Babe Is The Muscle

In Babe’s mind there’s a family that is a body. She’s the muscle. Her mother, Emmaline, is the heart. The heart pumps blood through all the muscles and the muscles pull the body around from place to place. They set it up, fed by the blood, in shapes. They control it.

Lloyd, her excellent boyfriend, is the skeleton. He is, without her, a pile of bones. She is, without him, a pile of jelly. She brings her stringiness, her resistance, and he brings rigidity, no nonsense. She sets it up and moves it around and he supports her and limits her. Her mother provides their sustenance.

Inside the body is the reproductive system. Ronnie is the female reproductive system and Murray is the male. They make children together. Kate and Murray are the brains. They are grey and gelatinous and have to be contained by the skull, which is skeletal, and scalp, musculature, or they are exposed and damaged. Everyone in the body has a certain something to do. Everyone has a critical role.

She is the muscle of the family. If it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t go anywhere. Kate is the brain. If it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t have any angst. Ronnie is the womb. If it weren’t for her, there wouldn’t be any children. The mother is the heart. If she died, they would all suffocate.