Afterlife: Reincarnation

10

May 25

LANE

I tried to concentrate on my breathing. On taking long, slow inhales, matched against long, slow exhales. It was the only thing I could do to try and relax, as we drove through the night on the only dirty road leading in the direction of the child's home.

She was huddled under my arm, her eyes no longer wet with tears. She looked surprisingly calm for someone so small, and for someone who had just walked all this way, at night, alone. I found myself glancing at her frequently, in awe of her. Such a brave little girl.

I wondered what she was thinking right now. What had been the scene when she left her home, having no choice but to seek out help in the only place she could think of? Did her mother send her? The thought unnerved me. Even though she undoubtedly needed help, sending a child out into the night anywhere, let alone here, was unthinkable to me. Maybe the girl just left on her own, knowing there was no other way to help her mother, than to bring help to her.

What would the scene be when we arrived? Were we too late? I had never seen a birth before, the entire concept terrifying and unnatural to me. To push another human being from your body, in blood and mucus and screaming...and women chose that? The thought made me want to sew my knees together.

Smith seemed to know where he was going, and I wondered if the girl had told him before we had left. No one had said anything since we left the camp, all of us looking out the open air sides of the jeep as the dust and dirty from the road billowed out behind us. We all seemed trapped in our own thoughts, and I wondered if they were just as concerned with what we may find as I was.

It was myself, Will, Neil and Sam, one of the nurses. And of course Smith, for protection. We were the rescue operation, of sorts. In the back, were boxes and drapes and metal instruments that I didn't even want to think of their use. I clung to my camera, my other arm over the girl who leaned against my side, pushing away all thoughts other than my breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

After what seemed like forever, a time that only made me consider just how long it took this small girl to walk this distance if it took us this long to drive it, Smith slowed, pulling off the road and through a narrow lane. It couldn't even be counted as a lane, so much as a flattening of the tall, dead grass. We came to a small hut, ramshackle and humble, only a dim, flickering light illuminating the inside.

The moment the jeep stopped, the girl moved to jump out of the car. I stopped her, passing her across to Neil, to set her on the ground. The moment her feet touched the dirt, she ran towards her home. Will and Sam following closely, while Smith, Neil and myself gathered the equipment from the back of the jeep.

"Does this happen often?" I asked, tucking a large drape under my arm.

"Not as often as you would think," Smith commented, his lips in a firm line.

Once all equipment was piled in our arms, we turned towards the home. Just as we approached, a scream of pain echoed through the night. It drowned out the crickets, and the usual sounds, and caused my blood to run cold.

I faltered in my step, stilling for a moment. Neil seemed to notice me fall a step behind, turning to me.

"Come on, Lane," he called, his voice tight. "We need to do this."

I nodded, my body shaking, as I stepped through the small door, and into a moderate open space.

The home was literally made of sticks, mud and grass. So primitive, and so typical of what you would expect in an area such as this. And yet, in the back of my mind, I couldn't imagine life like this. Dirt floors, only firelight, with nothing more than blankets in the corner as a bed.