The Birth of the End

Lili woke to a dull ache low in her back. It was 3:oo a.m. exactly so the room was still dark and her eyes heavy. She waited, unsure, then felt it again but stronger this time, tight around her stomach.

She sat up, heart pounding. This is it.

She could not get back to sleep and by the time the sun came out, the pain had grown into regular contractions. Lili moved slowly through the house, pausing to breathe deeply through each wave before decided it is time to leave.

At the hospital, she was 4 centimeters dilated. The nurse’s were kind and tended to her every whim, but Lili barely noticed. The contractions where coming harder now and she could already feel them taking its toll on her body. She gripped the bedrails, her breath shallow, sweat dampening her forehead. The nurse's words of encouragement falling on deaf ears.

Hours passed.

She moaned through each contraction, low and strained as the pressure inside her started to become unbearable.

“You’re doing amazing,” someone said, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer.

When the nurse announced she was at 10 centimeters, relief and dread collided at the same time.

The urge to push came like a reflex. Her muscles bore down and pain flooded through her with every breath. She screamed and she made it loud. There was no more caring about her image, there was only one focus and she would let everything out to achieve it.

Each push tore through her and the room disappeared.

Then within a split second, the pressure shifted. The nurse called out, "The head is crowning!" Lili felt the burning sensation and then the release.

Her body sunk into the bed as every muscle seemed to relax all at once.

The baby was placed onto her chest, slick and warm and impossibly real. Her body trembled but soon relaxed as she stared into his eyes.

She didn't notice the fact that he hadn't cried. She didn't notice the stillness of the doctor or the nurses lying on the floor with blood coming out of their ears. It was just her and her baby boy. And he stared back at her, with his bright red eyes and a smile on his face.

--- The End

Word Count: 377

I hope you enjoyed this submission to the fantastic "Beginning-Endings" Unofficial Writing Challenge by Gabriel Huizenga. The link is below to the original challenge so please check it out and enter.

@copyright Daniel Millington 2025