Each morning when Bonnie wakes up, she follows a particular routine to get ready for school. This one morning, however, her mother announced there was no school at all. Bonnie jumped around in her seat as her mother slid the banana pancakes onto her plate. The family sat and ate together that morning before her mother had to head off to the hospital for work. “So Bonnie, what should we do today?” Her father asked through a lopsided smile. He wasn’t used to being home so often, but with his job at the bank making him work from home, he now felt he had all the time in the world to bond with his daughter. “Let’s make a painting for Nanny and Grandad!” Bonnie suggested with an excited squeak. Bonnie and her dad spent all-day finger-painting rainbows, spaceships and drawing her mummy as a superhero! By the time Bonnie’s Mother got home she was exhausted, they were working her double the amount she usually did, and there was hardly any protective equipment. She walked straight upstairs for a shower and bed; Bonnie stared at her mother’s door in sadness as her mother typically tucked her into bed every night. “Sweetheart, you know that mummy has been working extra hard to keep people safe this month” Bonnie’s father smiled sadly as he tucked her gently into bed and left a lingering kiss on her cheek.
In the next few days Bonnie saw her mother even less, she found herself taking up new hobbies and dropping them within the hour because she was just so bored. Bonnie wished that Maybe one day everything could be normal again. She had also visited her Nanny and Grandad once, but her father told her she couldn’t cuddle them. This made Bonnie frown as cuddles were her superpower. Bonnie knew her mum was doing an essential job as her dad told her that “Mummy was saving lives.” One-night Bonnie tried to sneak into her mother’s room to see her, it had been so long since she had more than just a glimpse of her mum. As the door creaked open slowly, Bonnie’s eyes widened at the sight of her mother. She was pale and breathing heavily, hands covering her mouth as she coughed violently. Bonnie’s mother started shaking violently, and she called for her father. He flew around the corner and into the doorway of the bedroom, his eyes double the size of Bonnie’s as they stared in distress. “Go get into bed Bonnie, I’ll be through in a minute.”
Bonnie tried to sleep, but she couldn’t over the sound of her mother gasping for breath. Soon Bonnie’s eyes were heavy, and she drifted off into a weary unconsciousness. That morning when Bonnie awoke, her dad was sitting on the edge of the bed. “Bonnie there’s something I need to tell you about mummy” She sat up abruptly with a smile that reached the twinkle in her eyes. She was so excited to hear the news that she had been waiting for that her mum was finally better. Bonnies dad smiled at her sadly, a tear escaping from his eye. Bonnie’s smile softened as she looked at her father, and somehow in her soul, she felt it. That warmth that her mother projected to all she knew was gone, there was a cold and empty space in Bonnie’s heart. “Mummy wasn’t feeling too well last night, so she had to go. We couldn’t say goodbye because we had to keep you safe” Bonnies dad struggled for words as he choked back sobs. How do you tell a five-year-old that her mummy was never coming home? He explained to Bonnie that her mummy was so good at helping people that now she’s an angel. Maybe one day Bonnie could see her mum again, maybe one day life would go back to the way it was. “It’s ok Daddy, she’s a superhero remember” That night Bonnie took the painting of her mummy as a Superhero and stuck it to the window, so everyone could see just how amazing she was.
Mia-Lauren
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