It was a typical day in Coldecott, Mississippi. A young woman disembarked from the school bus, clutching her stomach. It had been playing up for the last couple of days. She couldn't talk to anyone about it. For one thing, Robbie had blown her off in the Cafeteria last week and was often seen playing tonsil hockey with Jenny, head Cheerleader and all around slut around the school campus.
There was no way she could go home. Her mother would most probably be sleeping off last night's party and as for her father, the less said about him, the better.
The pains were getting worse, nearly crippling her.
"You alrayht sugah?" Blue eyes met her liquid amber.
"Yah, ah'm fayne."
"Mebbe you need somewhere to rest, yah bones. Mah home's near, you wanna see it. "
She pushed herself out of his embrace and took off down the street. She went into a nearby alley and hid behind a dumpster. Her breath was shallow, her heart pounding at a thousand beats an hour. No-one approached her. She was about ready to move away when a pain so intense crept up her stomach. A dampness unknown to her also appeared.
A heaviness in the regions of her stomach was taking control over her body. An instinct that would occur many times for many women told her that she must get this thing out.
She lay in a mixture of blood, sweat and tears. It was over. She looked at the tiny thing that lay at the base of her legs. A baby. She sank back in disbelief. No-one had told her what was happening to her body. Then again, why would they? She was an outsider. Apart from Robbie, who had only wanted a few quickies before moving onto the next thing with breasts, she was ignored. Not even her parents took the trouble to acknowledge her.
Her eyes opened in disbelief. She was now a mother! Someone was depending on her, a little girl. She slid her body over and removing her sweater, wrapped the baby in it and cradled it to her chest. The eyes were a blue so deep they were almost purple. Her tufts of hair were a reddish brown. Her skin as soft and pure as a petal.
Her whole body throbbed with pain and her eyes were droopy.
'If ah just close m'eyes for a second', she thought to herself, 'ah'll be fayne!'
But the second never ended.
It was late and the baby was growing cold. The woman who had brought her into the world was too clingy. She had to break free. Her whimpers became more high-pitched and frequent. They echoed throughout the alley. Just as she was about to give up, footsteps pounded towards the still figure of the new mother. They drew back in horror to see the dead figure clutching a new born babe, still covered in the birthing remnants. They found they were drawn to the eyes, so intense for such a little one. Yet beautiful at the same time and full of promise for the future.
In the aftermath of the discovery, as the baby was handed into the care of a social worker, no-one noticed a woman with illuminous eyes. The woman decided that now was not the time to be involved. For now, she would be content to watch and wait...