A moment of peace (female, cold, oneshot)

[Italiangirl]

This story was inspired by a dream I had a few nights ago...
I liked it so much that I couldn't not write a story about it!
Let me introduce you to the protagonist of this story, who is a new character of mine.
Her name is Stephanie and she's a 30-year-old woman with long, blonde hair and blue eyes.
Enjoy!

Stephanie sniffled again while sitting cross-legged on the floor: she was changing her 6-month-old baby's nappy but she didn't have a proper changing table, so she had spread out an old blanket on the floor and had placed her baby on it.
Beside her, there was a rubbish bin full to the brim of used, crumpled tissues and it was about to overflow!
The poor cold-ridden mum plucked another tissue from the tissue box next to her and blew her nose for the umpteenth time, then she threw it away, adding yet another used tissue to the collection.
When she buried her nose into the fresh tissue, she winced at how rough it felt on her red, irritated and chapped skin...
It's not like you can afford soft lotion tissues when you're a single mum on the brink of going broke!
The damn things are expensive!
And at one point there it was again: a familiar itch built up in her sinuses and suddenly it felt like a million tiny pins were prickling her poor nose...
"Haaappsshoo!! Haaah... haaappssheeww!!"
She had a very wet double and she barely had enough time to turn away and sneeze into her elbow to avoid spraying the whole "changing station" she had created.
"Ugh, ouch!" She exclaimed, as those harsh and forceful sneezes hadn't been kind to her throat, which was still very sore.
It had been 3 days since the start of that incredibly sneezy, snotty cold and she was over it...
Being a single mum while healthy is hard enough, let alone while being sick with a horrible cold!
Stephanie sighed congestedly, sniffled wetly and then pressed her knuckles against her insanely itchy nostrils, which were twitching and flaring more and more.
"Haaappssheewww!! Haah... haaappsshoo!! Haaapsssheww!!"
She sneezed into a tissue, her head snapping forward from the force of those mighty explosions.
"Nice, a triple this time" she thought as she rubbed her nose and sniffled again, trying to contain the mess without blowing again.
"Changing a nappy is so hard when you can't stop sneezing! Apparently..."
She thought.
That was her first cold in over a year and Stephanie didn't usually sneeze this much, but that cold was different and once the itch started, there was no way she could stop it!
The sneezes were copious and absolutely impossible to hold back or even stifle.
She was finally done and her baby, Charlie, was nice and changed: she picked him up, turned away and sneezed again, into her wrist.
It was only a single this time and it sounded a bit weird, almost naturally half-stifled, most likely because of the congestion.
And it must have been funny too, as Charlie started laughing!
"What are you laughidg for, Charlie? Sssnff!! Bubby is sufferidg here!"
She jokingly said in a ridiculous attempt to sound all soft and cute, but her voice was too raspy and congested to make that work.
She sighed again as she sat on the couch, still holding her baby into her arms...
Well, I say "sat" but it was more like she flopped on it.
She was so stuffed up that she had to breathe through her mouth, her lips were permanently parted because of that and the congestion occupying her swollen, irritated nasal passages was giving her a terrible sinus headache.
Her head felt like it was full of cotton and she was freezing despite having a warm, fuzzy blanket on...
"Great, I thought my fever was gone!" She thought as she felt her own forehead and noticed it was hot to the touch.
It was no surprise, really...
She had been feeling feverish and super tired all morning.
The poor Stephanie started rocking her baby into her arms and she tried to sing him a lullaby, despite being interrupted several times by her almost continuous wet sneezes and sniffles.
He finally drifted off and our sick mum breathed a sigh of relief.
She blew her nose single-handedly and snottily for the umpteenth time into the umpteenth tissue.
And apparently doing that shifted the congestion and rekindled the need to sneeze!
"Haaappssshoo!! Haah... haaapssheww!! Haaappsshoo!! Haaah... haaassshoo!!! Haaappssheeww!!! Haah... haaappssheww!!"
She turned away from Charlie and sneezed 6 times in a row into a tissue.
"Great, they're coming in fits now", she thought after that exhausting sneeze attack.
She had been sneezing mostly in singles and doubles during that cold, so that intense fit caught her by surprise.
Unfortunately, all those loud sneezes woke Charlie up, so he started crying uncontrollably.
"Oh do, please stop!" Complained Stephanie out loud, trying to calm Charlie down by patting his back and stroking him gently...
She sniffled wetly as she felt her own eyes starting to fill with tears.
"Please stop cryig, I'b exhausted! Sssnfff...
Please stop, have bercy od be!"
She muttered in between her sobs and sniffles, crying disconsolately herself.
"Can I have just a moment of peace? Just one! I'm not asking much!"
She thought to herself.
And surprisingly her wish was granted!
All of a sudden she was standing on a wonderful beach with palm trees and crystal clear water...
For some reason she was also wearing sunglasses and a beautiful, bright-coloured bikini.
Stephanie couldn't believe her eyes!
And her awful head cold was magically gone too!
Her nose was clear, the need to sneeze was gone and she felt just fine, fit as a fiddle!
She was so excited and grateful!
And Charlie wasn't there, so that meant she didn't have to look after him anymore.
Don't get me wrong, readers, Stephanie loved her baby, but sometimes it all just got a bit too much...
She was basically a full-time mum and she rarely had time for herself!
Her ex boyfriend (and Charlie's father) had abandoned them before their baby was born, she didn't have enough money for daycare or a babysitter and she didn't want to bother her old mother too much, also because she was the only one who supported her financially with the few spare money she had.
She had lost her job due to her heartless boss, who had fired her as soon as he found out she was pregnant.

But back to our tropical beach, where Stephanie was enjoying a nice Piña colada while lying on a sunbed.
She closed her eyes and breathed in the warm, summer breeze...
For the first time in months, she finally felt relaxed and at peace with the world.
Unfortunately though, a forceful and snotty sneeze made her snap back to reality and she was now back on her couch, wearing a thick sweater over her rather flimsy pyjamas and feeling absolutely full of the cold once again.
"I must've dozed off...", she thought as she sniffled helplessly and thickly at her oh so stuffy nose.
It was indeed just a dream, a wonderful dream nonetheless, but now she felt even more miserable and disappointed.
"For a moment I really thought it was all true..." She thought, drying her eyes which were still damp from all the crying she'd done before falling asleep.
Miraculously, Charlie had fallen asleep too and that loud sneeze his mother had just let out didn't seem to have disturbed him...
Stephanie sighed in relief as she saw her baby was sleeping so peacefully, then she stood up very slowly and carefully while still holding Charlie and she made her way to the bedroom.
She was almost there, when her nose started tickling again...
Both her hands were occupied as she was holding Charlie, but she didn't want to sneeze all over herself and her baby so she turned away and muffled a quick "Haaappsssshh!!" into her shoulder.
When she opened her eyes after that wet sneeze she was very relieved to discover Charlie was still sound asleep.
As she made it to her bedroom, Stephanie carefully placed her baby in his cot and then went to bed: it felt sooo good to lie down with a warm duvet on!
Stephanie blew her nose several times and finally fell asleep.
When she woke up, she was surprised to see her mother standing next to the cot and rocking Charlie (who was now awake) into her arms.
"Hi, honey! You're awake?" Her mother, Cynthia, said.
"Bub! What are you doig here?" Asked Stephanie.
"Well, you told me you were sick and I thought I'd check on the two of you...
You should've told me earlier!" She exclaimed.
Stephanie turned away from her mother, who was now standing next to the bed holding Charlie, because she could feel a sneeze coming on...
"Haaappsshoo!! Ugh, sorry..."
"Bless you! No need to apologise!"
Cynthia felt her forehead looking worried.
"Oh, honey! You're burning up! You must feel awful!"
Stephanie nodded and then blew her nose again.
"You should stay in bed, I'll get you some paracetamol for your fever, tissues and soup..." Cynthia leaned on Stephanie's bed and kissed her daughter's forehead gently.
"You'll feel better in no time!"
"But what about Charlie?"
"You don't need to worry about him, I'll look after him! Right, little one?"
Charlie laughed in response.
"Thanks, bub... ssnff!! What would I do without you?"
Stephanie was so happy about the fact she could finally get her much deserved moment of peace.

The end

[Chhinkninducing]

Love it! ❤️

[jke1995]

Lovely. Thanks for sharing!

[Its All Sternutation]

Oh, wow. This is absolutely AMAZING. I never knew I wanted a cute single mom struggling with being sneezy, but now that I do I would ABSOLUTELY love to see more. I know you said this was a one-shot, but I would really love to see you continue this : )

[poiub]

this was very cute 💜

[NiceName]

I have never seen such a good description of a cold!