Drabble: The Baby And The Bathwater

~ Billy Mann

Ryan hated losing stories. As he lay in the bath, Spotify at 7, the story came, fully formed. Even the middle, which was always hardest.

It was about people being nice to one other. That’s all he remembers, because the story’s gone now.

Whenever a bath-time story bubbled up, he’d normally write it down pronto. But today was his birthday and he was too busy being happy. That’s how he lost it.

Negligence, poor attention… Ryan was the child-minder who got pissed and didn’t notice the baby stopped breathing.

But that last remark is just a metaphor for loss, thankfully.

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Published by Billy Mann

I'm originally from Liverpool and worked as a national magazine journalist for more than 30 years before suffering a stroke at age 53. I started blogging as part of a neuro-rehabilitation programme and wrote the very first entries with one finger of my disabled left hand. Later, art became another therapy for me at Headway East London's Submit To Love Studios. I write about my daily activities and encounters. In 1988, I married Jane. We are still together today, sharing our lives and making each other laugh.

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