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When Hana finally solved the problem of safety on her own 'backyard' and the new 'forcefully' adopted pet, it was nearly noon. 

The sun was already high and yet she still did not eat and drink anything for breakfast. Her thoughts were preoccupied with a new kind of problem until she had forgotten about hunger.

Her bosoms were suddenly full of intense stinging pain. It started during her first fire-making experience. However, the pain was very dull, so she resolutely ignored it.

When the pain flared up so much to this point; she realized her negligence. However, in her defense, too many things happening one after another until she had no choice but to delay on other things such as caring for her own body.

"Ahhh...adoiii (1)...damnnnn.." Hana's uninsured mouth (2) started spewing sets of colorful expletives. She had no way of venting her frustration besides this.

Hana stopped bothering about anything and lied down in exhaustion and pain on the cave floor covered with banana leaves. Kuro watched over her worriedly but didn't know what to do. Hana gave it a glance and thought, thank goodness this little fellow is an animal. If not, how am I going to undress without a care in this open space?

She removed her torn yellow shirt and finally her bra. Her bosoms were swollen with purplish shade. She was scared looking at her own chest. The breast pads she was wearing were soaked with milk and had the smell of rotten milk. Hana wrinkled her nose and threw them aside.

The stinging pain on her bosoms indicated that she was finally having the painful engorgement typical to breasfeeding moms. It occurred due to the hardening of milk fats inside the mammary glands from untimely feeding. If unattended, the pain will be so unbearable until she will get a fever. Worst case scenario, they will be infected and developed into mastitis.

There was only two ways to reduce the swelling; one was by massaging until the lumps broken down, or, two, use warm water for a prolonged period on the affected area. The most ideal way was to use a warm shower head and focused the warm water stream while massaging gently.

Obviously, the hardcore massage method was accompanied by an unprecedented pain. She had heard stories by the professional postpartum masseuse retelling her about her experiences with many new moms crying from pain when they opted for the specialized massage technique. It was nothing obscene or even sexy, just raw pain and suffering.

The masseuse reminded Hana again and again not to be negligent with her personal hygiene and to make sure to breastfeed until both bosoms were empty everytime to prevent unwanted pain from infection. Breastfeeding moms never had it easy as contrary to public's general impression.

Hana could only massaged herself while gritting her teeth hard. She sweated profusely while trying her damnest to withstand the pain. The pain was akin to a blunt knife jabbing continuously from the inside. She needed to massage the affected area until they became soft and pliable while removing the milk excess.

After a while, milk sprayed out like a water hose! 

"Aiyo!!!" Hana sat up abruptly and fumbled for her yellow shirt and covered her chest. Then, she lied down again as she kept on massaging for a good half an hour until the milk pressure reduced. She didn't want to stain her pants with milk and she hated bowing while pumping the milk out. It will only increase her waist pain all the more.

Right now, the problem was, she did not have access to clean warm water and even a proper container to boil water over a fire. At least, if she had some warm water, she could soak a napkin in and turn it into a hot compress to apply on her bosoms. Then she won't feel so much pain like now. Hence, Hana planned up for today to find bamboo trees to make temporary containers if time permits. Making potteries took time even without making the kiln first.

The flow of milk had been reduced to a steady white stream. It was a waste not to collect it. She got up and went to her food stash. She planned to find a suitable container.

Which one should I use? Anything would do, as long as it can retain liquid.

After a short contemplation, Hana emptied out the prepacked plastic of her favorite tausa biscuits. There's 7 individually packed tausa biscuits left. Hana sighed while stuffing another one pack into her pants. The rest she kept back inside the shopping bag. She took one of the chocolate twiggies(3) and started to eat  before continuing pumping the excessive milk into the tausa main packaging. The three-finger sized chocolate sponge cake was filled with chocolate cream, making it quite excessive in taste for Hana's own palette, but was very popular with kids, including her first child. After three quick bites, it was gone.

The prolonged pain made Hana's eyes teared up. Hana kept on staring at the accumulating milk sadly. It reminded her of her little one at home. Her daughter must've cried so hard day in day out. She was very clingy to Hana and treated her mom like an instant meal; when she wants it, it means she wants now. It could happen during meal times, shopping time, driving time and even toilet time of her mom. 

Hana persisted as an on-demand fully BF mom (4) because she heard that children that were fully BF will be much healthier, with less health complications, and extra smart. True to the news, both of her daughters rarely got the sniffles and fever, as opposed to other children. Even her hubby agreed to the claim as he saw his work colleagues frequently taking EL when their children got sick.

However, the downside was her children became extra clingy until she didn't have any personal time for herself at all. It impeded her from finishing a lot of work properly. Fortunately, she was not working outside, only focusing in raising her children well. She truly revered all the working moms who persisted on raising a fully BF baby, the commitment she needed to place on pumping everyday was worthy to be respected. She knew it was very painful. She had tried a few times. She kept her prized Medela pump(5) well although she rarely used it. Everything got the pros and cons. It depended on oneself to choose which conditions suited them better.

She kept pumping diligently until she felt they were emptied out well. She can't afford to make the same mistake again. What if she got down with fever from this? She would suffer bitterly.

Hana was scared thinking about it. 

The milk flow stopped when Hana managed to empty out both of her bosoms. She got a third bag full of milk now, what to do now?

She tried offering some to her new pets. Kuro tried it dutifully, but it only drank a little out of courtesy. It’s stomach was still full from last night's hunt, presumably. Hana's latest pet, Shiro just ignored her existence which hurt Hana's feelings.

Ungrateful wretched. Wait for my revenge. When your health get better I’m going to tickle you to death! Hana grumbled unhappily in her heart.

Although she herself was thirsty, she couldn't muster herself into drinking her own bodily fluid. She still didn't reach the level of hardcore recycling. 

Not just yet. Or not ever hopefully T_T…

….

Kuro the little snake was minding its own business when it saw Hana was doing much better. Its black beady eyes will sometime glanced at its mom’s movement. 

The white liquid tasted quite bland, it thought. It didn't understand the concept of milk as it was essentially a reptile. So, after a few sip, it politely refused.

His new mom looked quite hurt with its action. Kuro felt quite guilty. It didn’t know that small action would’ve hurt its mom’s feelings. Will she not like it anymore?

I should’ve drink more. Maybe she’ll be happier.

Funny, how a snake could infer so much from an unhappy expression from Hana. Kuro, you’re thinking too much!

All of a sudden, Kuro felt its head became a little heavy. It stopped in its track when the pain escalated. It felt like its head was going to explode!

Its black beady eye turned ruby red; as red as the ‘jewel’ on its forehead, making the impression that Kuro became a three-eyed snake. Its vision blurred, and it could see a different view from its eye!

It was still the inside of the cave, but the vision was more elevated; it was also slightly fuzzy intermittently, as if lacking signal.

Kuro looked at Hana’s direction and he finally understood. He had a shared a vision with Hana!

Hana was clueless, grumbling unhappily at a corner of the cave while doing something. She didn’t realized Kuro has been looking through her eyes.

Kuro was elated! It was one step closer to its mistress. It looked at the white liquid and finally comprehended. That white liquid which came from its mom contained its mom’s life essence. With its own special body constitution, it easily developed the higher level telepathic connection with Hana. That was the only explanation.

From Hana’s eyes, Kuro could see that Hana didn’t know what to do with the leftover milk. She just left it at a corner of the cave among the rocks after placing a layer of clingwrap on the tausa packaging.

I must have it all!

.....

Author’s note:

(1) Adoii = ouch

(2) Uninsured mouth = [in Malaysian language = mulut takde insuran], literally means the person can really talk ‘honest’ words (usually in a bad way) without feeling any remorse to other people’s feelings.

(3) Twiggies = a three finger-sized sponge mini cake by Gardenia. Got three flavor; vanilla, chocolate, mocha. See example from the link (http://www.gardenia.com.my/Twiggies.html)

(4) on-demand fully BF mom = a generic term for a mother who breastfed her child when the child demands for it at any time. Usually these moms don’t store their milk in the freezer because their milk output is proportional to the baby’s need.

(5)  Medela pump = its a brand for a breast pump. Got many versions. Mrs. Mooncat likes it the most haha. Google ‘Medela breast pump’ to see the image.