(I got this from a play put on by a school. Really, I've just adapted it into reading form. I don't know if they wrote it or if they got it from somewhere else. If you do, please tell me so I can give credit!)

Sunday afternoon. Cleaning day. I do enjoy my routines, after all, and as I always say, always take the chance to keep tidy during nap time!

I hear a soft rustling from across the room. Speak of the devil, I think as I walk over and peer into the bassinet.

"Ah, you're awake," I coo softly. "Did you have a good nap, Jeremy?" My baby's sweet face stares back up at me, gently blinking away the last bits of sleep.

There's a knock at the door. I glance at the clock and nod, satisfied. My children, Chris and John, had said they'd be here by one, and it was five past. Hopefully Jeremy would grow up to be so punctual.

John greets me with his regular smile, and Chris... Well, she's grown up to be a fine young woman, but recently, she's been so temperamental around me, never wanting to be with me.

Once we're all settled in, with me and John on the couch, Jeremy in front of me, and Chris perched stormily in the armchair across from us three, John puts on his 'asking a favor' face, though I know exactly what he's here for.

"You know, I really don't get why you two are so interested in what happened. I mean, it's nothing special," I say, rocking Jeremy gently.

"Our editor is really interested! And you went through an extraordinary experience, Mom!"

"Well, if you insist." I pretend to sigh.

"Great!" John beams. "Let me record it on my phone. It's more efficient than shorthand notes." Once he has that all set up, he asks in the way whatever journalism class he and Chris must be taking taught him, "Let's start at the beginning. You were visiting your brother, right?"

I laugh. "Yes. See, Matt and I never got together officially for my birthday, so he got it in his head that he should plan a party. Imagine my surprise when I walk into his house, ratty old jeans and a T shirt, just expecting a cup of coffee, and instead, the house is all decorated, filled with old friends, the whole shebang! He even got presents.

"Ah, of course, that's the thing about Matt. You guys remember Uncle Matt's curse, right? Whenever he tried to get a gift, it was either something the person already had or something they had just gotten rid of! Matt's always trying to break the curse, but no matter what he does, it's always one of the two."

I'm interrupted by the sound of Jeremy crying. "Oh, give me a second." I do the routine check. "Well, you're not wet..." I try the bottle, but he pushes it away. "Hmm. I guess he just wants his pacifier. Chris, can you get it? It's just on the table beside yo-"

"I'll get it," John butts in, obviously trying not to agitate Chris. Something about Jeremy seems to bother her these days, I note. Maybe she's jealous of him, and that's why she's so vexed whenever she's near us? I decide to put it on the back burner, at least until later, after the story. Once Jeremy has calmed down again, I start up again.

"Now, Matt was sure he had broken the curse this time, since he hadn't bought it for me. As I opened the wrapping on the bassinet, he looked so proud, telling me all about how expensive it was, so sure that he finally had given something good. I felt kind of guilty as I explained that I already knew how expensive it had been, since just a few weeks ago, I had seen it in an antique shop window, and I brought Jeremy's bassinet forward. Sure enough, except for the lace trim on the one Matt gave me, the two were identical. I told him not to return it, since it was a lovely bassinet, and I could use an extra one for carrying Jeremy's stuff around."

"And you stayed the night in a hotel, right?" John asks. I see Chris shifting around in the chair, obviously bored or agitated, or perhaps both.

"That's right. I've stayed with my family before, and I find I prefer the privacy of hotels to the trouble of staying with relatives. Plus, that way, if Jeremy woke up, it wouldn't be too much of a bother to others if Jeremy woke up.

" I visit Matt quite a bit, so I know my way around the area. There's this hotel that has pretty nice rooms for cheap, so I stayed the-"

"You know what, I just remembered I have a school thing I have to go to," Chris says, speed walking to the door in a hurry that told me that she just wanted to get out.

"If you wait a bit longer, I'll give you a ride," John calls, trying to bring her back. She tosses her head back to us, showing a quick glimpse of an irritated face.

"I don't mind the walk."

"Okay, look, just stay for a bit longer. Please?" he begs.

"We've heard this story a million times, John!" she replies, her voice raising just enough to notice.

"You know what, I get the feeling that you don't want to be here," I say as she stalks back to the chair.

"No, no, it's fine, Mom," John says, stopping any response Chris might have had in its tracks. "Anyway, what happened next?"

I take a deep, calming breath, then try to get back to the storytelling zone I was in. "Where was I... Oh yes! So, I go to my room-it was on the third floor, I remember-put down my stuff and the new bassinet, tuck Jeremy in, and go to bed.

"It was about four, four fifteen in the morning when it happened. I woke up to the sound of a fire alarm wailing right outside my room. I notice immediately how hot it is inside my room, and it wasn't too hard to put two and two together. I grab Jeremy's bassinet-no time to take him out of there- and run for the door.

" I guess I should've checked if the door was hot, because when I got out in the hallway, it's full of this thick black smoke. I could barely see through it, but as I went for the stairwell, I noticed that one door was closed. I figured that someone running out of here wouldn't take the time to close the door behind them. And then I realize that my room was close to a fire alarm, but the closest alarm to this one was silent. I guess the hotel hadn't done a checkup on them in too long. Either way, I couldn't take the chance that there was still someone in there, asleep, with no idea about the fire."

"So you knocked on the door, right?" John puts in.

"Damn right I did! I pounded on that door. I yelled and screamed until finally, finally this guy in nothing but his underwear looks out. Well, he saw the smoke as quickly as I did, so the two of us start down the stairwell, with me carrying the bassinet.

" But when we get to the second landing, I realize that there's no sound of alarms on this floor. I just know that there's no way I can just let these people sleep through this, so I tried to get the man to help me pound on doors, but he keeps going down the stairs. I try yelling after him to at least bring down the bassinet, but for some reason, he wouldn't take it.

"I see that he wasn't going to help, so I go in myself. The hall there was completely black, full of smoke, but I ran in anyway, pounding and screaming until my throat was too hoarse to yell. By that time, my head was spinning and my throat was burning all on its own. The hall's so full with smoke that I can barely see. I mean, there must have been only one, two inches between the bottom of the smoke cloud and the floor, so I drop the bassinet, go down on the floor, and start crawling, pushing my baby in front of me. Inche by inche, pushing my baby, trying to make it out. I was so tired. I felt my lungs burning from all the smoke in the air-oh, the air was horrible! It was so hot, I felt like I was burning just from that. I was about to give up, and then I saw it. I saw a light at the end, a beautiful light shining! I was going to live! God, me and my baby were going to liv-"

Chris slams her fists on the table.

"I can't take this!" she screams, white-hot rage pouring out of livid eyes.

"Chris!" John exclaims.

"No, John! I can't! Jeremy is dead, Mom! He has been for six months! It was a tragic mistake, okay? You grabbed the wrong bassinet!"

I get up out of my seat, bringing myself to eye level with her. "How dare you! You come into my house-"

"This isn't your house, Mom!" Chris explodes. "This is a hospital room! You've been here for six months, ever since the accident at the hotel!" Jeremy stirs, and I sit back down.

"Shh, shh..." I mutter, taking the baby blanket out of the bassinet. See, Chris couldn't be right. If I had've taken the wrong basket, I wouldn't be able to feel this, hold it in my hands, remind myself that Jeremy's still here, now would I?

Chris falls to her knees, clutching onto mine, and then onto the blanket. "Mom, Jeremy is gone! He doesn't need you! You've been missing everything, Mom! John's all grown up! He's married! He doesn't need you! But I'm still a kid! I need you, Mom... I need you." She tugs on the blanket, tears spilling out of the sides of her eyes, but I don't let go of it, bringing it closer to my chest. Oh, no... Jeremy is crying again. I start humming his favorite song, drowning out the other sounds.

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetops...

"Come on, Chris," I hear John say gently, and I vaguely see him go and rub Chris's back, helping her up.

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock...

"I just don't see why we have to keep doing this," she says through hiccups.

And when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall...

"We have to keep trying. See, we've been getting further and further! This time, she almost remembered it all. We just have to keep trying."

And down will come baby, cradle and all.