Nick Cave Blog and Journals

She strapped him into the high chair then tied his little pudgy ankles to the sides with twine she had stolen from the nursery down the street. Twisting the lid off a half-drunk bottle of whiskey, she clamped her lips in a tight line around her cigarette. She up-ended the bottle, drenching the two year old in alcohol.

He just smiled at her, a solemn smile that a baby should never possess.

She hiccuped then, starting to cry with her cigarette almost falling out of her mouth. "Oh Jesus," she sighed and took five steps back from him. Taking one last drag and wiping tears from her cheeks, she threw the still lit cigarette onto the baby.

He burst into flame nearly immediately and she sobbed and sobbed. Inhaling deeply, the smell of charred flesh and burning hair overwhelmed her and she fell to the floor. She looked up then, with horror, as she realized what she was missing.

There were no screams. There were no cries as the baby boy's flesh grew grey and swollen and split. There was just a simple smile, that solemn smile.

She threw up and brought a hand up to her mouth, terrified beyond all belief.

The baby laughed.

[written on 2/18/09, if I remember correctly. Title from a Nick Cave song that's been stuck in my head.]