Gone with the Blizzard

Coco Pops or Rice Krispies? My eyes dart between them, realizing this was simply a subconscious microcosm of my larger issue. Home is a twenty-minute walk from here. The hurricane of snow outside threatens to leave me trapped, alone, inside this Super-mart. All of a sudden, it clicks in my mind that I’m the only one in this shop. A neurotic mist clouds my mind as a tremor slides down my spine. 

The blizzard beyond the transparent glass has no discrimination as it embraces anyone and everyone that decides to capitulate to it. The bars of my cage seems to be sluggishly enclosing in on me as if prodding me toward the exit. My eyes grow fearful as I spot an elderly woman endeavoring to cling onto a lamppost. I turn away in denial before I see what happens to her. 

Spinning back around to decide which cereal I want, I weigh up my options. Coco Pops would mean risking it all but having some hope of getting back. Rice Krispies would mean an on-going sense of demoralization, but apparently the safer one. All of a sudden, my ears perk up at the sound of - a human? A baby? My legs are paralyzed - rooted to the spot as I attempt to steady my breath and calm all the fluctuating emotions within me. I wait for a beat then start to feel pathetic as I realize what an idiot I must look like at the present. I clasp onto my basket and shakily place a foot in front of me. Then another. And another. I have left the aisle. The door to the shop stands 12 feet from me. But there’s something else. My eyes skirt the floor. My face contorts into an ‘o’ and my stomach churns at the sight in front of me. I tilt my head up a little further and see the mother’s resemblance in its face. 

The baby lies beneath me, its big, blue eyes as wide as dinner plates, clearly unaware of the effect of the last minute will have on it, long term. I manage to abruptly cease the moisture I feel welling up in the corners of my eyes, and stare down at this child. Now a more compelling question floats to the forefront of my mind. 

What do I do with this baby? 

The question a ribbon dancing through my brain, me being unable to catch it, to answer it. Even so soon, the last few minutes are a blur to me, and with great focus, I attempt to go over them in case something may help me to make a decision. The baby’s mother. She’s gone. Gone with the blizzard. It all happened so quick, but a flash of her electric blue eyes filled with worry etches an imprint into my mind, and I’m fully aware that this image could be the eyes that look at me with disdain or pure appreciation - depending on my actions now. 

Even as the baby is wrapped in a thick blanket, it lets out a cry at the wind that sweeps inside the shop. I am not merciless. I have a heart and I will act with sympathy now. I bend down to scoop the babe up into my arms and warmth flows through my body, like an appreciation gift from the divine. I brush the tip of my baby’s nose and wonder what on earth to do with it. Having no babies or younger siblings myself, I’m clueless in this circumstance. The baby lets another cry escape its lips, and me, even having no connections to this baby, suddenly feels panic running through my veins. Hurriedly, I think back to all the soaps I’ve watched and a mother singing a lullaby to her baby, comes to mind. With difficulty, I try to sing the lyrics of the lullaby correctly while swaying the baby in my arms:

The sun sets on old village Hail

The clouds floating boats amongst the sky

Rain on this day took a bail

The flowers and plants breathe a sigh

Of relief at merely getting by

Getting by another summer day at old village Hail

I repeat the chorus a multitude of times and before I know it, my eyelids are growing heavy and when I look down at the baby, I see its eyes are calmly shut. In those few minutes of melody, I had forgotten all about the blizzard, the fact that I was holding an orphaned baby and that we were trapped in a Super-mart with no form of contact with anyone outside. I had already looked for a telephone in here, but none could be spotted and I had - quite stupidly - left my mobile back home. All these thoughts seem to all assail my mind at once and I feel an oncoming migraine. I lower myself to the floor, the baby already weighing me down, and I lean against a rack, trying to clear my head. I detach myself from my thoughts and the lullaby sluggishly escapes my lips. I realize I need this lullaby more than the baby. My eyes try to lift the weights that are my eyelids, but it’s no use. They grow heavy until eventually, I decide to capitulate to it and I am instantly delved into murky depths of sleep…

A groggy sensation clouds my body and mind. I sense something heavy and warm in my arms but can’t quite remember what I had been holding. I know I should look down, wake up, or at the very least, open my eyes, but it’s oh so warm here that I can’t bring myself to do anything. I merely sit there, all the catastrophes and worries that had previously circled my mind, now at rest, gifting me serenity. 

As I rest there, a white blob passes through my mind - jogging my memory. White. Snow. Blizzard. Immediately, I open my eyes and look down. The baby. Panic rises to my throat but I force it down with a gulp. Tentatively, I turn my body to check for the blizzard. It doesn’t meet my eye. Astonished, I shake my head thinking I must be dreaming. But, alas, the blizzard has stopped! The recent new gives me a strong surge of strength and I stride to the door with the still fast-asleep baby in my arms. I open the door to a chilly wind, but finally, I am out. Free of my cage.