by Raksha Narasimhan
Art by Katherine S. Li
Issue: Serein (Summer 2016)
The light twinkles against his small brown eyes.
And in that moment, the past few months of beration
of tears
of being confused and abandoned
all melt away.
Gone are the flashbacks of yelling and fighting
the looks of disapproval
from her solemn-faced parents
asking
how she would care for the baby
because especially with Hugo out of the picture
it just
wasn’t
feasible,
saying
that she had just stepped onto the brink of adulthood
that after getting out of college
she should dream big
think big
earn big,
advising her
not to let another being drag her backwards
to evade the whole situation while it was still possible
But those memories suddenly cease to exist.
She pushes back her knotted scarlet hair
stretches out her stubby arms
strokes the wispy blades of fiery red hair
away from those twinkling brown eyes.
And in a sudden moment of silence between
his soft cries and her ragged breaths
she sheds tears for all she has been through
for the loss of youthful innocence
and for the beauty of this miniscule being to which she clings
But all she knows for certain is
that this olive, wrinkled bundle of light would forevermore be hers
—and that she wouldn’t have it any other way.
