GW500 Challenge #15
Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:17 am
Well, figured since I was playing around in the Naruto forum, might as well post up the couple of Challenges I did in the GW500 LJ community. This one's theme was "Being Alone".
Sometimes it was hard to be alone when you were in a room with two other people. But then, alone was simply a frame of mind, if one wanted to take it that far. After all, many people feel alone in a crowd. And, perhaps fortunately, or not, he was one of them.
There was little to light his way save for the glow from monitors behind him. The sounds were turned off, since there was nothing actually -wrong-. He was told that it was simply standard procedure to keep the heart monitor going on her. He hated it. It made her look like she was... in some way he'd rather not imagine her being. But his attention was not on the woman behind him, hooked up to machines he'd love nothing more than to chuck out the window for the imagery they caused, but on the two and a half foot long plastic container that sat upon a rolling cabinet.
He realized long ago that he had said the wrong thing, at first, which resulted in his banishment from the room until he "could behave" himself. But it was the truth. There was nothing "cute" about the wrinkly thing bundled in several pastel pink and green blankets, with a funny little hat on it's disproportionate head. But, while it...no...she...wasn't cute in what he expected babies to look like, he found himself quite enthralled looking at her.
He stepped back, startled, when she cooed slightly, opening up swollen eyes to look straight at him. He glanced behind him, at the woman on the bed, expecting her to leap up and go brandishing something at him and chase him away from the baby he had, in so many ways, called ugly, but Relena continued to sleep peacefully on the bed, having not heard anything. That puzzled him. He was under the impression (along with the fact that babies were supposed to be in possession of some form of cuteness) that mothers had supernatural sense in regards to their children. That was twice his preconceptions were proven wrong.
She gave another coo, and whimpered slightly. A strange feeling surged in him, and he was suddenly under the intense need not to let the baby wake Relena. Stepping forward, towards the bassinet, he reached in and picked up the wrinkly bundle wrapped in pastels. He remembered being "trained" on Hilde's son. There was so much emphasis on keeping the head level. He kept getting confused and frustrated. But, once he figured it out, it almost felt natural. Once he settled the infant against him, she quieted down. Another one of those strange feelings were felt as he held her, and he felt himself smile slightly.
Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe his daughter, whom Relena named Katarina, was cute. Something about holding her changed his perspective on the entire issue. Rustling behind him caught his attention, and he glanced behind her, and regarded Relena as she sat up. The smile on her face assured him that he wasn't going to be chased out for his past transgressions in regards to this. Still holding the infant, he made his way over to her, and sat on the edge of the bed. Relena scooted forward and slipped her arms around him, and he gave a rare, full smile at it all. While being alone was preferable before, the feeling it generated never could compare with this.
He never wanted to be alone again.
Sometimes it was hard to be alone when you were in a room with two other people. But then, alone was simply a frame of mind, if one wanted to take it that far. After all, many people feel alone in a crowd. And, perhaps fortunately, or not, he was one of them.
There was little to light his way save for the glow from monitors behind him. The sounds were turned off, since there was nothing actually -wrong-. He was told that it was simply standard procedure to keep the heart monitor going on her. He hated it. It made her look like she was... in some way he'd rather not imagine her being. But his attention was not on the woman behind him, hooked up to machines he'd love nothing more than to chuck out the window for the imagery they caused, but on the two and a half foot long plastic container that sat upon a rolling cabinet.
He realized long ago that he had said the wrong thing, at first, which resulted in his banishment from the room until he "could behave" himself. But it was the truth. There was nothing "cute" about the wrinkly thing bundled in several pastel pink and green blankets, with a funny little hat on it's disproportionate head. But, while it...no...she...wasn't cute in what he expected babies to look like, he found himself quite enthralled looking at her.
He stepped back, startled, when she cooed slightly, opening up swollen eyes to look straight at him. He glanced behind him, at the woman on the bed, expecting her to leap up and go brandishing something at him and chase him away from the baby he had, in so many ways, called ugly, but Relena continued to sleep peacefully on the bed, having not heard anything. That puzzled him. He was under the impression (along with the fact that babies were supposed to be in possession of some form of cuteness) that mothers had supernatural sense in regards to their children. That was twice his preconceptions were proven wrong.
She gave another coo, and whimpered slightly. A strange feeling surged in him, and he was suddenly under the intense need not to let the baby wake Relena. Stepping forward, towards the bassinet, he reached in and picked up the wrinkly bundle wrapped in pastels. He remembered being "trained" on Hilde's son. There was so much emphasis on keeping the head level. He kept getting confused and frustrated. But, once he figured it out, it almost felt natural. Once he settled the infant against him, she quieted down. Another one of those strange feelings were felt as he held her, and he felt himself smile slightly.
Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe his daughter, whom Relena named Katarina, was cute. Something about holding her changed his perspective on the entire issue. Rustling behind him caught his attention, and he glanced behind her, and regarded Relena as she sat up. The smile on her face assured him that he wasn't going to be chased out for his past transgressions in regards to this. Still holding the infant, he made his way over to her, and sat on the edge of the bed. Relena scooted forward and slipped her arms around him, and he gave a rare, full smile at it all. While being alone was preferable before, the feeling it generated never could compare with this.
He never wanted to be alone again.
