Please note: I don't agree with this story, the challenge was to write something from the opposite opinion to my own. Scroll to the authors notes for more infomation.1
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Maddie held her husbands hand tightly, stroking it to comfort herself. She looked around at all the framed pictures along the walls, with a few scattered diplomas around. Having a baby would be a such a big impact for them, but she was so excited. She had seen the other women in the office and their children when she had gone with them to pick them up from day-care once or twice. So cute. She couldn't wait to have one herself, make the others jealous at how perfect her little girl or boy was, how beautiful and well behaved. She had already inquired at early learning centres. But first she had to get past these checkups and actually have the child.3
"Don't worry honey, it was just a check up, I'm sure both you and the baby are fine." Her husband whispered into her ear comfortingly.4
"I'm not sure I'm ready for all this" she whispered back. She had just gone in for an ultrasound and some tests, and was waiting for the results.5
"You'll be fine" He replied6
"Mrs Daughman?" the elderly doctor called as they stood. He led them back into his office. 7
Once they were seated he began to speak.8
"I'm afraid I have some bad news. The baby appears to have Downs Syndrome."9
The parents-to-be stared in shock at the idea. Their baby wasn't going to be born normal like the other kids. Maddie began to panic, she would have to quit work, on one income there is no way they could afford the costs of keeping a disabled child. She didn't know what she would do. Her husband wrapped his arms around her. 10
Her mind began to slip into images of teaching her child at home, taking care of it full time. She would have to quit work, they would probably need to buy a smaller home, one income wouldn't pay the morgage. Constant doctors...11
"We can schedual the abortion in for next week if you'd like" said the doctor smiling. "It's a simple, painless procedure. You'd be better off"12
The parents nodded slowly...
Author notes
As I said, this is the opposite to what I beleive and I hate parents like this. And yes I know her thoughts on what she would have to do for Downs Syndrome are exagerated, they're meant to be, one of those mothers being told her child is disabled isn't going to think rationally.
If you want to post a comment saying I'm a bitch and why should the parents suffer and things, keep this in mind before you comment. By saying that child should have been aborted, you're saying I should have been aborted too. I should never have been born in the eyes of these people. Think about that. How many people do you know wouldn't have been born, or in the case of younger people, their parents were given the option of abortion because of early detection.
Also, only one in three pre-birth scans correctly find a disability, many many healthy babies are being aborted because their doctors thought they were disabled. My sister was diagnosed as downs syndrome before birth, then she was diagnosed as having cerebal palsy. The doctor tried to convince my parents it would be better to abort her. When she was born, she had neither.
A contest entry
- Breaking Your Mold: a true writer's challenge by Ssmm.
250 points, ended May 8, 25 entries
Honorable winner
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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I think that it took tons of bravery and even more creative skill than I pocess to write so far out of your comfort zone and especially about something that hits so close to home. I commend you and this story for that reason alone.
It's probably also the reason it's so short. I realize that you probably didn't want to extend your personal hell by dragging it out. I would have loved to seen more reaction, a little more attention to detail so that the characters seemed more real and not so flat. You neither feel real sympathy nor do you really want to condem the people because you hardly care about them or their postion. Although the subject matter is a sensative one, and in and of its self provokes feeling, I would have rather had more on the actual couple so that I cared about them and not just the situation.
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see, this is exactly my point! you wrote outside of your comfort zone, and the result is amazing. i wanted to challenge you, and you rose to that challenge admirably. bravo. i love how you took something you feel one way about and forced yourself to see it from someone else's point of view. this was excellent!
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alright, here's what i want, and this is a real challenge: write something in contrast to your own opinions. if you are anti-stem cells, write something that promotes stem-cell research. it can be a column, or a story, or whatever. any viewpoint.
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I swear you gave me the hardest prompt of everyone! lol. They all got plots, or at least genres
. The thing is, the things I feel passionatly about, I feel that way because I have a good reason, a personal reason. To write supporting them... well in some cases it makes me sick heh.
The first to pop to mind, and probably the easiest (which is strange really), is rape. I hate it, I hate anyone that even thinks it's possibly ok or erotic or anything (with one exception). But I suppose I also... understand the mindset, to a point, due to previous experience. I know their perspective, their point of view. To write from the point of view of an attacker might not be so bad, because it's not something I avoid thinking about, it's something I try to understand.
The issue with this is, your rules say no erotica. This wouldn't be erotic, and anyone that thinks it's erotic is sick. But, it would be graphic. Where do the rules stand on that, would this piece be alright?
I do have an alternative, but I don't think it will be as effective, and will probably be flamed or some shit if I do it. However if you say no to the graphic nature of the above story I'll give it a go.
Why do you give everyone else easy prompts lol
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