Wake up, newborns! - By javi2541997
There is a saying that goes: "sometimes wood sinks and stone floats." I mean, the impossible can happen. This is the first thing I thought when my son survived after delivery.
While my wife, her mother, and my mother were sobbing, I opted for a selfish act: leaving, fleeing, escaping from events.
I did not want to face the responsibility of parental protection that my son so badly needed at that time.
His little head was wrapped in bandages after the operation. Seen from the glass of the waiting room and half lit by the setting sun, he seemed to be no longer alive. What with one thing and another, we hadn't even given him a name.
The waiting room and hallway were staffed by different relatives of the sick, bandaged baby. Most of them told me with a smiling face: Congratulations! In these moments, I was wondering what the situation would be like in reverse, that is, if my son had not managed to survive the operation. Would they empathize with us that much? People tend to reject death.
I gave my wife a fake and forced smile and asked her: well, what will our firstborn's name be?
While my wife, her mother, and my mother were sobbing, I opted for a selfish act: leaving, fleeing, escaping from events.
I did not want to face the responsibility of parental protection that my son so badly needed at that time.
His little head was wrapped in bandages after the operation. Seen from the glass of the waiting room and half lit by the setting sun, he seemed to be no longer alive. What with one thing and another, we hadn't even given him a name.
The waiting room and hallway were staffed by different relatives of the sick, bandaged baby. Most of them told me with a smiling face: Congratulations! In these moments, I was wondering what the situation would be like in reverse, that is, if my son had not managed to survive the operation. Would they empathize with us that much? People tend to reject death.
I gave my wife a fake and forced smile and asked her: well, what will our firstborn's name be?
Comments (21)
Read the last paragraph. I think it is implicit that the main protagonist decided to stay and being a parent. Don't you think? At least that's how I see it.
In the other hand, there is not nothing wrong with confusing stories. They are tricky :sparkle:
That was my reaction on first reading.
Quoting Caldwell
This seems to set things up for an account of the narrator's escape, but it never comes, hence the confusion. But on a second reading, @javi2541997's interpretation looks clearly right.
Thanks! I had to read it twice too.
Intriguing title.
First, it looks like a command to all new babies to wake up. Be alive!
However, other people can be born-again in some kind of new awakening.
What are they to wake up to? Where have they been 'sleeping'?
Is this about perception or consciousness? An urging for more awareness?
Quoting Caldwell
Who or what is the 'wood' or 'stone'?
That the impossible can happen is true enough.
Why would that be a father's first thought on the delivery of a baby son?
His close females were crying - why? Tears of joy or relief...a special togetherness of a shared moment?
It sounds like the father was acting as a distant observer who says he 'opted' for a 'selfish' choice.
Is that the case?
'Fleeing and escaping from events' - feeling or taking himself out of the whole picture. Was it selfishness or self-preservation in a state of hyper-anxiety? Was he still there in body but 'out of his mind'?
Quoting Caldwell
Perhaps, he hadn't wished for a child in the first place (the state of the world) and so this was not his choice. Perhaps too young to hold that increased responsibility. At least he recognised how much care and protection his baby son needed. That's always a start.
An 'operation' apparently had been carried out. For what reason? Could this have been a caesarean section? Planned or unplanned. Or was there something wrong with the baby's head/brain?
The baby - perhaps premature - separate in an incubator, but alongside others.
He could only be observed from a distance and they all looked dead from the father's perspective.
"Wake up, newborns!".
The parents hadn't had time to think of a name. The chaos of emergency?
Quoting Caldwell
It seems there's quite a family contingent there for hearty support. Is the father an only child and this overwhelms him? He wondered just how much they would be there for them, in the awkwardness of death. People sometimes find it difficult to find words...and so avoid...
The father is sensitive to all of this. He cares. He is not fleeing. He has awakened and now dealing with his anxieties. The 'stone floats'. A newborn father coming to terms with his new role. He has to fake it, at first anyway.
For the sake of his wife and his firstborn. Will it be the last?
***
This was a difficult story to read and I can imagine to write.
Questions still remain. I look forward to hearing from the author when discussion opens up for feedback.
Thank you for sharing :sparkle:
There's a lot to be unpacked here for sure.
Exactly. Therein lies the value of the Short Story Competition by any other name.
I don't always like the look of a story, including this one.
I had been studiously avoiding it.
But...I know from previous experience that when you take that leap out of your comfort zone, all kinds of things open up. Hopefully not a can of worms...but then again...fishing...
Using philosophy's 'Principle of Charity' is hard.
Reading and evaluating something that isn't your bag. It's a brain hurdle.
I don't understand why some philosophers have a negative attitude to the whole enterprise.
This newborn stuff. I tried to 'get'. I'm pleased to receive your positive comments. Thank you :sparkle:
The impression I get is that the father only meant to "escape" during the time the baby was being delivered -- the time when he was needed the most: parental protection that my son so badly needed at that time.
His outlook was very grim throughout the ordeal and after. I gave my wife a fake and forced smile and asked her: well, what will our firstborn's name be?
But he's sticking around.
Yes, that seems to be the conclusion. And it's the "right" ending; the one most readers would be rooting for. It's a good subject, a good POV perspective, a good resolution. Arrived at through some undisclosed process. It's okay; but it should have been a much more powerful story. I think it would have been, given 1000 words.
It's more than OK.
It is heap powerful enough for the sharing of a strong emotion at a critical turning point.
It is a snapshot; a moment in someone's life.
A bit like what we get at a funeral but different in that this story would never be told there.
It is intensely personal. An extraction and deep distillation of thoughts and emotion.
It is a story just 'right' for this exhibition. The ending which is also a beginning ( Awake!) feels real and not contrived as a technical part of a story plot. Not a resolution to make the readers feel good.
But what do I know?
I'm new to this micro-fiction but that is how I view it. Not as a start to a more powerful story but valuable in and of itself. Of course, I would be intrigued to discover more about where it all fits into the father's life. But that would be an autobiography...and no doubt bits would be skipped.
I think the story captures a moment of great transition in every pregnant couples life.
In this case it focuses on the male perspective as the transition (Labor) and the critical neonatal period takes place.
The story is positioned in a "Limbo" between being a father or not, due to the precarious nature of this child's birth.
And because of this the father is reflecting on his own courage, or flaws. He vacates the present moment and escapes into self reflection.
It's a little pessimistic but redeems itself.
Javi has been tricking us, people.
Quoting Jamal
Now we know why. :lol:
There's a lot of that about!
Should there not be some kind of punishment meted out by... I dunno...someone in authority :wink:
Looking forward to your return, whenever you are able, to discuss it more...
Very well done indeed :100:
Thank you for all your comments. Key points of why I wrote this type of story:
I. The saying "sometimes wood sinks and stone floats" is Japanese. I took this phrase from a Murakami's book called "Novelist as vocation" where Murakami was asked about what was the trick of winning a literature contest. He replied with that phrase, meaning that sometimes the impossible can happen.
II. It was not my intention to make this story as complex or confusing. I am very influenced by Japanese literature and their books are similar to this plot: ambiguity. If you are not used to these books it would sound complex or confusing.
III. Important real facts: I was inspired by Kenzaburo Oe but this story has personal issues.
When I was born, I got sick. I had to receive palliative care. Within this context it is important to state that the relationship with my father is as ambiguous (as the story is). I am not going to say that my father does not love me, because it is false. We just have a distant relationship.
For this reason I decided to do this story. I guess my father acted like that when I was born.
Thanks so much for your clear explanation detailing the background of this marvellous story.
I. I did wonder about this wise saying. Murakami's book 'Novelist as vocation' sounds good.
I listened to an audio version of 'Killing Commendatore'. That was all I could access from Libby.
II. I didn't find the story too complex or confusing. Mainly intriguing. It raised a lot of questions.
III. Exploring personal issues through storytelling must take so much effort and energy. In every sense.
Admirable sharing of a difficult time and how it affected you. How you imagine it must have been for your father. I don't suppose it would be easy to raise the subject face-to-face.
I begin to understand your reaction to a seemingly superficial, quick off-the-cuff entry...
Comparing the level of effort involved.
Fortunately, there is room for all kinds of stories. I enjoyed them all; some more than others.
Your story, as I said, I imagined difficult to write.
It left a deep impression.
Thank you again @javi2541997 for all you bring to TPF :sparkle:
One of the main works by Kenzaburo Oe which inspired me the most was Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!
The plot of the story is the relationship between K and his son called Eeyore. This teenager is handicapped and K suffers a lot of struggle in raising his son. I am not disabled but when I read the story I felt so attracted to it.
It is complex to explain but whenever you have a distant father it is difficult to express our "familiar love". He is always there working in a big company earning money but I don't remember him in key/important moments in my life...
That was the main point of my short story.
Your story and this explanation help me imagine such a scenario. Thank you again.
I wonder what inspired Kenaburo Oe in turn?
The stories we tell, our perceptions of events, the memories and the emotions - are sometimes too complex to unravel. Each person involved has a different interpretation.
We don't know what our parents went through or even how they really feel.
Some say actions speak louder than words. But they too might mislead...unwittingly...
What is key, I think, is not to jump to conclusions via false assumptions.
Sometimes the reasons for 'distance' are not at all clear. But I expect you know that already.
Just offering thoughts. Your story provokes them! :flower:
Please take care of yourself :sparkle:
His son is autistic. The book is based on the struggle of raising a handicapped son. All the difficulties from two perspectives: Hikari's view (the son of Kenzaburo Oe) and Oe and his wife.
Oe tries to put his son in "real life context" instead of raising him up in an infantile context. There is an interesting chapter. Oe wonders if Hikari can have dreams because it is very complex for his son to describe what is a "dream" and a "nightmare". So, Kenzaburo tries to teach his son basic concepts from philosophy and literature instead of block him because of his autism.
Years fly by and Hiraki ends up as a great musician thanks to the effort of his parents.
Music of Hikari Oe:
Thank you. It shows how a life can be changed when challenges recognised and met.
Such stories of love and encouragement fill my heart with hope.
Take care :pray: