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username: jayus.
name: kea.
gender: nonbinary, uses they/them pronouns.
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time they cheered somebody up:
when you keep getting hospitalized with respiratory emergencies, you tend to sleep a lot. you learn all the nurses's names. you get kept for observation, since something's probably really wrong when you're such a frequent flyer.
now, when you're five, you tend to get bored a lot. as such, I spent my days sleeping and merely awaiting when my mother came to visit. some days she didn't make it--she was only able to because she trusted the nurses quite a lot. that was nice to hear, because I didn't always trust the nurses, especially not when they missed the vein when trying to plug an iv in me.
now, a bit of a tangent. back at home, we raised ducks. some we would sell as egg layers, some we kept to lay eggs for us, some we sold as a bit of duck dinner for whatever holiday people wanted. my mom worked another job of course, but I assumed it also had to do with ducks. I was growing to be very attached to the ducks under my care, and I often complained of missing them when I was hospitalized.
the nurses were not surprised & not amused when my mom asked to bring a duck in. they didn't believe my ducks were clean, and thus, vetoed it.
yeah, I was crushed. just a little.
I sulked for a fair amount of time, but my mom was determined.
she brought in a tiny, newly hatched duck that she had given a bath and everything. I was ecstatic. I cradled the tiny thing, beaming and hiding it from any nurses that went by. of course, I couldn't silence the tiny peeping that kept coming from the little bird cupped in my hands. maybe the nurses ignored it, but the other kids in the ward certainly couldn't. they were all curious, all slowly clambering out of bed and wandering to mine, assisted by their parents. I didn't want to share--who really wants to share their ducks?--but with the prompting of my mother, I eventually relented, loosening my fingers and letting the duckling wobble drunkenly out to the others. that earned quite the response--a couple kids burst out laughing as the baby couldn't even keep its balance, tilting over and flapping teeny wings as it tried to right itself. it almost seemed as though the duckling knew we needed a distraction--it wouldn't stop moving, waddling up to each kid, nipping here and there and letting out the cutest little half-quacks at random intervals. before long, smiles were gracing all the faces in the ward (including those of the nurses, who were turning an incredibly blind eye, thankfully). everybody was disappointed when my mom took the baby home, but we had certainly received a good dose of excitement that day, something we all needed.
I still raise ducks, my passion for them unabated. I have little 'therapy ducks', small duck breeds that I give a quick bath and then take to children's hospitals. it's a different sight from yonder therapy dog or emotional support cat, but my ducks are well behaved and always welcome in the hospital (especially when I bring ducklings in).
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