Look whose Tapping

Mummy sat on the couch, looking sick and tired and fat and happy.
“Come and feel this Robbie-bobby” she said to me.
I do as she says, though I don’t really want to. I never mind people touching me, but I don’t like to touch them.

I put my hand on her tummy slow, in case she bursts. She moves it to where she wants it to be, and I feel the bump bump, like someone is knocking on a door inside her.

“That’s your little brother” Mummy says. “He’s saying hi to us”

This makes touching her ok, as it feels like he is the one trying to touch me. I put my ear to her tummy and listen. Her belly button is like the hole of the sea shell from St Andrews. I hear the ocean rush in it, and then I feel my ear being kicked. I back away, thinking my little brother will be a lot like my big one.

“Maybe he’s trying to tell you something in Morse code” says Daddy, who has been watching us over his paper. He then tells me what Morse code is and I try beeping S.O.S. It works, and I know what I am beeping even though it makes no sense to mummy and daddy. They might be grown up but they aren’t smart a lot of the time.

·

Later I wake up. Its night and it’s noisy. Everyone snores but me. I get up to pee. Even though I could pee anywhere I pee in the toilet. I step down the hall and listen at their door. Daddy has a loud steady snore, like one from T.V. Mummy’s snore is amazing. She sounds like she is cutting farts with a chainsaw. They both sleep so heavy because they have to, and because they love each other, so I don’t worry about waking them.

I wonder if my little brother is snoring too. He’s probably awake, with all that noise so close. I walk into their room and stand by my Mummy. I put my head on her tummy and listen through the covers.

The thuds come, gentle and hard, dots and dashes. My brother is trying to tell me something, and I use my Morse code to work it out.

Soft soft soft hard hard hard soft soft soft. S.O.S. he’s asking for help.

I tab a message on the tummy back to him “are you ok?”


“Hello?” he says, or kicks. “Can you get me out of here?”

“I don’t think so,” I tap back. “I think you have a few months to go.”

“Sentenced to nine months jail without even a trial. Life isn’t fair sometimes.”

“I’m sorry” I tap

“Oh well. What’s it like out there anyway. I don’t want to discover I’m trading one prison in for another.”

I look around the small dark room that smells like my Mummy and Daddy when they smell.
“It’s ok” I tap. “What’s you’re name?”

But all this tapping has finally woken up my Mummy and she tells me in an angry voice to go back to bed.

·

Sometime later my little brother is born and when he comes home we all gathers around. My mummy and daddy haven’t thought of what to call him yet.

“His name’s Jamie” I say, wondering again why they aren’t always very smart.