Suffering
Part 2
Mummah walks a long, long way. You don’t feel good. Mummah gave you miwkies while you were in the nu smeww pwetty box, but it was hot in there all bright time, then cold all dark time. Now there’s a bright, shiny ball in the sky that hurts your see places, like the one in the sky in your safe room, but brighter. It’s hot again. Mummah hasn’t had any nummies since daddeh threw you in the trashies, and she’s hot too.
“Babbehs… mummah nee tu west a widdwe.”
Mummah lays down in a shady place and pants. You climb down off her back and your bruddas and sissies follow. Your one brudda is holding his weggie funny and crying and saying, “owies” a lot.
“Hewe babbeh, wet mummah see weggie owies.”
He toddles over and falls a bunch of times. You’re all too little to really walk as good as mummah, and his hurt weggie makes it harder. Mummah scoots him closer with her hoofsie and he screeches and wiggles around.
“Sowwy, babbeh! Mummah nu mean huwt weggie! Mummah gif huggies!”
The huggies don’t work, just like before. Your sissies and other brudda all lay on the ground, panting, but you walk over and cock your head curiously.
“Mummah? Bwudda otay?”
“Nu, babbeh. Yoo bwudda haf wowstest weggie owies. He too widdwe, weggie neffuh get betta. Babbeh nu can fine nummies ow wun an pway wif bad weggie. Babbeh get wowstest tummeh owies and haf foweva sweepies cuz weggie am bad.”
You stare at your brudda, who’s crying even harder and trying to hug his hurt weggie; it’s still sticking out funny.
“Bwudda… bwudda am… dummeh babbeh nao?”
Mummah nods sadly, tears staining her fluff. Mummah sits up and puts one hoofsie on your brudda and holds it there for a long time. Tears are dripping off the end of her nosie onto your brudda, staining his yellow fluff darker, as he continues to cry and hug his hurt weggie. Mummah starts to press down with her weight and your brudda chirps in distress.
“Chirp! Chirp! Mummah! Chirp! MUMMAH!”
What… what is mummah doing?
“CHIRP! MUMMAH! OWIES! HUWTIES! CHIRP! HEWP! MUMMAH! CHIRP!”
Mummah takes her hoofsie off your brudda and hugs him, crying.
“Mummah nu can du it! Huuhuu, nu wan gif foweva sweepies! Huuuuu! Sowwy, babbeh, mummah twy make huwties gu way, bu… mummah nu can du it! Huuhuuhuuuu!”
You don’t understand what just happened. Your other siblings all squirm their way over to mummah and you join them for a big group hug. You’re scared and have heart hurties and nu feel goods, but huggies make everything better.
Right?
Mummah has found a place to hide. She made a little housie from a box she found, and a beddie from a hoomin not-fluff she found. It doesn’t smell pretty, but it’s softer than the box.
“Hewe babbehs, haf miwkies so yoo be big an stwong.”
You’re one of the first mummah puts to her miwkie pwaces, and you drink until you’re full. Once you finish, your brudda with the hurt weggie tries to take a turn, but mummah pushes him away.
“Whu? Mummah? Why mummah nu wet babbeh haf miwkies?”
“Sowwy babbeh. Yoo… yoo dummeh babbeh nao. Mummah nee make sure gud babbehs get wots uf miwkies so dey big an stwong. Yoo get miwkies wastest.”
“Bu-bu-bu- babbeh nu am dummeh! Babbeh huwties! Haf tummie owies! Pwease, mummah, gif miwkies!”
Mummah is crying now.
“Sowwy, babbeh. Yoo am dummeh babbeh nao. Yoo nu gwow up big an stwong. Mummah stiww wuv yoo, stiww gif yoo miwkies. Bu yoo gu wastest, aftew uffa babbehs dwink dey miwkies.”
“Mummah?” your blue sissie asks.
“Babbeh?”
“Babbeh nu haf tummeh owies wight nao. Chirp! Wet bwudda haf miwkies!”
Mummah smiles and pats your blue sissie with her hoofsie, then draws her up to a vacant miwkie pwace.
“Nu, babbeh. Yoo nee miwkies tu gwow up big an stwong. Bwudda stiww get miwkies, jus gu wastest.”
Blue sissie chirps once and starts suckling, while your brudda with the hurt weggie cries and asks mummah why she’s being meanie to him. He wasn’t bad, was he?
You toddle over and give him huggies. He doesn’t stop crying, but he hugs you back.
You have a warm tummeh full of miwkies and it makes you feel bad that he has none.
Finally, every babbeh has a full tummeh, and mummah gives your hurt brudda huggies and lets him at her miwkie pwaces. But he gets hardly any and starts crying again.
“Mummah sowwy, babbeh. Nu haf nummies tu make wots uf miwkies fow aww da babbehs. Onwy haf enuff miwkies fow gud babbehs. Mummah sowwy.”
Mummah starts crying again and keeps asking someone why meanie things are happening to her babbehs, and she keeps telling them it isn’t fair. Who is she talking to? You don’t see anyone else.
Finally, mummah curls up around all of you in a fluff pile, trying to keep you warm. It’s hard to sleep with your brudda crying about his hurt weggie and tummeh owies, but eventually you doze off.
The next bright time, mummah gives you all miwkies, and your hurt brudda cries about being last again. He gets hardly any miwkies.
“Sowwy babbeh, mummah nu haf nummies fo miwkies. It tu dangewous tu take babbehs wif mummah, and mummah nu can weave yoo heaw whiwe wook fow nummies.”
Then mummah lets you all play in the box, while she watches. Your brudda with the hurt weggie cries about his owies and tummeh owies, but he tries to play too. But your other brudda, the red one, pushes him away after giving huggies and says, “Bleah! Bwudda nu smeww pwetty!”
What? You wander over and sniff him. He smells normal until you get to his hurt weggie, then…
“Pee-yoo! Bwudda nu smeww pwetty!”
Your sissies and other brudda don’t want to play with hurt brudda, calling him a “nu smeww pwetty dummeh babbeh”. He cries and cries and cries. You try to include him in the games, but he can’t keep up with his hurt weggie and finally plops down on his rear and won’t stop crying. Mummah comes over and gives him huggies, and he stops crying, but he keeps sniffling and hugging mummah and saying he isn’t a bad babbeh.
“Mummah know, babbeh. Mummah know. Yoo nu bad babbeh. It nu yoo fawt yoo am dummeh. Huuuu…”
Now mummah is crying again. You stop playing and join mummah for huggies. Your other brudda and sissies keep playing and giggling.
The dark time comes again, and you’re one of the first to get miwkies again. Mummah doesn’t let you drink until your tummeh is full though.
“Mummah nu haf nummies fow miwkies, onwy haf a widdwe miwkies. Babbehs nee shawe wiff bwuddas and sissies so dey aww gwow up big an stwong.”
Your hurt brudda cries and chirps because he’s last AGAIN and you give him huggies, even though his weggie really is nu smeww pwetty now. He finally gets a turn, but he doesn’t get any miwkies this time.
“Sowwy babbeh, mummah nu haf mowe miwkies. Mebbe… mebbe tomowwow?”
She gathers you all in a fluff pile again and curls around you protectively, shivering in the cold. You stay awake for what feels like forever, listening to mummah whisper, “it nu faiw, why daddeh twow babbehs way wike twashies? Why babbeh haf wowstest weggie huwties an be dummeh babbeh? Why Miwwie nu haf nummies fow miwkies an babbehs haf tummeh owies? Huuu… nu faiw…”
Eventually, mummah quiets down and you fall asleep, though you still have saddies and heart hurties and your tummeh isn’t full enough to be happy.
The next bright time, mummah nudges you all awake and you’re the first she puts on her miwkie pwaces. You only get a little miwkies though, and your tummeh is unhappy.
“Sowwy babbehs, mummah nee nummies fow miwkies, nu haf nummies.”
Your hurt brudda isn’t complaining about going last though, so that’s good. Maybe his weggie is getting better? Your other brudda and sissies chirp about tummeh owies and whine that they didn’t get enough miwkies, but mummah pushes them away nonetheless.
“Otay babbeh, it yoo tuwn nao. Babbeh?”
Mummah nudges your hurt brudda. He’s still asleep.
“Babbeh?”
He isn’t waking up.
“Huuuuuu! Nu! Nu take foweffa sweepies, babbeh! Nu! Huuuhuuuhuuuu!”
Why isn’t he waking up? Silly brudda, it’s miwkies time!
Mummah tells you all to stay in the box, then picks up your hurt brudda in her moufie and goes outside. You can still see the tip of her tail, so you don’t get scared; she didn’t go very far.
“Huuhuuhuu! Why babbeh take foweva sweepies? Whyyyyyy? It nu faiw! Miwwie nu am bad fwuffy, babbehs am gud babbehs! It nu faiw! Huuu… sniff Miwwie nee nummies fo miwkies, babbehs nu haf enuff miwkies… sniff Sowwy babbeh. Mummah wuvs yoo.”
Mummah keeps crying, and you hear an odd crunchy noise, like the kibble mummah always ate. Maybe she found nummies behind the box? Mummah comes back and has booboo juice on her moufie. Oh no! Is she hurt? You all run up to give her huggies and she hugs you too tight, crying.
That night, you all got enough miwkies to have full tummehs, but mummah wouldn’t stop crying.