.storytime with a blackbird.

once upon a time…

there was a young woman, newly married who, rumor would have it, was not well-loved by her mother-in-law. and perhaps this description is a bit generous but i get ahead of myself.

iris’s husband, william was a young and successful tradesman who had always desperately wanted a family; abandoned as a young boy, he struggled to form a bond with a woman who had never had any interest of being his mother. his success, though, brought with it her interest. as long as he had money, she actively pursued his attentions and in misguided delight, he gave her whatever she requested.

then he met young iris and fell in love. they were soon married and planning on starting a family. william was offered an opportunity half way across the country and began looking for a home they could fill with their future children. this dismayed his mother to no end. not only was he moving away from her but she knew that with the arrival a new family, her cash flow would be severely cut. and with him so far out of her reach and involved in his new family life, her ability to charm and cajole her way into his pockets would shrink like an osteoporosis-inflicted old woman’s bones.

yet this woman, whom we will call celeste, had some ideas on how this tragedy could be prevented. she couldn’t keep william from marrying but she felt that she sure could prevent iris from giving him the family that would steal the silver spoon right from under her cold arthritic grasp. celeste was an old school santera, a priestess with what some claim powerful (for lack of a better word) spiritual persuasion. and when iris announced that she was expecting, celeste knew she had no other choice but to act. and act she did.

the curse travelled quickly, rooting itself deep within iris’s young womb. a woman who had no previously known illnesses and at the very pinnacle of youth should have had a fairly unremarkable pregnancy. and at first that’s exactly what it was. until iris started experiencing random symptoms. a general malaise. a heavier than normal fatigue. anemia. pregnancy-induced diabetes. complications.

she was ordered to remain in bed rest in her sixth month. no standing or walking aside from bathroom breaks, washing, and dressing. william ensured that iris was given the best of medical care and adhered to her doctor’s orders. despite these things, the couple was still excited about the arrival of their first son. for yes, the child was a boy and was to be named after iris’s father.

the labor was difficult and fraught with unforeseen complications. a c-section had to be performed and during surgery, iris received multiple blood transfusions. and although they were given the best medical care money could buy, the child passed away shortly after childbirth. the same would happen a year later with the second child despite all medical interventions. this second time would also bring iris very close to death herself, needing again multiple blood transfusions and hospitalized long after burying her second boy.

friends and family simply could not understand the tragedy that befell this young couple. various rumors began circulating about abuse, drugs, mysterious diseases, trying to place blame in a variety of ways, none which made any sense. that is how the human mind works, struggling to make the puzzle whole even when none of the pieces fit.

how celeste reacted is anyone’s guess. the narrator of this story can only assume that she was pleased beyond belief, although such a thought is simply too awful to really understand.

the following year found iris to be pregnant once again. and this time, it was a baby girl growing within her frail womb. such a high-risk pregnancy required constant bed rest from the very beginning, monitored at all times, and confined to the impersonal and sterile environment of a hospital room. perhaps, dear reader, something can be said for science. it is another type of magic, with it’s icons of power (white lab coats and hypodermic needles) and it’s rituals of warding off evil (the taking of vital signs and running of diagnostic tests).

but some say it was the child herself that weakened the curse. impatient from the very beginning, the baby girl was born at barely 7 months, weighing only about 2 lbs and in heart failure. another complicated c-section but better planning and medical treatment. iris would not be driven so close to death this time around. the prognosis for lily, the baby girl, was not as positive. open heart surgery and a battery of other tests and procedures had left the child in a precarious state and doctors spoke of possible developmental disabilities in the unlikely event the child survived.

finally after months of medical treatment, iris was advised to take her daughter home to die in the arms of her family.

but as the days fell away and the young couple braced themselves for yet another devastation, lily just continued to grow. and grow. and grow. the only signs of development abnormality were those in far surpassing her age – at 9 months, she was not only walking but talking a bit – milestones that no one had thought she would reach. thoughts of the future became ones of hope, of joy, and celebration. welllll, perhaps not all. there might have been one or two voices of dissent and i’m guessing you all can figure out from whom.

.to be continued.