Guest author Katie Stephens tells us a tale about a life-altering experience as seen through the eyes of a baby.

Da-Da always makes things better …

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Da-Da puts me into the rocker on the table top. I like this rocker. All he has to do is push near my feet, and it moves up and down. I move up and down. It makes me feel good. I watch him, waiting for him to push again. When he does, I open my mouth. Gurgle a laugh. My hands and feet wiggle, and he moves his head close. Then he pretends I’ve hurt him. “Owww!” he howls. I laugh again and kick harder.

I feel a small pain in my tummy. I whimper. Da-Da understands my language. “Ohh, it must be lunchtime.” He smiles and moves Mr. Finger slowly in front of my eyes. I know where it will end up. Hold my breath in anticipation. Mr. Finger touches my tummy and moves around. It tickles. I know what Da-Da wants. I gasp and laugh and giggle. He leaves me to get my milk.

When the box dings, it’s ready. My tummy knows and hurts even more. I pucker up and take a breath to cry. I don’t like it when my tummy hurts. I want, I want …

I push the bottle away. Hot! Hot! The milk burns my tongue. I cry harder. Da-Da pushes the side of the rocker. It doesn’t help this time. My tummy hurts. My tongue hurts. “Shhh,” he says. “Da-Da will make it better.” I open my mouth for another breath, and a cold, cold cloth with something hard in it hits my tongue. I suck on it.

“There, Pumpkin. There’s some ice for you until the milk cools.”

I suck. It feels good. My tummy is still hurting, but the ice helps. Da-Da keeps the rocker moving. He puts his head on the table and closes his eyes. He makes a funny sound, like a piggie. I giggle. He does it again.

A shadow appears behind Da-Da. A hand grabs his hair and lifts his head off the table. Something flashes, like when Ma-Ma cuts an apple. The hand lets go.

Red. Red everywhere. Da-Da’s eyes open wide. His head thunks hard on the table. He is still, but the red puddle grows. I suck hard on the ice in the cloth Da-Da gave me. Kick my feet. My tummy hurts. There’s red on my feet and arms.

I fling away the cloth and release an enormous wail. I want my milk. Now! Warm milk. Not hot. Not cold. Warm. I take a deep breath to cry louder, to make Ma-Ma come to me.

The shiny thing appears in front of me. Oh, oh. I love shiny things. I reach out to touch it, but the hand moves it out of my reach. I pucker in displeasure. I want the shiny toy! It comes closer, until this time, when I reach out, I can grasp the handle. The hand lets go! It’s mine!

I move it around until it hits my head. I stop, startled. Should I cry? Was it hard enough to hurt? No. It’s fine. I wave it again. I like the light that flashes from it. I shake it at Da-Da. See? It’s wonderful! See it, Da-Da? The other edge hits his head. I laugh. More red appears on his head. I hit him harder. Laugh, Da-Da. Laugh!

I hear the door slam. Is Ma-Ma home? I freeze. Listen. Listen to silence. My tummy rumbles. Hurts. I want milk. I swing the toy one more time. It hits my foot, and I drop it. My foot turns red and starts to hurt. I don’t know which is worse, my foot or my tummy.

I bring my foot to my open mouth. Suck. Warm. I stare at Da-Da while I feed.

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If you discovered a sealed box with “Katie’s memories” scribbled on the side, you’d find a lifetime of partially completed stories, plays, and musicals. A retired music teacher, Katie Stephens has opened that box and writes both non-fiction and fiction, where she happily experiments with all genres. Katie has published adult literature in Spark: A Creative Anthology and Mused — The Bella Online Literary Review. Her latest release is a romance story in the anthology “Love Least Expected” called Alphabetical Disorder. You’ll never believe it’s about the circus … or will you?

Katie’s alter ego, K.T. Stephens, writes YA and children’s books and is especially enamored of the circus. Just mention acrobats and strongmen, and she’ll jump headfirst into this world of magic, color, and precision and take you with her! Seven Deadly Sins, A YA Anthology, where she is both an author and co-editor, was released in April, 2015, through Amazon.

When her muse takes a break, Katie/K.T. is a staff reader for freeze frame fiction and a grant writer for the Empire & Great Jones Creative Arts Foundation. Although her grown children are scattered east and west across the country, she lives solidly in mid-America with three kitties and a husband who keeps asking when she’s really going to retire.

You can find Katie at:
Facebook: facebook.com/katie.stephens.169405
Twitter: @standardishue
Amazon: Katie Stephens Author Page http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00PZ36WGS
Website: standardishue.com