244 - EMMA

EMMA

Only this time, as I swallow that down, my stomach seems to roll and I feel a little sick. I push it down, wanting more of mother's delicious cooking, only this time when I put the food in my mouth my stomach doesn’t wait for it to get there and I jump off the stool I am sitting on and run to the nearest bathroom.

With my head over the bowl, I spit out what was in my mouth and then bring up what little I had managed to swallow.

I spit one last time into the toilet and then flush it before slowly getting to my feet and slowly moving over to the sink. I rinse my mouth out and splash my face before I pat it dry and then rejoin my parents in the kitchen, only this time the smell of the food makes me feel queasy. My mother walks over to where I am still standing in the doorway and places her hand on my cheek as she asks,

“Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

She doesn’t say anything more and once the plates from our brunch are all cleaned and put away; we move into the sitting