Sickness in the House

I feel as if I've been nurse these past few weeks. Two of my children have been sick, as well as, my husband. But, in the midst of it all I came up with a new story. It was inspired by my daughter, Matthea. She come to me with her blanket in hand wanting to sit and be held. This piece is still in draft form, but will probably send it to a magazine when I have time.

Title: Untitled at this point
Age Group: Young Children (2-5 years)

“Mama, I don’t feel good,” said Gill.

Gill’s mom felt her warm head and sighed, “Oh dear, you have a temperature, honey.”

“What’s a timber chair, Mama?” asked Gill.

“A tem-per-a-ture is a fever. I’ve got some medicine to make it better,” said her mom.

“I think that if I sit on your lap I’ll feel better, Mama,” said Gill.

“Well, you can do that after you take the medicine,” said Mama.

Gill’s mom poured pink liquid into a little cup. Gill looked at the liquid and said, “I’m feeling better. I don’t need any medicine.”

“Oh, really?” answered her mom, “I think that you should still take the medicine anyway. Here’s some water.”

Gill slowly reached up and smelled the sweet bubble gum scent of the medicine. She tipped the cup up to her mouth. She immediately grabbed the cup of water and gulped it down. Her mom took her hand and led her to the rocking chair where she held her and rocked her.

The next morning, Gill still had a temperature with a cough. Her mom decided that she needed to see a doctor.

“But, Mama, I have a better idea,” said Gill.

“What is that?” asked her mom.

Gill answered, “You can sit in the rocking chair and rock me. That worked last night, remember?”

Mama smiled, “Well, yes I remember. How about after you see the doctor we rock?”

“But, I don’t want a shot?” said Gill.

“Oh, I don’t think that you will have to have a shot. Why don’t you get your medical kit and I’ll show you what the doctor will,” said her mom.

Gill went to her room and got out her medical kit. Her mom opened it and pulled out a long cord with ear plugs on the end.

“Gill, this is called a steth-a-scope. The doctor will use this to hear your heart and to listen to you breathe,” said her mom as she put the ear plugs into her ears.

As she put the round part up to Gill’s chest, she asked her to take a deep breath. Then she pulled out a small hammer with a hole in the middle out from the bag.

“Gill, this is called an ear scope. The doctor will use this to look in your ears,” said mom as she looked in her ears.

“Oh, this is fun,” said Gill.

“Yes, this is fun and seeing a real doctor will be fun too,” promised her mom.

“Can I take my medical kit along?” asked Gill

“Of course,” said her mom.

Later, when they returned from the doctor’s office, Gill climbed up into her mother’s lap and they rocked together until Gill fell asleep.

Well, that's it. I'll probably set this one aside for awhile and look at it later. I have my writing assignment that is haunting me with the due date.