Hugo Müller-Downing, 23 Jun '12

He drifted off to sleep. The lullaby did not seem to end. The sound soared through his mind, spiraling down into its dark depths. He woke. The sun shining through the seams in the curtains. He looked around, a vivid white surrounded him, a hospital maybe? He didn't know. He heard a voice, a child, calling his name. Daddy! Daddy! It said, on and on. A drone, a shout, a scream and then it was gone.

And then, he started to remember. The pain, the ill forgotten love, his children and his hate. Had it not been for the doctors, he would have died. The family had often pondered what to do with him. Left in a coma for several years had bled any hope they had for him.

"Pull the plug?", little Tom said in bewilderment.
"Yes, darling."

She had waited for him but he never came. Sat by his bed day and night, longing for her other half. And now it was finally over. The sorrow would soon seep away and she would be left with Tom.

Oh, how Tom had flourished in his bitter fathers absence. Nothing held him back now.

She heard the tempo of the machine slow and stop. She choked back tears as the machine screamed.