The room shook. Not enough to actually wake her, but enough for her to notice. She kept her eyes closed hoping the shaking was a one-time occurrence. She stretched her body out until it could stretch no more, keeping her eyes shut tight, and settled in yet again.
Her thoughts of a quiet little nap were soon the farthest thing from her mind. The shaking continued and there was nothing she could do to stop it or escape it. The more she tried to stretch, the more she realized she couldn’t move. Strangely enough, though, she could almost imagine herself traveling or maybe it was more like scooting or sliding even.
She heard muffled sounds outside of her room. She clamped her eyes closed tighter with every shake and every tremble. She had never experienced anything like this before and she was certain it was not a situation she’d want to find herself in again!
Perhaps it was just her anxiety over the entire situation, but her walls began to close in around her and in no time at all, the room was completely surrounding her. It wasn’t that big before, but now, it was as if the room had actually clasp her body. The tremors became more intense, and she could feel her heart beat faster and faster and harder and harder.
Without any notice, her room was no longer dark. Light flooded her face and she blinked her eyes several times – this blinking was beyond her control. The muffled sounds now became yelling. She clearly heard a long, low, deep groaning; she faintly heard chanting.
And then, without any reason, she was no longer confined to her warm, dark room at all. She had a feeling of release. Her eyes continued to blink independently, trying to shade her from the brightness of this place and her body began to shiver in response to the chill she’d found.
A voice squealed, “It’s a girl!” then she took her first breath and cried.