Talisman Wearing Baby

Talisman-Wearing Baby

Adorned only with the emerald talisman his late grandfather bequeathed to him, the young babe is carried downstream like the baby Moses of biblical times. However, this child is not riding in a basket of reeds nor is this stream a tributary of a great river; rather the talisman-wearing child is floating precariously on a worn out truck tire through the swampy Everglades of Florida.

An overweight, diabetic stricken woman with fair skin, and far too many wrinkles on her face, for a woman in her thirties, is sitting on a bank with her three bastard children, hoping to catch a glimpse of some alligators. The woman has boredom written across her face, but she puts aside her feelings, for she delights in the enjoyment that her children receive when they spot a gator. Her boys' ages range from three to ten. Their names are not important, because they won't last long in this story.

Our fat, sun-dried, promiscuous woman is now lying on her back with her eyes closed. Though her eyes are shut, she can see an array of colors, as the sun rays try to penetrate her eyelids. She hears her two older children laughing, and desperately tries to ignore the whiny sniffling of her youngest. All she wants to do is catch a few zees before her next shift at the local diner, but her motherly instincts are too persuasive and she finds herself sitting upright, eyes wide open, and to her disbelief and shock, she sees a naked baby floating on a truck tire.

Her two little laughing angels are tossing rocks in the vicinity of the baby, trying to see who can create a bigger splash. The goal of their game is to wet the baby. The youngest child present, minus the talisman-wearing baby of course, seems to be enjoying the game, but can't seem to toss a rock far enough to have any hope of winning, which explains his frustrated whimpering.

Mother is aghast at what she sees, and to teach her children a lesson, decides to toss her oldest child into the river. He didn't land near the tire, but he did create a big enough splash to hit the talisman-wearing baby.

“Yeah Mom! You hit the baby!,” shouted the second oldest. This of course was not the response that the mother wanted, so she promptly picked up her middle child and threw him into the river as well. The splash, though not as big, also found its mark. The woman was delightfully surprised by her accuracy, and decided to see if she could pull off a hat trick. Without thinking, she picked up her crying toddler and launched him into the slow moving river as well. This time she overshot her throw and the boy actually hit the truck tire. He violently bounced off the tire on impact, and plopped into the river.

Mom instantly snapped back to her senses. The euphoria of child-tossing was completely gone as she realized what she had just done. Without hesitation, she tossed herself into the river and began to swim toward her drowning little bastard. Meanwhile, the emerald talisman that hung from the floating baby's neck began to glow. A peculiar little smile made its presence on the baby's countenance and the baby made, what could only be described as, a devious chortle.

Seemingly out of nowhere, four large alligators surreptitiously slipped into the stream. Though the origin of their wakes came from different cardinal positions, they each seemed to be heading towards the same destination. In a manner of seconds, the bastard children got their wish, the excuse for a mother got her much needed zees, and the talisman-wearing baby was free to float down the river in peace.