You Got a Package

The knocking on the door couldn’t have come at a worse time. Who in their right mind would disrupt a mother during birth? Everyone, including the doctor and nurses, couldn’t help but stare at the door, wondering who had decided to intrude.

However, as the door eased open, no one was there. It was a curious occurrence, yet one which didn’t deter them. And it certainly didn’t prevent the mother from bringing her child into the world.

A few hours after the process had started, her child was cradled by the nurses. Though there was no sound, no crying. Everyone grew worried. Why wasn’t it making noise? Had something gone wrong during the birth? The mother grew increasingly distraught at the thought of losing her most precious gift.

As she cried out, the sound of a bird squawking, as if flustered by some attack on itself, filled the air. It was joined by the hurried scrabbling of talons against tile, yet with no bird visible. They paid it no mind, focused more upon their efforts to rescue the child.

Not even a moment later, the first cries. They were music to everyone’s ears, the mother’s most of all. Tears sprung to her eyes as she graciously accepted her child from the doctors, cradling him gently against her bosom.

The doctors, however, were perplexed. There was no reason for the child to have been unresponsive for as long as it had been, and similarly for it to recover.

It was only one the mother who caught a glimpse of a stork from the corner of her eye, as its beak spoke the words, “Sorry for the delay, but you got a package. And a healthy one at that.”

And as swiftly as it had appeared to her, it vanished.