The Sound of a Child Not Breathing Well

This post is about Abra, but this picture is of Leo, in his new favorite place, fireside.
This post is about Abra, but this picture is of Leo, in his new favorite place, fireside.

There is the sound of a child who is not breathing well, the sound of inflamed airways, the sound of air-gulping. She comes into our room in the middle of the night, and my wife and I both sit up in bed.

“Abra, are you okay?” I ask, and she nods, because everything is always okay in Abra-land, even when things are not okay. But her eyes are open too-wide, and there is a little panic there, hidden in the blue.

“My breathing,” she says, opening her mouth and pulling in air, and we scramble for medicine, for the inhaler, and for the calming oils. There is the sound of her coughing, and the sound of her swallowing her medicine. There is the popping sound her inhaler makes, the misting psht, the ten long breaths.

This is a guest post over at the wonderful site, You Are Here. You can read the rest of the post HERE.