Newborn Found on
Hawaiian Beach
HONOLULU — A baby girl was abandoned and found crying in the sand
at a Hawaii beach soon after she was born, human
services officials said Monday. The full-term, 8-pound newborn was abandoned soon
after birth.
A woman parked at Sandy Beach in east Honolulu sometime between 11
p.m. Sunday and midnight heard a woman screaming and a man shouting. A few
minutes later the screaming stopped and the woman heard a baby crying.
She walked toward the ocean and saw an infant on the sand. The
woman took the baby to a hospital. Police are investigating the case as
endangering the welfare of a minor and child abandonment.
The baby, who had been found naked, was doing well and drinking
formula at the Queen's Medical Center, "We're just very grateful this
child is alive and doing well," said one nurse.
The persistent waves of pain rippled through her body. The more she
pushed the more her body strained to prepare for the next contraction. The cold
bathroom floor was no friend, giving no help to cool her burning skin. His hand
squeezing hers gave little comfort. She wanted it out of her. Drenched in
sweat, she pushed her free palm onto the smooth tiled floor and gathered all of
her remaining strength. As her muscles tensed then eased, the sudden cries of
the newborn filled the bathroom.
Their destination was the beach – to leave
the infant in hopes that the waves would wash her away. She had never wanted to
keep it. She hated what it did to her body and to her life. But as she felt the
baby’s young heart beat with new life, she didn’t want to leave her anymore.
The way her daughter’s tiny plush hand curled tightly around her forefinger
tapped into an unfamiliar, new part of her being. The way she mirrored her
features enthralled her. Her sole presence seemed to slightly ease the aching pain
in her lower stomach and chest. How could she bring herself to leave this new
soul? The little one hadn’t even breathed past her first sunrise yet.
Attempting to cling onto the delicate
present, she let her mind drift into the future – their future together. She closed
her eyes and pictured all of her daughter’s firsts – her first word, her first
laugh, and her first heartbreak.
“Hi,
Princess! How was school? Anything new with that boy?” I tease. I listen for
her incoming footsteps, but instead I hear them ascending the staircase.
Something is wrong. She isn’t her usual self, getting instantly ecstatic at the
mention of her first “real” crush. I leave the cutting board and climb up the
staircase to knock on her door.
“Go
away.” She sounds drained. I let her be for a while. She needs some time to
herself for whatever happened. When I come back, her door is slightly ajar —
she’s ready to talk. With my hand pushing on the door, I peek my head in.
“What’s
wrong?” She lies face down in her canopy bed. I let myself in and sit on her
bed.
“Mama,
he likes someone else.” She muffles into her pillow.
I
cuddle up next to her. “Who could he like more than you?”
“The
prettiest in our class.” She sighs.
“Are
you kidding? But you’re the fairest of them all!” I tickle her and soon we’re
both entangled in a sea of pink blankets and down pillows. I tell her about the
many boys who broke my own heart and we try to dull her young heartache with
laughter.
Outside,
it begins to drizzle and we fall asleep together as the sound of rain envelops
us in pleasant stillness.
The steady hum of rain brought
her back. The side of her head felt numb from resting on the cold car window
for too long. She looked down to see the baby napping peacefully in her arms. She
would leave without unwrapping all the gifts life had to offer – a fire’s glow,
first snowfall, and her mother’s familiar lullaby. Softly caressing the child’s
flushed cheeks, she securely wrapped the blanket around her to keep her warm. She
couldn’t help but stifle a whimper at the irony of this gesture. In less than an
hour, she would be lying on the harsh shore as the waves licked at her. She
could hear her desperately crying for a mother’s safe embrace.
If she weren’t
responsible for another life, where would she be now? Certainly, not in this
car. Where had her adolescence gone? She remembered when she once pitied the
young pregnant girls from high school, now she understood her mistake. She
longed for the long nights filled with procrastination and stressing over
papers. And she wanted to be safely home with her parents. They had practically
cut all ties, but how could she ever entirely resent them? Maybe she did
deserve all the chaos in her life. She pushed that thought away. This wasn’t the
time or place to get depressed. That was selfish. But, if so, what would she
call taking an innocent life for her chance at a new start? She knew she might
never be able to forgive herself for what she was about to do.
As these thoughts engulfed her, she heard
the muffled crashing of waves from inside the car. Her arms tightened around
the baby. She could feel her newfound motherly instinct demanding to take them
far away from here. The car slowed to a stop. The silence increased in volume. It’s too soon. It’s too soon.
“Let’s go,” he said. This was the first time
he had spoken since they’d left.
“Wait…just a little longer. Please.” She
tried to hide the rising panic from her voice.
She stared out the window at the shore. The
bright pale moon shined over the inky waters, adorning the sea with its glow.
Under the cover of the midnight sky, the rhythmic crashing of the waves taunted
her. Why did the sea sound so bloodthirsty? The baby stirred, letting out a
small audible yawn, and she gently rocked her back to sleep, back to a gentler
world. She couldn’t do this with her awake, with eyes fixed on the ones they
took after. I won’t forget you. I
promise. She pressed her parched lips to her daughter’s ruddy forehead.
“Let’s go,” she breathed.
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