Popular Mechanics: Different Point of View

Screaming. That was all I had heard for days, and I was getting tired of it. All they have done for the past month is yell at each other, and I have no idea why. She looks at him, outraged because of something he has done. Yet, he looks at her with a look of disappointment, as if she could not possibly understand. What has happened? They act like they don’t love each other anymore. Yet, they both still love me, and they laugh and smile when they hold me. Well…

Mommy cries, and her tears soak my blanket when she holds me. I want to make her feel better, but I don’t know what is wrong. After, they fight she will come to my crib, and pick me up. Then, she rocks me and sings me lullabies. I love it when mommy sings to me, but sometimes she holds me really tight. It hurts; I know she doesn't mean to hurt me, but she does.

Daddy doesn't really hold me that much. Actually, he doesn’t have much to do with me at all. I know he loves me, but sometimes he does a bad job of showing it. Lately, he has been staying gone a lot. He goes to work early of the morning, and he returns home late at night. He looks tired all the time. I guess I would be too if I had to work as much as he does. As soon as he comes home, the yelling begins again. Sometimes, he gets mad and throws things around. Most of the time, this is what makes me wake up. Once, he threw one of mommy’s pictures, and it hit my crib. I woke up right away. I didn’t mean to cry, but I was scared. Mommy came to me instantly, and she sung me a song. I went back to sleep, and I did not wake up again until the morning.

Then the day came. It was cold outside, and the trees had no leafs, and the snow was melting into slush. Mommy had been keeping the house warmer, and on the rare occasions we had to go down the road, she would put warm clothes on me. I don’t like this time of year, when the snow falls. It is too cold, and I don’t like it when it is cold.

I was in my bassinet, listening to music, and playing with a toy. That is when it happened. Mommy went down the hall, and into the room.

She said, “I’m glad you’re leaving! I’m glad you’re leaving! Do you hear?”

As far as I know, daddy never said anything. I can hear really good, and I never heard him talk, so I do not think he spoke to her.

Then mommy said something I never would have imagined. She called daddy a curse word. I don’t think I have ever heard mommy curse before.

Just after she cursed, she came back through the house, and into the kitchen. She sat something down, but I was not sure what it was. It looked like a picture. A picture of what?

                After she sat it down, she came to me, and picked me up. She walked into the kitchen again. I was hoping she was going to make me a bottle, but daddy came in, and she focused her attention on him.

“I want the baby,” daddy said.

Mommy said, “You’re crazy.”

                Daddy told her that he would have somebody come for my things, but I did not want to go anywhere. I want to stay home. I like my home, and my crib and toys. I started crying. I was afraid that they were going to get rid of me. Had I done something wrong? Mommy began to rock me back and forth, and like always, she sung me a song.

                Just as she shifted her attention to me, he moved towards her. Mommy moved faster than ever, as she stepped away from him. That did not stop him. He grabbed hold of me. He was hurting me. Why was he hurting me? Why wouldn't he let me go? I was screaming now, as pain raced through my body.

                Mommy tried to make him let me go, but he was too strong. He took me from mommy, and I was scared. Mommy grabbed my arm, trying to get daddy to let me go. He refused to let me go. So, mommy pulled, and daddy pulled back.

                Then I saw it. The thing that mommy had sat down on the table. It was a picture…a picture of me. That was the last thing I saw.