The Crying

The Crying

                The cries of the baby break the silence of the cold and dark night.  The wind closes and opens the wooden windows now and then. The fall leaves that have not been picked up making small mountains that the wind breaks and makes them again in a distant corner of the brown grass.  On the second floor of the house a shadow of a woman is reflected into the large wooden wall that has pieces of yellowish wallpaper hanging-out. An oil lamp is all that is illuminating the room.

                “When will all you stop crying? It is driving me crazy!” she says, holding one baby with one hand and the bucket of water with the other. She puts the baby on the metallic container and pours the warm water into it, while the other baby cries from across the room.  She pours some water with her hand over the baby face to wash him. Her long and sharp nail scratches the baby’s nose and blood begins to pour out. The baby cries out louder with tears running down from his eyes. The woman tries to calm him but she scratches begin his ears and the baby screams in pain.

                The woman hears a loud noise coming from behind her, like if a very heavy bag had just fallen into the wooden floor, and the baby stops crying. She turns around and sees a big black cat approaching her.  She watches as the cat jumps right into the table where she is washing the baby.  Her green eyes meet with the cat’s big black eyes.

                “Cute babies aren’t they?” the cat says, walking around the baby that still on the container.

                The woman stands there in shock unable to move. Her heart beats faster and faster and her sweaty hands drop the baby into the water. She tries to grab the baby once again but the cat jumps in front of her and sits on top of the baby. She tries to take the cat away from the baby, but the cat shows her its big white teeth. She watches as her baby begins to drown as she tries to fight with the cat to rescue her baby. The cat bites her hands multiple times and scratches her face as she keeps trying to take the cat away from there. The cat jumps fast to her chest with such force that throws her into floor.

                “Get off me stupid cat!” she says, and her heart begins to sink when she does not hear any more splashing on the water.

                “Shut-up that’s what you always wanted!”  The cat says, putting its big nails against her throat.

                Tears run down her face and she feels like she is on a nightmare where she is unable to wake up. She feels the sharp cat’s nails against her throat and the smell of the cat penetrates all the way to her stomach, it smells like a rotten rat that is making her want to throw-up.  She hears her other baby crying from across the room and she sees her five year old girl at the door-way kneeling down in tears with towels in her hands. She tries to signal her to get out of there with her bleeding hands. But the girl just stays there in shock.

                “Do not try any clever moves with me,” the cat said.

                She screams grabbing the cat with all the strength that was left in her and sends it flying across the room into a wall. “Run and do not look back!” She yells to the girl that is still in shock. But as soon as she hears her mother she drops the towels and runs away. The shakes its head and runs towards the woman slowly transforming into a figure that begins to grow large hair on the head and gets bigger as it approaches the woman.  The woman feels her body shivering with fear and trembling.  

                The crawling creature takes the form of an old woman.  She slowly stands up and faces the other woman and says, “Long time no see my dear Hanna.”

                Hanna shaking asks, “Who are you?”

                Cleaning the blood from her face the old woman says, “Your grandmother, Beatrice”