Healing Mum.

Tonia sat in a chair by her mum's bedside reading her book. She was only thirteen years old, and she had found the last six months since her mum became seriously unwell very difficult. Her mum was sleeping peacefully until she was awoken by a violent cough. Tonia had been instructed to give her mum a medicine prescribed by her doctor every four hours, but this medicine was not working. Her mum coughed violently four times in a row, she turned to Tonia and said to her in a weak voice,

"I'm not sure I will make it Tonia. I love you, but I am far too ill to survive this illness."

Tonia nodded quietly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and hide the tears welling up in her eyes.

If she lost her mum now, who would take care of her? Who would help her with her homework? Who would make sure that she was fed? And, Who would take her to school in the mornings?

Tonia shook her head. She did not want to think about it. A life without her mum was unimaginable, and she was only thirteen years old. Her mum taught her all the things she needed to learn so that when she became an adult herself, she would be able to create a life of her own. Her mum knew many things that she didn't know. She knew how to sew, pay bills, cook, clean, decorate and many more skills. Tonia loved her mum, and she looked up to her. She was angry and sad that she could not cure this virus that was trying to take her mum away from her. She took her mums temperature, 39 degrees (C). She knew her mum was going to become more ill, end up in hospital and even die if she didn't do something.

Tonia flicked the page of her book. She was reading all about flowers. Tonia loved colourful flowers whether in the house or in the garden. She came across a very beautiful golden-orange flower in the book, and she thought that her mum might like those. She read further and discovered that the flower was a Marigold. She found out that Marigolds had healing powers, and she wondered if they might help her mum to get well. She had heard that the beautiful flowers were magical and that you could use the flowers to heal people. She found out that you could boil the petals in water with a tea-spoonful of honey to activate the magic pollen within the petals in order to heal a cold, and that if you grow them in the garden where the sun shines, you can collect them in a vase and stand them on a bedside table which can cure severe viruses.

Tonia had thought about this. She had seen a doctor but sadly they couldn't do much for her mum. She decided to try the Marigolds. They had a lot of the beautiful flowers growing in the garden in the sun, so she didn't have to go far.

Tonia did one last check on her mum who was sleeping. She then headed into the garden. She had read that she needed six healthy flowers in order to help her mum, so she only picked the most golden and healthy flowers. She filled a vase with cold water, careful not to drown them and stood them on the bedside table near her mums bed.

Her mum woke up and smiled.

"For me? Thankyou Tonia, they are beautiful," her mum said with delight, though her voice was weak.

To Tonia's surprise within the next hour, her mum was eating, drinking and laughing again. She suddenly got up and walked to the bathroom. Her mum was shocked but delighted.

Every day that went past, Tonia's mum grew stronger and became more well. Tonia knew it was the flowers, because the doctor had tried everything. She told her mum about her discovery and she was amazed. Ever since that day, they always made sure the beautiful golden Marigolds were placed in every room, and they never became ill again.