SON [SHORT STORY]

Eleanor didn’t know exactly what Son would go on to become. How could you know? But, even on the day of his birth, she felt a coldness and distance that forewarned her of the problems to come with Son. Most mothers put it down to post-natal depression and move on. But Eleanor felt something deeper as she looked upon Son. Eleanor felt a chill, a fright, lingering anxiety that said that all will not be well with this one. A few days later, when she took Son and herself home from the hospital, she made sure that Hugh spent all day with Son. Eleanor meanwhile, cried herself dry in the bedroom. She spent that week tossing and turning in bed and asking God why she can’t bear the sight of her own child. Eleanor didn’t love Son from day one. Not because she was a cold and crappy mother incapable of love but because she felt something dark and unlovable emanating from Son. Something that only she could feel, it was impossible to love him. H