this darkness used to be comforting. The sensation of weightlessness, freeing. The tempo of my mother and sibling's heartbeats beside me a lullaby. But things are changing. The dark has become cramped, and often I feel myself sandwiched between my sister and brother. I feel my sister squirm beside me, but my brother is still. I feel a sense of wrong-ness in it. His body is stiff, and the beating pulse of his heart has faded so much so that I cannot even feel it's vibration anymore.

I felt restless, uneasy. And this climatic undercurrent had been growing and growing by the day... until this day. When the only world I have ever known suddenly went topsy-turvy. I was being pushed, dropped, squeezed and jostled. I writhed, feeling confused and frightened and anxious all at the same time. But as much as I fight against it, whatever was happening was going to happen anyway. I feel myself compressed into a tight channel, and then finally, met by a cold whoosh of air.

I hit the ground with a small plop, and involuntarily shiver as my body feels the alien sensations of wetness and cool. But then there is a tongue, a warm nose and a scent that fills my tiny nostrils that is somehow familiar. Instinct whispers 'Mother'. I am somewhat vaguely aware that my sister is at my side, wriggling about and crying out with frustration as the large shadow of my mother's form looms protectively overhead. I struggle against the pink muscle of her tongue and crawl after my sister in search of a teat. My brother's body is still cold and stiff, and I shy away from it with distaste. I am too young to understand, too young to feel sympathy. My mind is too new, too gray matter to comprehend.

I focus instead on reaching that source of rich life-giving milk. The nourishment my body craves drives my tiny form into the thick plush of my mother's side.