Caught By Surprise

Part 1
The *tugging started at noon. They had stopped for a bite to eat at the Yankee Doodle Diner, newly renovated. It was crowded with old people. He ordered coffee, toast, eggs over easy, juice. She had pancakes and orange juice. She was hungry, famished. She was afraid to eat too much. With her last baby, she’d thrown up halfway into her labor, dry heaves that wouldn’t stop. She reached across to his plate and wiped up some egg with a piece of brown toast. Her husband ran his long fingers through her hair. 
"You want my juice?" he asked. 
She nodded, picked up his glass and swallowed it in one gulp.

Part 2
The wave crashed on her. It pressed her face into the sand, small stones cut into her knees. Salt water burned her nose. It had happened so fast. She thought she had time to get to the shore. It caught her by surprise.


(Ode to laboring & birthing Claire)