THE SADDEST HOUR

His blonde curls are too still as she pushes the stroller.  He isn't pointing at the seagulls or running along the water's edge.  He doesn't cry.  Her baby is dying.  He has only one moment left.

   She hears his last breath.  A tiny gasp for air.  The sound impales her soul.  Her eyes take in the collar of his little plaid shirt.  But she can look no more.  She keeps walking.  His blue blanket flaps in the breeze, transfixing her stare.

   Life drains from his face with no frantic help to save him.  He no longer cares to suck his thumb as he slips from life on earth.  She rolls on.  Her entire being begs to hear his sweet silenced voice........."Mommy! Ruck!"

   The beach is filled with quietude in an understanding way.   A cherished friend moves to say hello, but this last time she does not stop to visit.  She sees the baby motionless in his stroller.  There are no words to comfort her neighbor, now plunged into deep despair.

  Every day they walk for an hour.  Today will be the same.   Her heart rips as each step reveals her new existence.  Alone is a mother with no child to love.  She grips the handle while tears spill down her face.  And moves on.

  His hands are so still beside him, no longer clutching Thomas the Train.  In death the blue toy lies abandoned in his lap.  Hunter sits in the carriage but he is gone.  His little heart stopped beating.  His innocent life has departed.  His last walk is the saddest hour.  The saddest hour I ever seen.