The Womb

She stood in the nursery and placed her hands over the belly that held her baby. Her hands were cold, as they always were, but soon began to warm up as she stroked back and forth, and she tried to imagine her palms radiating a protective forcefield around her developing child.

She began to bring her forehead to meet with the belly, and as it made contact she tried to peer into it to see if she could get just one glimpse of her child that had not yet entered the universe. She knew that the material wasn't designed to be translucent - something about watching a fetus develop didn't appeal to many people.

The womb was securely nestled into the wall with wires feeding into the top of the oval-shaped contraption. They originated from a box, also secured into the wall, a little to the left. The box had a few simple buttons and a timer, but she only focused on two things: the timer and the button labelled "Drain".

The convexed belly of the womb was the same size as that of a human who was carrying the child themself, but it was made of a glossy fibre-glass that caught the light like the inside of an abalone shell. Around the border of the belly was a neatly fixed titanium casing with an airtight latch on one side and hinges on the opposite.

On days when she grew overly impatient, she closed her eyes and imagined carefully undoing that very latch.

Although not many people carried their offspring nowadays, it was still a viable option for families who weren't put off by the ordeal of birth. Most women, however, decided to use an artificial womb for purely cosmetic reasons.

In her case, she didn't have the option. She had always felt that she was born to be a mother, but her path to motherhood had come to a sudden, screeching halt. At least biologically.

But she had the artificial womb. She would do anything to have a child, even if she was unable to carry it herself.

She found herself in a daze, imagining what it would be like to finally be a mother. She thought of all the ways she would raise her child, and of all the ways her parents had failed her. She would not make the same mistakes.

Although her eyes were closed, she noticed the bright red flashing light first. After a few moments, a high-pitched noise began to beep. Had this been in the preparation manual?

She was sure it had not.

Her first instinct was to try and peer through the fibre-glass and figure out what was going wrong, but no matter how much she squinted her eyes there was nothing to be seen.

Her throat started to close up and her breathing quickened, the worst thought in her mind being that something had happened to her baby so close to the finish line.

Her mind was racing and she frantically looked to and from the box in the wall, frustrated that the only information it gave was the countdown timer which showed 3 days, 14 hours and 53 minutes to go. Whichever idiot designed this had not thought it would be important to provide more information on the health of the baby it carried.

She wanted to call for help, but there was no way she was going to pull herself away from the womb in case something else went wrong.

Her breathing was still heightened and the negative thoughts banging in her mind began to overwhelm her. She knew that there was only one thing she could do.

There were only 3 and a half days left, and although she wasn't sure about how these wombs worked, she was sure there would be no major damage to her child if she drain and opened the belly.

Almost impulsively, she hit the "Drain" button that she had been so excited to finally use. The feeling wasn't as she thought it would be, given the circumstances.

As the belly slowly drained of its amniotic fluids, she kept her fingers on the latch, ready to open it the second the machine would allow her.

The red light and piercing sound had not yet stopped.

Finally, the draining was complete and a soft blue flicker of light from behind the fibre-glass belly indicated that it was ready to be opened. She knew that feature had been explained in the manual.

She steadied her breath, knowing that she had to be careful despite her hands quivering and her accelerated heartbeat.

As she unlatched the belly, tears stung her eyes. She had a feeling that she had not experienced before, a sort of uneasy joy.

One last big breath and she slowly began to open the cave that had cradled her child.

What she saw was worse than she could have imagined, and certainly not what she would have ever expected.

The womb that had been implanted into her nursery wall for months on end...

That she sat next to for hours each day, imagining an entirely new life with her precious child...

Was empty.