Hush Little Baby

Staring into emerald green eyes, she couldn't help but notice similarities between this infant and the first child she was tasked to rock. She wondered silently if they were related. She was never given their full names, just the first and the illness that overcame them. Reminiscing about her many years in the wooden chair under her, she let its melodic creaking fill the nursery. This one was named Henry, and his tiny frame, frail with sickness, rose and fell ever so slightly against her aging motherly arms. She had rocked easily millions of children, but it never got any easier seeing them struggle so hard to cling to their Earthly life. She watched his tiny face scrunch together as he winced against the pain. She knew he was close to being claimed, she could sense it, but this one was a fighter. In her experience, the younger they were the harder they fought. She tried to soothe him with a lullaby.

​"Sorry to bother you Mother, but the boss wants to know if he's ready yet."
She was so focused on easing Henry's pain, that she did not hear the knock on the door. She calmly shook her head without looking up and continued humming. Mr. Tom nodded and quickly shut the door.

Everyone here was always in a hurry. Understandably, as there were many children to rock and deliver to their heavenly home, but in her old age she wished the process would slow down. More than often, she's only able to rock the child for their last few breaths because they get claimed so quickly. She barely got to humming before they were ushered away. Less than often she got a child, like Henry, who needed just a little more time to say goodbye. She continued to watch his face as the breaths became more jagged. Faint sounds of a wailing mother could be heard around the child, filling the room around her. If loved enough, the last sounds a child hears carry with them as they pass. Only once before, has she seen a parent's face in the brass framed mirror hanging across from her. She looked up out of curiosity, something she almost never did for fear of missing a child's last breath, and saw the blurry reflection of a young mother in a hospital room. The young mother held the child in her arms, much like Mother was holding Henry.
Mother tried not to get attached to any child, she wouldn't be able to do her job effectively if she did, but Henry and his mother were quickly taking up residence in her heart. Something about them seemed extremely familiar to her, though she couldn't place it. She looked back down at Henry in time to see his chest rise and fall for the last time. As soon as he was claimed, his face relaxed and a faint smile appeared. She called for Mr. Tom, who was apparently right outside the door given his immediate response, and told him the child had passed. He sped over and tenderly scooped Henry out of her arms, then proceeded to rush out of the room. In the sixty years she had been there, Henry was the first child she had spent more than five minutes with. Her heart ached for his mom; whose reflection had now disappeared from the mirror.
She barely had time to grieve his absence, though she still couldn't understand why, when a nurse came in with another child who was much older than Henry and handed her over. She had no choice but to switch off her emotions again and continue with the incoming children. Trying her best to give her undivided attention to the beautiful blonde toddler in her lap, she couldn't help but think about Henry. What was it about him and his mother that she could not figure out? She had never before become this attached to a child. It was not in a Mother's nature here to be so emotional over their tasks. The blonde one, Sadie, breathed her last breath and was quietly taken away and replaced with another child. Mother was so lost in thought, that she did not hear the nurse when given the name and illness of the new child. She stared at the stranger in her arms and frowned. She apologized to him sweetly and continued humming. This one didn't last much longer than the last, and was whisked away like all the others before him. As the nurse came in with another one, she held her hand up in silent command, and stood for the first time in years. Mothers are created to withstand the Earthly aches and pains of sitting for long periods of time. The nurse, visibly shocked, as she was never refused before now, stood mouth agape in the doorway with a fidgety child in her arms. Mother shooed her, and the nurse left without a sound. Mr. Tom instantly replaced her presence in the doorway, which did not surprise Mother in the slightest. In fact, she wanted his attention.