Richard’s Christening, June 1957, by Chip Houser

Details not known. Photo from a lot purchased at a thrift store.

Richard’s Christening, June 1957

This time is a beautiful time, when the innocent shine of our babies’ eyes reflects your bright, bright future.
This time, when we celebrate new life swaddled in the comfort of ritual.
This time is a beautiful time, of proud men with narrow ties, of babies held safely in our arms. A time for hope, not fear.
This time, when we laugh, because our babies’ cries remind us of simpler times, when life was safe.
This time is a beautiful time, because you believe life is safe and simple again, that all that is bad lies in the past.
This time, when the pendulum has swung too far too quickly, when it stops and swings back.
This time is a beautiful time, because we know you but you do not know us. Because you think we are you but we are not.
This time, when, easy as a pudgy finger touching a temple, we switch bodies with the men.
This time is a beautiful time, because your babies’ cries are now panicked warnings from the men trapped inside.
This time, because the trapped men know the sinister side of innocence no longer hides behind your babies’ eyes.

Chip Houser

Chip Houser is a retired architect who lives in northern Colorado, where he writes, hikes, plays all sorts of games, and tries to keep chiphouser.com updated. His stories have appeared in Bourbon Penn, PodCastle, Molotov Cocktail, and many other markets. Dark Morsels, a chapbook collecting some of his very short fiction, was published by Red Bird Chapbooks.