Competition Fifteen Shortlisted: Storm Madeline, 2016 by Jackie Morris
Labour for twelve hours, the push the grunt the tear the slither and after all that I gave birth to a cumulonimbus.
‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ my husband said, soft-eyed. She lay in the transparent bassinet, gently soaking into the hospital blanket.
‘Yes,’ I said, not sure.
‘I’ll let you sleep.’ He moved to the door. ‘The two of you.’
Every so often a small bolt of lightning interrupted the steady rumble of her thunder. She started to drizzle. I pushed the red button by my bed.
‘Is she your first one?’ the nurse asked as she tucked in the bedsheets. ‘You’ll get used to it.’
‘Is she – normal?’
‘Of course. She’s lovely.’ The nurse showed me how to latch the nimbus onto my breast. An electric storm engulfed my nipple. The cloud’s pewter centre silvered and she rested, pea-souper heavy on my flaccid stomach, until I was drenched with her.
Next afternoon, my husband strapped our raincloud into the new car seat. We passed rooms where mothers cradled moon-rays and rainbows and fluffy white cirrus.
‘You haven’t got your care package.’ The nurse called as we reached the exit. ‘We give them to all the new mums.’
A barometer, an umbrella, a tube of SPF50.
‘I’m not sure I’ll need the suncream.’
‘You will, I promise.’
Monsoon-fierce raindrops exploded against the ward window. The nurse beckoned me to a cupboard.
‘Not strictly standard issue,’ she whispered, ‘but you can borrow them for as long as you need.’ She pulled out an oversized fisherman’s jacket and a pair of battered river waders.
‘Won’t they be missed?’ I asked as I struggled into the heavy oilskins.
‘I’ve got another set at home,’ she said then pushed me gently towards the door and the flooded world beyond.
Jackie Morris’s stories are online at Brilliant Flash Fiction, Free Flash Fiction, Micro Fiction Monday, Retreat West and in the National Flash Fiction Day 2022 anthology. She came third in the Willesden Herald Short Story Prize, 2022. She can be found on Twitter @JackieMMorris
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