HUSH LITTLE BABY

HUSH LITTLE BABY


My mom and I were trapped in our own attic for almost two days. The heat inside the small attic was almost unbearable, but it was the least of our concerns. With little food and the rising water on our heels, my mother had to make the decision of her life.
Those two days with my mother defined her entire life. People always seemed to look down on her. She came to New Orleans with no family and no friends. My mother had had two miscarriages in four years and she was only twenty-five when she had me. “Hush little baby don’t say a word” my mother would often sing that song to me to make me stop crying. Telling me how my birth changed her and made her focus on the important things in life. I never understood what she meant but the sound of her voice always provided me with serenity and security.
For two days, my mother ate little of nothing. She fed me the best she could until the food dried up. The only access we had with the outside world was a small attic window, which my mother would on occasion yell out of for help. Nevertheless, no one would come. Desperately my mother tried to fit through the window but her frame was too large. However, mine wasn’t. My mother placed me in a small basket sang our favorite song and with tears in her eyes set her 13-month-old baby girl adrift onto the murky waters.
I opened my eyes and was startled at my new surroundings. How much time had passed? How far had I drifted? I heard voices shout, “There’s a baby in the water!” People were screaming all around me. None of these voices were familiar to me so I started crying. Crying so hard I began trembling all over. I just wanted and needed my mother. “Hush little baby don’t say a word” a familiar voice sang to me. I opened my eyes and it was my mother standing over me. She bent down picked me up in her arms and raised me up so high it was as if we were flying. We were flying. So high, I could see the entire city. I even saw the people who found my basket. “Why are they crying?” I asked myself. Suddenly, I realized they were crying over me. I understood now.
As my mother and I flew higher and higher into the morning sky, I gripped her tightly and knew that we would always be together. "Hush little baby don’t say a word momma gonna by you a mocking bird…”