Cape Horn | Michael Slough, Google Maps
“It’s not the end of the world, Jenna. We can keep trying.”
“We shouldn’t have come.”
Patagonia was supposed to be our last adventure before becoming parents. Instead, it had been a crushing end to a cherished expectation.
“It’ll be okay.” I reached for her hand. There was no point in reminding her what the doctor in Santiago had said—that it happened in one in four pregnancies. That we were young. That we could try again. No—it wasn’t the end of the world, but we could see it from here. She knew what the doctor in Santiago hadn’t: that it ran in the family.
On the horizon, the ghosts of islands slumbered in the fog. It wasn’t ours to know the shape of our future. But just as I knew the color of her eyes and the shape of her hips, I knew somewhere in our future, a child waited.
—
152 words
This has been an edition of What Pegman Saw. To read more stories inspired by the prompt, click here.
k. Rawson 
What a lovely, optimistic conclusion to a distressing story. Poor Jenna! I can only hope that her husband, the narrator, is right in his foreseeing of the future. Clever title too!
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That’s one caring husband. 🙂
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I think so too. Thanks for reading!
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Always enjoy.
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Lovely and heartbreaking by turns. You articulate what all couples struggling to conceive feel – the end of the world, every month when there’s still no baby on the way. I remember it well, though I was lucky in the end. Sparely told, but with great emotion. Lovely writing Karen
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Thanks for your kind words. It worked out for me to in the end, though not in the way I expected. 🙂
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My pleasure Karen
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This sounded like the reaction to a miscarriage to me, the self-recrimination, the loss of hope, even the family history.
I like the ambiguity, as to the exact nature of this blow to their child-bearing expectations, and also, the double meaning of the first sentence. Since they are indeed at the end of the world in Patagonia, perhaps his soothing cliche rings false, and this failed attempt will ctually spell the end of their hopes as well.
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I enjoyed reading your take on this! As someone who’s experienced recurrent miscarriage, I know well their struggles and I’m glad it came through. I’m hoping it isn’t the end of the world for these two but I ran out of words! Thanks for reading.
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What a lovely story! I love how the photo ties into it, too. The voice is just right. Sad, yet hopeful.
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