It started like the opening shots of a horror film. Or at least, the horror films I might possibly be conned into watching. Not a slasher flick, just a medical horror thing. Her hands worked with puzzle pieces and suddenly we saw that they were moving from pink to red. Very red. Puffy red. My mom rolled the sleeves back a bit and saw it spread from her hands to her arms to the rest of her body. In the space of about an hour her small frame was covered in blotchy cherry-red patches of small white bumps. It covered her face with three groups. Smeared her torso with ugliness. Showed up behind her knees and in the curve under her chin.

Other than that she seemed perfectly fine.

Spent the afternoon at Urgent Care, watching the spots come and go. Come and go. We come and we go. Read a lot of Dick and Jane while waiting. Colored a lot of pictures. Tried to explain that we do not also color the floor of the isolation room.

Verdict came down- this is an allergic reaction. To something. The doctor lit up when I told him that she eats a peanut butter sandwich every evening before bed. Oh, well, then it must be that she's allergic to peanuts. I don't buy that theory. Not when she presented with this so suddenly and violently well after peanut contact.

My thought is that it's something in the air. She had just been on a walk around the neighborhood in a new direction. The air here- it's pretty bad. My own allergies which aren't that bad have had me itching and stuffily miserable for the past three days. My mom took a walk at the start of the rainy season, came home, and was in bed for almost a week unable to clear her lungs fully.

Either way, I have now completely made up my mind- no more allergy attacks are allowed here. It's freaky-scary, when she's in a program with so many other kids that have to be so careful of germs, and when we've successfully avoided most illness things in her young life. Like the first time a parent freaks out when their newborn has a bad cold. I lost my lid completely over blotchy, swift moving hives. Here's hoping that today brings a better story.