The Threads that Bind (Part 1)

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(Edited)

Trigger warning: Contains fictional content relating to the death of a newborn

Running my fingers gently through the fronds of auburn curls, I marveled at her perfection. Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes... too tiny. I held her little hands in mine as the early morning sun filtered through the window shades and fell softly across her face. She had the cutest button nose and cherry-red lips. It was her lips that surprised me the most; their deep hue lay in stark contrast to her pale complexion. Long dark lashes swept the still cheeks of my beautiful sleeping angel. A silent tear splashed against my own. I hugged her fragile body as tightly as I dared and closed my eyes. Pushing back on the rocker, I set it in motion. I should have been nursing my baby that day, but instead, I was nursing myself.

That slow rhythm, back and forth, became a constant in my life but always proved an inadequate comfort for a broken heart.

They say that some wounds never truly heal. Somehow we manage to navigate our way through the pain, but we find it impossible to get over it. And so it was with Maisy. Yes, she has a name. From the moment I discovered I was pregnant, she had a name.

When the pink line appeared on the home pregnancy test all those years ago, nobody had been more overjoyed than Shaun. We had been trying for a baby for some time, and this final attempt at becoming parents was our last hurrah. The cost was just too prohibitive, and the risks associated with having children later in life were well documented.

His disbelief quickly turned to irrepressible excitement. "I'm gonna be a Dad!"
I giggled as he swept me off my feet and twirled me around the living room, to the sweet sounds of Marvin Gaye on the radio. We spun til we were dizzy and collapsed in a heap of giddy unrestraint on the sofa. "What's even more wonderful... is that you're going to be a Mom!" Pausing, he grinned... "And we'll call him Teddy, after my dad."

I feigned a scowl. "And if she's a girl?" Shaun ducked the cushion thrown in his direction, allowing it to fall beside him. Then, retrieving it, he leaned in and placed it in the hollow of my back before laying his head gently on my tummy... "If she's a girl, we'll call her Maisy. And I know I don't get a look-see in on that name."

"I'm afraid the news isn't quite what we had hoped for..." Dr. Langston opened my file as I sat down in the chair opposite him. In his spacious office in Stanford, he ran his eyes over my test results as if willing the numbers, and resulting diagnosis to change.

"How long do I have, Doc?" The words escaped my lips before I could check myself. But I was a realist, after all. I would rather rip off the bandaid, and face the truth than live in denial.

I stared at my hands; the threads holding my life together were threatening to give way.


... Part 2 can be found here

This post is in response to the prompt: thread for Week 1 of the Dreemport/Scholar and Scribe collaboration.

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63 comments
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Hi @samsmith1971,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
For more information visit our discord https://discord.gg/8CVx2Am

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Thank you @teamuksupport! !LUV !ALIVE

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Not sure, who’s leaving who… but I feel the the imminent goodbye 🥲

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is it really you??? hehehee

hi gorgeous :)

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It is I and look!!!
It took me seven days to get back .... gahhhh
❤️

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Hi! Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my piece 🤗... It's lovely to see you around 💗Part 2 is not yet written but is coming next week (and not sure yet if I will need a part 3 to pull it all together - possibly!). Tricky publishing before the next part is written as I can't exactly go back and forth adding more detail... but I hope in the end I produce a balanced story. !LUV !ALIVE

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I shall look out for it
And all the best ;D

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An impressive first chapter, I already want to read the second to continue putting together the story that paints full of harsh realism.

Thanks for sharing.
Good day.

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Thanks so much 🤗 I'm looking forward to writing the next part! Reality is always a mix of hope and despair. Fingers crossed I get the balance right on this one!🙏!LUV !ALIVE

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sadness upon sadness.... the trigger warning but then the mom too...

I'm preparing for a tear-jerker her.. but I have been warned! lol waiting to see what you're weaving Miss Sam!

and of course.... DreemPort sent me to you :)

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Weaving... weaving... weaving hehe. Hi you 🤗...

Yeah, although there is sadness, I actually enjoyed writing this first part. I have the story outlined in my head... and I wanted to try to do it justice... hence a mini-serial fiction rather than a single post, as I am still writing it! It probably seems a bit disconnected at the moment but I will be pulling it all together 😉... and it will hopefully achieve some balance... hope and despair.

Thank you for reading my piece in Dreemport, Ms. Dreems 💗💃🤗😎🙏 !LUV !ALIVE

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Now the suspense... You've always been so good at this. I will follow it. I have to. Hehe.

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Aw thank you, Deraaa! No pressure then hahaha I hope you enjoy part 2 when it is published next week !LUV !ALIVE

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What a tragic story - and a cliffhanger that will bring me back :) Well done as always ♥️

This post has been manually curated by the VYB curation project

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Thank you, my friend 🤗Now to schedule some time to write part 2 !LOLZ !LUV !ALIVE

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What will the prompt be, though? I'd like to get a head start on mine too 😂

!LOL

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I have yours on an open tab on my laptop... I've set up my reading for tonight !LOLZ !LUV

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You started with strong punch! I am already hooked up:)

I have read several entries to 'Thread' contest and most of them are quite dark... mine too to be fair. It is interesting, isn't it?

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Aw thanks, I'm glad you like it! 🤗I have set aside quite a few of the posts to read later this evening, yours included!! Looking forward to seeing everyone's take on the prompt... and yes, very interesting that people are delving deep for this one... I love it when people do that. Both dark and light require examination 💗 !LUV

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I did, truly.
There was a lot of entries, I would love to read them all, not sure I'll manage :D

And I agree in full - we should explore things regardless of their nature:)

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Congratulations @samsmith1971! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

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oh, no

The highest of highs, and then, this deep devastating low.
I cannot wait to see how this turns out.

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Thank you, Greg! That's life, right? Hope and despair... the constant push-pull between the two. The agony and the ecstasy. To truly know the one, we must know the other just as intimately.

I enjoyed writing this piece.

Thank you for dropping in. 4 months 4 days... hehe !LUV !ALIVE

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4 months, 3 days, 2 hours, and 1 flight!

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Now I like the sound of that! But let's hope there is more than one flight hehe. !LOLZ !LUV

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Your usage of words and pleasant flattering statement is top notch, I was constantly reminiscing with the appealing paragraphs. It has been a while that i have read a well constructed, creatively structured and short story that captivated my attention to this extent.

But then the story turns out to be a tragic comedy, I'm a little confused with whom is speaking during the lengthy paragraph, you tend to jump into each character without any prior indication or notice like "she said" or "he said" or their names and columns, especially during the elongated paragraphs.

This technique is usually used to attribute a particular statement to a character to know who is saying what.

Because at the last paragraph I was a little bit confused about who owns the test result the Dr is holding unto, though it occurred to me that it must be the woman since she is the one that is pregnant.

But it could also be a twist and it might be Shaun.

Pop in from #dreemport

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hey there, Emrysjobber 😊thank you for taking the time to read part 1 of my new short story.

I reread it after reading your comment and yes... I see that!!! Maybe not so clear who was speaking at the point when she asks... And if she's a girl?... although it becomes clear when you read he replied. Point noted though.

As for the last section... again agreed... it is not clear who is the patient... yet. This was not done on purpose... but turns out it does make for an interesting opportunity to twist the narrative !LOLZ

I absolutely love that you took the time to truly read this piece and engage so meaningfully. Some great points raised. I think I shall leave the last question open until part 2... but I promise it will all start to become clearer. To be honest, this was going to be a one-part short story of 2000 odd words, and not serialised, but I wanted to get my thoughts down in a way that I was happy to see them on the page and I realised I would run out of time and did not want to rush the ending... so part 1 is on the shorter side... but parts 2 and potentially 3 will be longer and dig deeper.

Thank you so much!

!LUV !ALIVE !PIZZA

I dropped in from my favourite Port this evening... Dreemport #dreemerforlife

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Wow, a twist that was not purposely done by the author, the story must have it's own mind😅, it sounds more amazing.

Speaking of the possibility of chapter/part 2 and 3, I wouldn't want to miss out on any of the chapters or part because I came to know of this amazing story through dreemport. I wouldn't mind being tagged along, to ensure I don't miss any of the part.

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Yep - stories and characters have a way of leading us in directions not anticipated. thanks for pointing this possible twist out to me!... Usually, this would pose an interesting challenge and some hours of thoughtful ponderance...but there are specific things that have to happen in this story for it to work the way I want it to... Appreciate your insights, always. i see you often in the comments on dreemers' posts 🙌 !PIZZA

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It is always an honour to read a fellow dreemer post, it was worth every bit of time spent while reading.

Thanks for sharing🤗🤗

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Congratulations 🥳

@emrysjobber Your comment nominated by @samsmith has been selected as the Dreemport’s Comment of the Day.

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@emrysjobber have been awarded with 50 Dreem Tokens.

@samsmith1971 because of being the Dreemport staff, no tokens for you but there is !LUV and !HUG from my side 😘

🥳🎊🥳

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It is such a great privilege to be bestowed this honourable title.

I appreciate the token, thanks for the encouragement #dreemport

@samsmith1971 thanks for the nomination, it is highly appreciated.

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Thank you for your support @yaziris @theinkwell That was very kind of you !LUV !hivebits

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(Edited)

Well now, this is a such a heartbreaking into, much heartache in such few words.

Wow, you’ve created a cliffhanger here, that’ll be impossible not to follow; I’ll be first in the queue for part two. ❤️🤗💕

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Aw, thank you my gorgeous! I shall let you know when it is done 🤗💞😘💗💃💥!LUV !ALIVE !PIZZA

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Pregnancy is really a delicate time for women. I cannot fathom carrying another life inside me for 9 months or so. It must be a time of uncertainty, especially the first one, when you don't know what changes will happen through the term. Scientists have also found that a woman's brain structure changes to deal with motherhood. One of these changes leads to an increase in anxiety (to ensure survival of the baby), so this is another layer on top of what mothers go through. Great to see how you handle this complex topic from your unique perspective as a woman.

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