Heaven on Earth

Darkness surrounds the small girl and a sense of comfort and safety envelopes her every moment. She senses them, the four other bodies that reside in the same darkness as her, and she knows that each and every one of them are loved. Here there is no sense of time or fear, just the five pups pressed together and occasionally stretching their limbs to knock into each other. It is a peaceful existence and one the small pup gladly hangs onto for as long she can.

But the fates have something else in store for her and the four other bodies inside their mother’s belly. There is sense of something shifting, a great change in their limited knowledge of the world and great forces of pressure begin shifting their bodies around. She does not know what it is but her mother’s body is getting ready to welcome them all into the great life beyond this darkness. The pressure continues and one by one, her first and biggest brothers leave.

There is no sadness, nor fear to stain this beautiful experience; it is just a fact of life and the girl is ready to join her siblings. Soon her mother’s body is ready to help her enter the world and she leaves the only place she has known without a fuss. It really is just exchanging one darkness for another but, as her birth sac is opened, there is so much more here. While she cannot hear or see, the small, yet to be named girl feels.

There is a warmth that is so different from what she had experienced in the womb and, as her mother leans in to clean her, the girl mewls her protest at the rough tongue that swipes at her fur. Tiny nose works, searching for warmth and her first meal, little legs push her body toward the source of heat that promises food, legs splayed every which way as she goes. Her lungs are healthy and she is not afraid to share this fact with the world as she squeals loudly with every breath.

There is no sound to her but she knows that her body is doing something as the air passes over her new vocal chords and rouses them into song. A paw helps to guide her toward the source of warmth and she latches on to suckle next to her two brothers, small paws kneading her mother’s stomach as she drinks for the first time. More bodies join hers and they all suckle, a sense of peace and happiness covering them as they enjoy their first day of life.


"Haydée Kedieo"