From: indexhtml@charter.net   
      
   Story: Baby boom 2 of 3   
      
   part 2   
   Mysterious letters.   
      
   Lisa sat down opposite Marcy and got her lunch out of her bag. As   
   she did so a white envelope dropped out onto the table.   
      
   "Hey, what's this?" she said, picking up the envelope. She opened   
   it and read the letter that was inside.   
      
   "Oh my," she croaked. "Oh my!"   
      
   "What?" Marcy asked. "What is it?"   
      
   Shaking Lisa handed her the letter. It said:   
      
   --If you really want to make a baby with your daddy, go to the   
   shed behind the oak tree in the park after school.--   
      
   "Who is it from?" Marcy asked.   
      
   "I don't know," Lisa replied.   
      
   Marcy gave her the letter back and said, "Did you tell anyone?"   
   Lisa shook her head.   
      
   "Well what are you going to do?" Marcy asked.   
      
   Lisa looked at the letter and said, "I'm going to go there."   
      
      
      
   For the rest of the day Lisa didn't pay much attention in class.   
   She kept thinking about the letter and wondered who put it in her   
   bag. When the class finally was finished she rushed outside and   
   jumped on her bike.   
      
   "Hey wait for me!" Marcy cried. Lisa didn't hear her and started   
   to pedal as fast as she could. When she arrived at the shed, she   
   threw her bike against a tree and walked to the door.   
      
   Only moments later Marcy arrived.   
      
   "Jeez, what's the rush," she panted as she walked towards Lisa.   
   Lisa ignored her and opened the door. The wooden shed was empty   
   apart from a small table. On the table was a letter. The girls   
   walked to the table and read the letter. It said:   
      
     --So you want a baby.   
      
   The first question to ask is, 'Why do want a baby?' The second one   
   is 'Why do want a baby from your father?'   
      
   Your mission for today is to find out the answers to these   
   questions. It might help to ask other people why they had babies   
   and how they chose their partner.   
      
   You will find your next letter tomorrow afternoon in the hollow   
   tree near your school.--   
      
   "Jeez, what stupid questions!" Lisa said disgusted.   
      
   "I don't know," Marcy replied.   
      
   "Well why do you want a baby from your father?" Lisa asked.   
      
   "Well I really love my father and I realized that one day he'll be   
   gone. So I decided I wanted to have a baby from him. I guess, to   
   have something from him that goes on when he is gone."   
      
   "Your father is only 35. It's not like he is going to die   
   tomorrow."   
      
   "You never know what will happen," Marcy replied. "My mother died   
   when she was 27. Anyway, why do you want a baby from your father?"   
      
   Lisa blushed, "I guess because I was jealous of you."   
      
   "That doesn't sound like a very good reason," Marcy remarked. Lisa   
   looked at the floor and mumbled something.   
      
   "Do you still want a baby?" Marcy asked.   
      
   Lisa thought about it for a while and then replied, "I don't know.   
   I've never thought about it that way."   
      
   "Well why don't we get that letter tomorrow and read it," Marcy   
   suggested. "You can always stop if you decide you don't want a   
   baby."   
      
   "Yes, that's a good idea," Lisa agreed.   
      
      
      
   The next day, after school, the girls went to the hollow tree to   
   get the letter. Then they went to Marcy's house.   
      
   "Well what does it say?" Marcy asked as she sat down on the bed.   
   Lisa opened the letter and together they read it.   
      
     --You are reading this letter, so I will assume that you still   
   want a baby from your father.   
      
   Now is time to consider what it means to have baby. I could   
   explain it to you but I think the best way to understand is to   
   experience it. In your room you will find a doll that you will   
   have to take care of for the next two days. That means that if it   
   cries you will have to comfort it until it stops crying. It also   
   means that you have to take the doll with you everywhere you go in   
   case it starts crying.   
      
   You will find your next letter in three days in the shed.--   
      
   "Well it looks like you have a baby to take care of," Marcy   
   giggled when they were finished reading the letter.   
      
   "Yes it does," Lisa mumbled with an unhappy look on her face.   
      
      
      
   "Jeez, you look like shit," Marcy said to Lisa when she saw her at   
   school the next morning.   
      
   "Oh, thank you!" Lisa grumbled.   
      
   "Hey, what's wrong?" Marcy asked.   
      
   "The stupid doll cried most of the night keeping me awake."   
      
   Marcy started to giggle, "Isn't it fun to have a baby."   
      
   "Funny. Very funny," Lisa replied, thumbing her friend in the   
   side. During class the doll started to cry again, causing quite a   
   stir.   
      
   "What's that noise?" the teacher asked when the doll started to   
   cry.   
      
   "That's my baby, miss," Lisa replied. The class burst out in   
   giggles.   
      
   "Your baby?" the teacher said surprised.   
      
   "I mean my doll," Lisa said to her. "I'm doing this course to   
   learn what it is like to have a baby."   
      
   "Aren't you a bit young for that?" the teacher asked.   
      
   "I don't know miss."   
      
   "Well you better make it stop. I can't have this in my class."   
      
   Lisa sighed and got the doll out of her bag and started to comfort   
   it, starting a new round of giggles in the class.   
      
      
      
   "Lisa has a baby!!" a boy yelled as he passed the table where Lisa   
   and Marcy were eating their lunch.   
      
   "That stupid doll went off during class," Lisa said, answering   
   Marcy's unspoken question.   
      
   A group of giggling girls came to their table and one of them   
   asked, "What's it like to have a baby?"   
      
   "A whole lot of trouble," Lisa spouted. "I wish I had left the   
   damn thing home," she complained to Marcy as the girls left.   
      
   One of the girls had stayed behind. She sat down and asked, "Can I   
   see it?" For a moment Lisa looked at the girl and wondered who she   
   was, then she recognized her.   
      
   "You're Ellen, aren't you?" she said. Nervously the girl nodded.   
      
   "Hey I'm not going to bite you, you know," Lisa said when she saw   
   the look on Ellen's face.   
      
   "People usually send me away." Ellen mumbled. Lisa realized that   
   that was true; Ellen was your proverbial black sheep that nobody   
   seemed to like.   
      
   "Well I won't," she said to the girl. She got the doll out of her   
   bag and gave it to Ellen.   
      
   "Oh, isn't it cute!" Ellen exclaimed.   
      
   "Yes it is," Lisa agreed.   
      
   "It's just a doll," Marcy said with some disdain.   
      
   "Well I think it is cute," Ellen said. She looked at Marcy and   
   added, "Don't you ever think of having a baby?"   
      
   Marcy and Lisa looked at each other and burst out laughing.   
      
   "Hey, we're not laughing at you," Marcy said when she saw the hurt   
   look on Ellen's face. "It's just... Well, can you keep a secret?"   
      
   "I swear I won't tell anyone," Ellen replied   
      
   "I'm pregnant," Marcy told her.   
      
   "You're not!!!" Ellen exclaimed.   
      
   "Keep your voice down," Marcy admonished her. "I am pregnant from   
   my daddy."   
      
   "Really?" Ellen whispered.   
      
   "Yes really," Marcy replied.   
      
   "Jeez I wish I was so lucky," Ellen sighed.   
      
   "Don't," Lisa giggled, "That's how I got stuck with this doll."   
      
   "What do you mean?" Ellen asked. Lisa grinned and explained it to   
   her.   
      
      
      
   Two days later, while she was on her way to the shed with Marcy,   
   Lisa's doll started to cry again.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)