Sell Some Lives

Hug

I opened my eyes to look at the creature. It looked so small and ugly. It was wriggling around and seemed to be alive. A cold settled in my bones, and the world seemed to grow darker, duller. I wondered if it would feel like that forever.

This can't be the way my life is supposed to be. This can't be the way it was supposed to happen, I thought.

The baby inside the bloody womb had dark thick hair. The thought of all that hair being inside me made me shudder. All that body, fully formed, still wriggling and gurgling. It seemed to be a girl. I looked for long nails like Mr Buscarino said there would be but its hands were moving too much. Its eyes were shut with clumps of my blood on them, like cake mascara.  Blood had splattered on it, as well as on most of the floor and the bedsheets in congealed red clumps.

My bones are probably torn out of me. I wondered if my organs were still inside me.

"Hey, hey, don't you dare cry. You did what was best for you and this bag of blood and liquid! You should be happy to be rid of this burden!" Miss Aloura said, patting me on the shoulder. 

"I'm not though. I'm not happy at all. I feel-"

"Shh, let me throw this away, it's starting to stink." She snatched the uterus with the baby inside it and I caught my breath.

"Can I say goodbye?" I asked.

"What? To what? You were staring at this thing for ten minutes. You've more than said your goodbyes... One day, when you're a successful modern woman, with no children or a husband, you're gonna look around and realize that this was the best decision ever and you're gonna be grateful to me. Your abortionist." And she tossed the baby into the fireplace. There wasn't a fire lit yet. I breathed out. I didn't want to see it die.

"See? Problem's gone. Now you'll be happy."

"Really? Do you think I'll be happy and successful truly?" I asked, clutching myself despite the pain.

"Of course you will love." She said, coming over and hugging me. I felt her surreptitiously wiping her hands clean of gore on my back, before doing the same with her knife.

"It hurts." I whimpered, leaning on her shoulder.

"You'll feel better soon. We'll stitch you up and you'll be as good as new." She promised. 

I nodded, feeling dizzy. The room seemed to be spinning. I didn't want to see it. I wanted to see the darkness. I buried my face in Miss Aloura's boobs and hugged her harder.