Meditations on the Scriptural Interpretations Contained in Sir William Drummond’s Oedipus Judaicus: Addressed to Hugh Smyth Pigott (1849)

A small child sits alone in a room decorated with bright pink ballet slippers and bows. In the corner of the room teddy bears sit around a table. The only sounds are the rain that taps on the windows and the sobbing of the child. Down the hall sits a couple talking in whispers of the dreams they have for their little girl. Their happiness is so overwhelming they do not hear the sobbing. Flames flicker and dance upon the walls. Three thousand miles away, another couple sits at a large table surrounded by many children. There is not the talking or laughing that one might expect with so many young ones. The woman pushes the food around on her plate while the man eats in silence. One by one, the children stand and place their plates in the sink. The mother then goes to the corner of the room, lifts a baby from a cradle, and heads up the stairs. As she passes a small room, she can smell the sweet scent of her missing child. Her heart aches; tears sting as they roll down her cheeks. Wiping the tears away, she smiles down at her baby son.