The Other Side

Chapter 1

I sat quietly in the darkness. The cave's comfort was reassuring. Ada was gone. I was left here, with Maddison. I looked at Ada once more. Cuddling Maddison in her mother's clothing, and watching her drift off to sleep. I lay next to her. Watching her breathe softly. As Maddison slept, I picked up Ada and brought her over to a river nearby. She always said that when she died she wanted to be carried out by a river's stream. I let her body sink into the river and drift away. I watched her. I'm not exactly sure why, but I felt as if I needed to see her, just once more before she was truly gone. I walked back into the cave and saw Maddison's tiny body shivering.

I thought to myself. "What am I to do now? I have a daughter that I must take care of and provide for. She needs to be my main attention. I can't live in this cave for the rest of my life. I need to go back to civilization. I know Ada wanted a 'Natural Birth', but did it really have to be all the way out here?" I thought about all of this for a while. Then I picked up Maddison, her tiny body shivering next to mine. I stood up and rapped Ada's sweatshirt around her. We walked back the way we came. We came with two people, and we left with two people.

I went to my friend Jeremy's apartment. He was the only guy that I could trust to help me out with all of this. My ripped jeans and torn shirt made it seem like I was some hobo who had stolen someone's kid. I walked up the stairs and knocked on a door. Just as I thought, Jeremy answered. He opened the door, took one look at me and this random baby, and rushed me inside. "Dude, what happened?" He looked at me, curiosity in his eyes.

I looked straight at him. I told him about Ada, about Maddison, and about how I didn't know what to do. "This is Maddison. She's my daughter. Ada was the mother, but she died giving birth. I let her body float off into the water, just as she said she wanted, and came right here, cause honestly, I have no clue what to do." I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes.

Jeremy grasped one of my shoulders, and smiled. "Dylan, dude, we are in this together, I got you. Now let me see this Maddison you keep speaking of." He smirked at me.