Wednesday, April 25, 2012

She's Thirsty

Today's Prompt: Third person post. Write about a memory you have but describe it using the third person. Use as many sensory images (sights, sounds, textures, etc) as you can. Don’t use “I” or “me” unless you include dialogue.

Tuesday morning. 12:15am.

Scratch. Scratch. Scooooot.

She wakes to hear the dogs' water bowl being pushed around the bathroom floor by an insistent Pekingese.

She tries to get her husband to stir. He doesn't wake to his name.

Sigh. It can wait until morning. Looks at the clock. 6 more hours.

She's thirsty.

She gets up and fills the bowl and watches as the little dog greedily laps it up. Heads back to bed.

Once nestled under the covers again between her children, she realizes that...

she's thirsty.

Hmm. Really thirsty. Feels like a high blood sugar. She tests her blood sugar. 98. No, she's actually just thirsty. Probably from all the breastfeeding.

The shunk of the lancet device and rustling of the meter case is enough to wake the two year old who pops her head over her mother's side.

"Doosh!"

That's weird, she thinks. She hardly ever gets juice. She never even asks for a drink after dinner.

She's thirsty.


She scoops the toddler into her tired arms and stumbles to the kitchen on her sore feet. Pours a glass of water for herself and sleepily fumbles with the straw on one of the juice boxes that she keeps around for treating lows. She cradles the sleepy girl in her lap, holding the treat of an apple juice box for her so that the little girl doesn't have to put down the four rubber ducks that came to bed with them.

When the last of the juice is shlurped down, the mama scoops up the child and her rubber companions and heads back to bed.

As she drifts off to sleep, the toddler speaks again.

"Totolate milt!"

"Night night, baby," says the mama.

Only now the mom can't sleep.

She's still thirsty?

She tries to shake the thought from her head.

It's nothing. Please. Please, let it be nothing.

She's just thirsty.

4 comments:

  1. I can relate - been there from a parent perspective, not a PWD perspective. Lila asked for milk when she was about the age of Caleb when diagnosed. That's all he wanted at the time. There are other times I wonder. We had a lot of peeing going on not too long ago. I think with every false alarm I gain a little more confidence but I always wonder. It always seems to be lurking around the corner.

    What is "totolate milt"?

    Nicely written. :)

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  2. Chocolate milk! So completely obvious now!

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  3. I pray it is always just thirsty for your little one.
    Having diagnosed two kids and a third one positive for all antibodies - I scrutinize every ounce of liquid he drinks, every bathroom break, every tummy ache, leg ache, fast heart beat. I pray that it is always just thirsty.

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