3.16a

She held it as the life soaked into her pants leg. Maybe if she kept it warm and still, it would survive. It was either calming down or getting weaker, because the kicks came less frequently. So she bit her lip and prayed. It blinked and shivered.

"It stopped moving," she announced to the empty room. She didn't want to hold it any more, so she put it in a shoe box, and carried the shoe box to the kitchen. She looked at the box for a long time, and then walked back to the living room.

She didn't cry.