- Fiction by Jess, Grade 12
Ages have passed, my only company, the despair that cloaks my days and nights. It is the only thing holding me together, my only friend in the dark, damp space where I spend my days. At first I tried to fight it, I tried to clear my eye, tried to cough out the dust collected in my system. But now, whenever I move, my back begins to bleed. Oozes and pulses, the red brown mud, which keeps me alive, flows out of the small wound. Soon there will be none left. My body parts are rusting; if I try to move them they squeak and moan. Soon I will be an empty cask, no breath, no life, and no memories.
A hospital, cold, dark, the balance of life and death. Screams, swearing, silence. A small being. Ten fingers, ten toes, a clone of those before her. Laughter, love, longing. A beautiful baby girl accepted into open arms. One, two, three. A loving but exhausted mother cuddling a small red-faced infant in my frame.
