The Shaken Innocent

A story for the rash of mothers who are able to avoid prosecution for killing the innocents by means of "shaken baby syndrome," using the defense of postpardum depression!

THE SHAKEN INNOCENT

 

Ethan felt himself drifting up into the sky, past the clouds, past the stars.  He came to rest upon a golden walkway.  He had a new form and great knowledge.  A man looked into an enormous book and read, "Ethan Allen Bowman, died at the hand of his mother May 10, 2010, born May 1, 2010.  Named by God at conception, on August 2, 2009, 'babbalifnozed.'  He has a task for you to perform, before you can enter into purity.  Please, kindly wait."

 

Ethan sat patiently, for many long years, watching new arrivals and seeing them disappear past the gates.  Then, the man with the book spoke to him, "Stand in the light and start your journey, babbalifnozed."

 

The form that he, now, had become floated into the blinding light and he could feel himself falling and falling and falling, as weightless as a snowflake.  Soon, he came to rest, but could not see past the radiant brightness.  And, he waited and waited and waited some more.

 

Outside of the protective ray, all was darkness.  A crowd had gathered and each member of the mob tried to touch "the innocent."  Ethan looked anonymous and featureless, in the beam where he was protected.  None could touch him and the crowd continued to gather, for eons of eons.  All believed that if they could touch him, they would be saved from their prison.  As each tried and failed, they continued to stand about gazing at "the innocent" in awe.

 

Deanne Lyn Bowman, Ethan's mother, tried and failed, too.  For a brief moment she wondered whether "the innocent" could be her little baby son.  Suddenly, as quickly as he had arrived, Ethan floated back to the gate, with the brillant glow disappearing behind him.  It seemed to him that he had, only, been gone for a brief moment.  The gate was open and trumpets blew, harps played, angels danced and sang.  He was swept away into the purity of Heaven.

 

Once again left in the blackest darkness imaginable, Deanne felt around for anyone who may have been in the crowd.  Finally, she realized that she was alone with her ceaseless, restless, torturous hellmares.  Her memories of any love or happiness or peace were, quickly, fading from her being.

 

With an earth rattling boom, a magnificent illumination appeared to her and she had to shield her eyes from its glare and turn away.  A thunderous voice spoke, "You have murdered one of my innocent children.  You shook your son to death, when he was crying for your attention."

 

She pleaded back to the voice, "But, I was found innocent."

 

The blaring voice roared back, "You were found innocent by an earthly judge.  Now, you will be judged by Me Deanne Lyn Bowman, 'babdelifnozed.'

 

The light had begun to fade, again, and the presence appeared to be departing to leave her stranded here alone in the abyss of sin, forever.  The voice blared into the cavern of her demise, endlessly echoing and repeating,

 

"Go to Hell,

 

"Go to Hell,

 

"Go to Hell, . . .!

Reviews

[ChristianM]

I thought this was intriguing, yet I didn't agree with the end.
If we are talking about the Heaven of the Bible then only God himself has the power to judge. And I thought the whole name thing was a little odd. If you explained that more it might make more sense.
Good story.

[Albatross]

Wow, this was very profound.....
I like your conception of Heaven.. and Hell.
I like how eternal you truly made Heaven, how timeless every event in this story seemed...
I like how real the emotion is. How well this flowed. How beautifully it was written.
Again, a little too happy with the comma's
Otherwise a very good write. Loved it:)

[Wicahpi]

Only God can be the Judge and Jury .. and even he
can forgive a mother, but this is a different take on the
subject and a view understood; for there is no excuse
for shaking a baby. I, too, was a shaken baby, but lived
to tell about it. I know, because my grandmother told me.
My mother was very young and over stressed. I could see
how it might happen. A strong ending...though the whole
thing is sad.

[J.Black]

Wow. I knew you were a great writer, but I didn't know you held this much emotion. I'm somewhat blown away by this. Thanks for writing this and sharing it with me.

[Susie Q]

Thank you for this story. These precious little ones that do not even get a chance by mothers and fathers that don't care about anyone, not even themselves. We know the justice system lets these people off to easy. When a life is taken, we know they will be judged one day. These babies are held now in His loving arms.

[Augustus]

You have very succinctly portrayed the concept of Divine Justice in this short story... The story is embellished by beautiful depictions of heaven and also a gut-wrenchingly pathetic situation of the mother who killed her child... It raises deep questions about the concept of justice and punishment without wasting too many words... A very good write!

[Kandy]

Much better. Know that you have clarified the mothers problem, it's much better to understand. I'm glad the mother received her punishment because it's true, we will all pay someday for our sins. Good Job.

[Devons]

This is exactly how I see both victim and murderer in the after-life.. Murderers may escape unpunished by terrestrial law and achieve social forgiveness but they will in spirit have to answer for their actions for the rest of their lives - they will have to live with these consequences whilst here on earth, and should they be tormented by this knowledge, then some intangible justice has been served..

I really enjoyed how the narrative appeared like a parable or allegory for the real-life event it refers to. The above comment is how it translated to me, metaphorically. Although one may feel sympathy for such a woman in time of stress, nothing can forgive her actions as a human being and mother. Above all else, the child should be protected by its parent - if not, then they are not worthy of being called human or mother. The very real problem in this world regarding motherhood and fatherhood is the lack of anticipation and understanding for the consequential tasks and responsibilities you automatically accept when deciding to bring a child into such a world. All too often the adult and baby become separated in the parent's mind, and then become merely an object and tether to them, whereas their lives should in proportion be a sacrifice to the child's existence. There is no excuse for such resentful retaliation being exacted upon such an innocent.
This piece of writing conveys a powerful spiritual lesson which we as a society should be teaching; and understanding but NOT accepting the ignorance of such a lesson. Otherwise, we are not a decent humanity at all...

[marcie]

Im the mother of 3 demanding yet delightful children so yes i know about the pressure a child places upon a parent. Never has the thought to harm them ever entered my head , they never asked to be born nor did they make the choice of who their father should be . We are all wiser with hindsight and never should our own frustrations be taken out on our children . An insightful read thanks for the request

[Kandy]

It's a very intriguing story, and I love the creativity you put into it to create the setting. I think, though, that you should be clearer on how the mother killed her son because it can be confusing. Other than that, I think you did a great job of describing a place we've never seen but heard about. Nice Job.

[Dutch Jr.]

I like the idea to the vist to heaven. Which gave me comfort ater reading this piece, and the idea of ultimate retribution. I knew what the piece was gong tob about after reading the title, but you painted it in such a way where wanted t read the rest of it. Great write.

"You were found innocent by an earthly judge. Now, you will be judged by Me Deanne Lyn Bowman, 'babdelifnozed.'

Loved this line.