Does Rosa have Bird Flu?

Sybil walking out as far as she can to see if Africa is visible.

“I don’t seem to be getting any better, Mummy,” groaned Rosa as she lay in bed and again pulled the thick quilt her mother had made for her a few years ago around her neck. She let out a big sigh and added, “maybe I have the bird flu!” Sybil laughed for a brief second. “Yes Mummy. It’s all over Asia and we aren’t that far away from there.”

Sybil was quite familiar with her little drama queen’s tendency to blow every little thing out of proportion. However, thinking that something as a little cold to be bird flu, the nasty killer of many of their feathered friends was another thing, there had never been an instance of bird flu in North Topsail Beach, North Carolina, ever.

“No,” replied Sybil patting the quilt she had made, “there isn’t any bird flu around here and by the way young lady, why am I sending you to school if you believe that Asia is just around the corner? If that’s what they’re teaching you in school, you might as well stay home and have your aunt Elizabeth teach you in her spare time, when she’s not suing people.”

Rosa groaned loudly. The very idea of staying home and having her aunt, who Rosa felt took three hours and 500 years to explain anything would be a fate worse than death. “Ok so Asia isn’t around the corner and ok I don’t have bird flu but Mummy,” Rosa tried to explain, “why isn’t this disease going away?” And then she had a brilliant idea. “Maybe it’s because Julia keeps putting eggs and butter on my bagels instead of cream cheese.” Yes, that’s it! Rosa had a brilliant idea. She was about to sit up but then in a split second realised she shouldn’t and instead stopped herself and groaned for effect.

Sybil noticed the immediate transformation but kept it to herself. “Well young lady,” Sybil got up from the bed after patting the quilt once again. “If you don’t get better very soon, I’m going to have to take you to the vet and have them give you an injection to quicken the process. You’re just missing too much school. By the way I never asked you, do you like the quilt?”

“Mummy,” Rosa rolled her eyes. “Yes, you have, about 500 times. Every time you come into my room and I’m here, you ask me that.”

“Well,” Sybil smiled coyly, “I am proud of my handiwork.”

“Yes Mummy, the quilt is very beautiful. I love the animals all over it. I like the camels and the elephants and then the border Mummy it’s the best with the African things all over it.” She paused for a second. “We are close to Africa aren’t we? Maybe the bird flu came from there.”

“No young lady, Africa isn’t close. It’s 500 thousand miles away.” Sybil stopped for a second. She proud of herself for using Rosa’s analogy for everything. Ever since Rosa had read in her story book that Sleeping Beauty woke up after 500 years, everything became 500 years.

“But Daddy when he goes onto the balcony sometimes in the morning, he stretches, takes in a deep breath looks out over the waves and says, ‘next stop Africa.’ So it can't be that far away.”

“Can you see Africa?” asked Sybil getting a little tired of the back and forth, she had better things to do. Then she had a brilliant idea. Why couldn’t she sell the quilts she made, not that they needed the money, but because she would become someone in her own right. Currently she was known as Rosa’s mother by the local Jewish community and the writer of incredible notes to schoolteachers.

“No Mummy I can’t,” replied Rosa feeling defeated.

“Then it’s 500 thousand miles away!” Sybil was proud of the way she handled the situation. Then with one final pat on the bed she closed the door behind her, though not before telling Rosa she needed to eat lunch which Julia had left for her before going to school.

Dare she ask what it was? Yes of course she dare, it could be another reason to groan. “Matzo ball soup!” replied Sybil finally closing the door behind her. No Rosa couldn’t complain. She loved Julia’s matzo ball soup. The balls themselves weren’t like Elizabeth’s, whose were a poor excuse for cannonballs. At least Julia’s floated and weren’t surrounded with odd looking carrots.

Once she was next door in the dining room which doubled as her sewing workshop, while her entire family was either at work or in school, Sybil sat down on her favourite dining room chair and pulled it up close to the table. She looked at her latest project which was a quilt with cartoon characters all over it for Benne’s nephew Alain who was old enough to say a few words. Sybil looked at the cartoon characters and realised it was really inappropriate for a little child of one and a half for two reasons. Firstly, because they were from a movie titled, A Nightmare before Christmas, and secondly, because the characters themselves were a little scary. However, it was what Benne wanted and he was willing to pay top dollar for it.

It wasn’t the money that interested Sybil so much, though it would be nice to have her own little bank account, but mainly the fact that it was the first quilt she had sold. She would’ve done it for free, but Benne insisted on paying because this way he could tell his nephew when he got a little older that he paid good money for it.

Sybil sat back in her chair holding the border in her hand. She was about to sew it onto the quilt and wondered if she could really make a good business with her hobby. ‘Maybe I can have my own website and make many quilts and then sell them.’ Yes, Sybil was proud of herself. She was becoming a capitalist. Why not, everyone around her was, so why couldn’t she have her own little empire? Great idea she thought, very proud of herself. She smiled and then leaned forward with the border in one hand and the quilt in the other so she could see them together.

“Mummy, Mummy!” she heard Rosa cry. Sybil was snapped back into reality.

“I guess I’m a mother first,” she sighed and got up and walked into Rosa’s room. She opened the door. Rosa was sitting up in bed. She had made a miraculous recovery.

“I’m hungry,” said Rosa, “can I have some soup now?”

“No young lady,” replied Sybil, “it’s not lunch time yet. You just had breakfast.”

“Yes Mummy, but I hardly ate anything of the bagel.”

“Oh well,” replied Sybil proud of her new found strength, “in that case take a nap and you can have lunch in a little while.”

“But I’m better and I’m hungry.”

“You don’t look better,” replied Sybil closing the door behind. “Maybe you really do have bird flu!” Yes, Sybil had the last word in that back and forth. Yes, she really was getting stronger. “Welcome world to the next tycoon!” she shouted punching the air in triumph. Rosa lay back on her pillow, “why me?” she asked the ceiling.