The Boy With The Cuckoo Clock Heart

Chapter One

  In Edinburgh Scotland, 1874, a snow storm hit like no other. The wind was rapidly blowing, icicles were forming on edges of buildings, and the river was frozen solid. Walking in this mess was a pregnant woman who was about to be giving birth any time soon.

  "If I had my way, I'd keep you in there." said the pregnant woman, wrapping her hands around her belly. "Safe and sound in my tummy forevermore." She looked up and saw that she wasn't far from her destination. The hill was her only way of getting up to the strange looking home.

  'They said that I was born, the coldest day on earth. They said that I was born, with a frozen heart.'

  The woman was trying to get up the hill the best way she could. The hill was steeped with snow, her feet sinking in every step she takes.

'Some might even say that I was carried up wombs land. To the top of the hill that looms over the town, and the soul inspires.'

  The woman put her hand on her tummy in pain. She's trying her best to make it to the home, but she feels like labor is going to come faster.

  'Way up where a house on a steep hill. Was home to a midwife called that by most people.'

  A bird flying through the cold sky, was frozen solid, then landed in the woman's hair. The woman was becoming scared, yet she was brave enough to keep walking. The birds that were being frozen to death, were falling from the sky, and straight into the snow. The woman was shivering, crying tears of ice. She took one step and slipped on some ice, blacking out.

  A door was soon opened by a mysterious lady. Her cat went to the woman laying on the slick ice. The lady grabbed the woman by her two hands and dragged her into the house. The warmth of a home made the woman woke up from her slumber. She soon realized that she was in a chair, with a cat purring on her belly bump.

  "Isn't that delightful, a dead bird sticking out of your hair." said a voice. The woman looked over and saw the midwife lighting up a few candles. "And another little bird in there I suppose?" The woman put her hands on her belly."

  "Don't worry," said the midwife. "I'll make sure he's alright. Would you like something to drink, tea, coffee, whiskey?" The woman shake her head no. "How about some pancakes, do you fancy one? Best pancakes you'll ever taste, you can't give birth on an empty stomach."

  The woman looked nervous. This was her first child, she won't know what will happen, but she prays that nothing bad happens to her baby. The midwife propped the chair back and started her operation. The process was about close to eight hours. The woman gave her final breath of relief when she heard a baby cry.

  He was beautiful. He had dirty blond hair, little freckles across his face, and his eyes were unknown. The midwife put her hand on his chest and felt something odd. "His heart is as hard as a rock. He feels so cold." she said in a panicky voice.

  "He has a heart of gold you say?" the woman asked.

  "No, like ice, as in a cube, not like frost." the midwife replied. The woman looked worried for her newborn son.

  The midwife lay the baby down gently on her operation table. Luckily he was asleep, so she didn't have to give him something for him to fall asleep. She looked around for her tools and grabbed two different looking clocks. "This will do the trick," she said, placing one of the clocks by his chest. "You'll do just nicely with this clock."

  The woman was laying on her side, not wanting to see what the midwife was planning. Her thoughts were running rapidly. Her heartbeat was increasing every second.

  "I have something important to tell you and for your son." said the midwife, getting her tools ready. "To make sure he doesn't turn back into a frozen ice cube forever, there are three rules he must always obey."

  The woman was looking at the midwife in concerned. Would these rules affect both of their lives, or just the way she thought as a mother.

"Firstly, never touch the hands of your heart." The midwife cut opened the left side of the baby's chest, revealing the frozen heart. "Rule number two, keep your temper under control." She cut the heart out as it landed on a plate. She placed the clock heart carefully on the baby's chest. "Last but not least, the most important rule, whatever else you do, never fall in love."

  The mother had no words, but an emptiness in her throat. These rules are something that no child should go through. Her baby boy will never be able to fall in love with anyone. Will she make a good mother to her newborn baby?

  The midwife placed the key in the baby's clock heart and started winding it. "Cause then forevermore, your heart will go in a spin. The big hand at your core, will pop out of your skin." The little cuckoo bird popped opened. The midwife pulled it a least a couple of times. "Your bones will implode, your cobs and springs explode. And your cuckoo clock heart will chime to a hole for good."

  The baby wasn't moving and the clock stopped. The midwife tapped the clock a couple of times, but nothing. That was until she sneezed, making the clock heart stopped. The baby's eyes opened up. They were a beautiful emerald green. The midwife was starting to realize that she was loving this baby as if he was her own. She picked him up, gently caressing his dirty blond locks.

  The baby boy cooed as he was trying to put the midwife's pointer finger in his mouth. She giggled as she took her finger away. "No my little ice cub, I'm not your mom." she paused for a moment. "Although I wish I were."

  The midwife walked over to the mother and handed her, her newborn son. The woman smiled, her son was very beautiful and handsome at the same time. "He looks like a little teddy bear, but with a hands of a clock poking out." she said, as she rubbed her finger across his clock heart."

  The midwife lightly smiled. "That way you won't have trouble finding him in a snowstorm." She was going to miss this beautiful boy. A woman, wishing for a child, but can never have one.

  The midwife offered her bed for the mother and her baby. She wanted her well rested before taking her son home. The mother was watching her son chew and nom on his little fingers. She wasn't sure if she was really ready for this. She loved this boy with all her heart, but it felt like he needed someone who can actually take care of him and his little heart.

  The woman kissed her son gently on his forehead. "I know for sure she'll make a much better mother than I ever will." She carefully got off the bed, got her coat, and was off on her way.

  The midwife turned over and gently put her arms around the baby boy. "Thank you, I promise to take care of him the best way that I can." The midwife whispered, shedding a few tears. "I love you Clay, my little ice cub." She kissed the baby gently on his little cheek. This night is somehow that she'll never forget. How a woman was giving her a joy of being a mother.