moments with him. The doctors were going to disconnect the kilometers of wires from his body so that she could hold him. When she entered the room, she felt a sudden tightness in her chest. She had been holding back the tears. She knew that once she started crying, it was going to difficult to stop herself. She hoped for a miracle. She recalled how Jesus performed last minute miracles, raising people from the dead, healing the sick. She prayed and hoped for the same.

She sat down. The doctors carefully disconnected the tubes going into Wonder’s body. In his sleep, he still managed to smile. His faced was a bit wrinkled. “Must be the pain”, Serah muttered to herself. For a moment, She felt his pain, and felt ready to let him go. Her intense pain had made her prefer him dead, than living on with the immeasurable agony he was going through at an age too young to fathom the harshness of life. It was easier knowing that his soul was going to be at peace anyway. Serah prayed. She did not know why she bothered since she had already lost faith, but prayed anyway. She prayed for strength, understanding. She prayed for acceptance. She saw the rough road ahead, especially now that she knew she would never conceive.

Her husband, Mike, had helped her out of the hospital three days later. Her wound was still fresh, still painful. She walked slowly. Her tears flowed, uncontrollably at this time. Her wound would not let her cry in comfort. Everything had suddenly lost meaning. She felt as if she carried some sort of spirit of misfortune. She wanted to ask for a divorce from her husband so that she could spare him the pain of living without children. She knew how badly he had looked forward to having children. She had brought the topic up on their drive back home.

Tony knew the pain Serah was going through. He was now guilty for having pressured her to give him children. He knew just how much she loved him and how hard she had tried to bear him children. She had been to countless doctors, days of fasting, expensive medication even. Nothing bore fruit. When she finally conceived, he saw how she suffered through her pregnancy. Most days were spent in hospital due to the many complications she had developed. He knew he had to be there for her at all odds. His train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted. “Let’s get a divorce Mike. I do not want to tie you to my misfortunes anymore. I should deal with this pain alone”, Serah mumbled amid her sobs. For a moment, he was angry she expected him to just leave. He felt she did not take his love for her seriously enough. He took a long pause. “Nobody is leaving Serah, and no divorce will take place’, he firmly responded. That did not seem to assure her enough. The rest of the drive home was quiet, restless.

When they finally got home, he took her hand and assured her of his presence and support. It was going to be hard, but life had to go on.