Her Pain

     She screams. "Make it stop!"

     "It will soon! " he exclaims, but she can see his panic. There's too much pain.

     "Focus!" comes the doctor's voice through the haze. "You have to stay awake!"

     A cry, but not from the woman.

     "It's a girl, " the man says joyfully.

     She smiles and holds the wailing child. The pain has faded away. All she can see is her daughter.

     Everything is so loud and bright. I miss the place that I was before all that crushing pressure. I can't help but cry. This place is frightening. Where's that thrumming sound and murmuring? I hear a deep voice exclaiming. I remember that voice from before. It was always muffled, though. I'm jostled from place to place and come to rest somewhere soft. It smells familiar. It's the place from before, sort of. I can hear the "thudthud thudthud" that has been a constant since the beginning. I can hear that murmuring. It's gentler than everything else and I stop sobbing. This is where I belong.