Kirjahaku

At last came the glimmer of approaching dawn and The birds began to twitter happily. She began to think The night's ordeal was almost over. But then she became aware of a sinister quietening of all sound, except for a heavy crunching which was getting nearer. Was it the two wild boars coming back for more to eat? The awful night, then, was not yet spent - and something terrible was fast approaching. Suddenly a large shape burst through from the edge of the forest and seemed to charge towards her. It was not a boar. She shut her eyes. Tight. She didn't want to see this new horror. No. She kept still. Very still.

She was totally in her element as she did her very best to ease the pain caused by the appalling injuries of the wounded Allied soldiers, but with a heavy heart she knew that the day - a normal Friday in September 1916 - would be just like any other day, with dreadful sights of men walking in, (or be delivered by ambulance) often dreadfully injured, totally exhausted and mentally shattered. Those who were too severely injured to walk made up the regular stream to be delivered by ambulance. A number of the injured young men would have such terrible injuries that they were beyond the wildest possibility of recovery, and clearly stood no chance of survival. Indeed, many of the new soldiers were found to be dead on arrival. Yet each and every single one would bring tears to Sarah's eyes.

"Aaagh, should it really be this painful?" gasped Elizabeth, between contractions of giving birth; contractions which were getting closer and closer together, were way beyond intense, and were almost every single minute. She was experiencing the roller coaster of childbirth, a sensation of whooshing up and down, the tremendous highs and lows, and the twists and turns of the crazy tracks while tumbling up and down without any control at all. And then there was the pain. It was totally unlike any other mind-blowing violent pain, this was waves of an intense battering, but from the inside. Then she heard her husband's voice, weaving through the fog caused by the anaesthetic. He said softly and tenderly, "Elizabeth babe, come back, we have a lovely, beautiful daughter. There were no problems at all; both you and our little girl are perfect. Come back Elizabeth, be an incredible mum to our little girl." How could she possibly refuse?