Today

Today has not been a good day. My mom is sick, I can tell. We haven't gone outside for several days. I don't know exactly how many, I'm only 6, but we haven't been to the park and I miss it. I tried for a couple days to get her to go, but she can barely walk to the bathroom and back now. Her breathing sounds funny and she smells strange. I know it's not good but I snuggle up to her as much as I can and let her know I'm here and I love her. When my brother came home to visit from college, she was already pretty sick and he tried really hard to get her to go to the doctor. She said she already knew she wasn't going to last and didn't want her last couple days to be spent in a mask being poked and prodded and end up a statistic. I didn't really know what it meant but I know they were very sad.

Her breathing has changed again and it worries me. I lay in front of her on the bed, my head right under hers so I can feel her breath. The tv plays in the background, talking about the sickness mom has, but I just pay attention to the small, difficult puffs of air tickling my nose. Her hand gently lays on my head. It gets very heavy all of a sudden and the breaths stop. It scares me and I whine at her, hoping she will wake up and call me her 'good boy max' once again.