Zapped!
Corinne went into labor four weeks before her due date.
She was alone at home at the time, sorting through old photos from her parents' attic and trying to cull pictures that were of little interest from the many boxes of photos her father had taken. Back then her Dad had to send his film out for developing, and he always ordered copies of each of the dozen shots of a single pose. It wasn't an easy task to first decide which shots of the various poses to keep, then pull the copies out, throw the negatives and excess away, and finally put one picture into an album, but she knew her Mom would be happy to have these albums of Corinne's childhood. Soon it would be time to make an album of Corinne's child too.
The plan was for Corinne's mom to be shooting the pix during the home delivery when the time came. The midwife would do the rest.
The lamp flickered on and off a few times whenever Corinne shifted her heavy bulk on the couch. The light went out while she was sorting through the envelope of pictures that her dad had taken at her own birth. She heaved herself up to check if the bulb was in tight, or if the switch was loose. Both of those seemed snug, but when Corinne jiggled the plug at the socket she got zapped!
The power cord was just a bit frayed at the plug end but it gave her a powerful shock that threw her whale-like body slamming into the wall. Labor pains started immediately, and within thirty minutes, that healthy baby boy was in her arms.
No pictures had been taken, and there would be less work for little Henry to do when he culled Corinne's photographs a few decades from that day.
This is my entry to @mariannewest's freewrite challenge https://steempeak.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-628-5-minute-freewrite-wednesday-prompt-frayed-power-cord
It's been a while since I wrote a freewrite, and this prompt was devilish to get started on!
The image is mine of the progress my own daughter has made culling the gazillions of photographs my husband took of our children and ourselves over the years. There are still many more boxes to go through. I can't do it myself, I get too lost in the memories to throw anything away.
I have 1000's of photos to go through @owasco my mamma took photos all the time with film cameras. 👍
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It's actually enjoyable. I've forgotten so much that happened, and going through the pictures brings it all back. I have very few pictures from the years since my husband died, because he was the photographer, but I have several LARGE boxes of photos he took to go through.
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Culling photographs, an oft emotionally painful task this generation will likely not have to think about.
They are also less likely to ever see the images they take again. It's the culling that matters. They've been robbed.
Maybe doctors should consider shock therapy as a catalyst for giving birth. )
I'd say drinking castor oil, which I did to induce labor for my first, is shock therapy. I was s-itting on the toilet while barfing into the tub. It worked too!
Great story! I love how you wove in the prompt!
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Oh thank you! The prompt was very difficult for me. This story was my third attempt, and each time a different story entirely came out, but the first two did nothing for me. This one I like quite a bit, so thank you for your appreciation of it! Sometimes I am certain I will be the only person to like what I post, and this was one of those times.
It was definitely an awesome freewrite! We are our own worst critics.
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https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-629-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-warm-amber-eyes
Posted using Partiko Android