⏱ ~4 min reading
Ulyana had a cold. Her throat was a little scratchy, her nose was runny, and there were handkerchiefs in her pocket. Mom put a cup of tea with raspberry jam and a bag with a cinnamon stick by her bed.
Even though it wasn't very good, Ulyana still wanted to look out the window. There, behind the glass, the first snowflake moved. It slowly spun in the air, like a ballerina, and didn't know where to land.
Suddenly Ulyana coughed. Right into her palm. The cough was loud, like a small thunderclap.
Mom came into the room. She sat down next to her. She adjusted Ulyana's blanket.
"Ulyanochka, I want to show you something. Do you know how to cough?"
"How? Just cough.".
Mom smiled.
— Yes, you have to cough. But there's a secret - where.
She pointed with a bent arm. She raised her elbow to her face.
— Like this. In the crook of your elbow. Not in the palm of your hand, not in the air — but here. Then the germs that come out with a cough stay here, in the tissue. And don't fly further.
— Why is this important?
Mom thought for a moment. She looked at the snowflake outside the window.
— Let's imagine that a cough is like little snowflakes. Only invisible ones. When you cough into the air, snowflakes fly everywhere. On the table, on toys, on a cup. On me, if I'm nearby. And if you have a cold, they can make me catch a cold too.
— And when in the elbow?
"Then the snowflakes stay here. In the shirt. They don't fly anywhere. And they don't annoy anyone.".
Ulyana thought. Then she asked:
— And in the palm of your hand?
"Not really in the palm of your hand either. Because then you'll grab the doorknob with your palms. Then someone else will grab that handle. And the snowflakes will move. You should wash your hands after coughing - that's why.".
Ulyana nodded seriously. She loved it when her mother explained things like that — through the pictures in her head.
— What if I sneeze?
"Same thing. In your elbow. Or in a napkin, and then the napkin in the trash.".
"What if I forget?"
— Remember: elbow. Like a bird's wing. She hid her cough under her wing.
Ulyana liked it — like a wing. She tried it. She raised her elbow. She imagined it was a wing. She coughed.
It worked.
— Mom, I'll practice.
"Practice. And wash your hands after you cough. That's part of the magic too.".
When her mother left, Ulyana sat and thought. She imagined others coughing. Grandma in the tram — into the palm of her hand. Boy in kindergarten — into the air. Uncle in the store — also into the palm of his hand. And these snowflakes fly all over the world.
And if everyone is at arm's length? Then the snowflakes stick together. They don't fly.
It's like a thread from person to person. A thread that says: I see you. I remember you.
A few days later, Ulyana felt better. Her cough became less frequent, her nose stopped running. Ulyana went to kindergarten. There, Sofiyka was playing with dolls in the sandbox.
Sofiyka suddenly coughed - loudly, into the air.
Ulyana ran up.
"Sophie, cough into your elbow. Like a bird's wing.".
Sophie looked surprised.
— Why?
Ulyana told. About snowflakes. About microbes. About the wing.
Sofiyka tried. She coughed a second time — and immediately into her elbow.
— Look how cool it is!
The two girls coughed into their elbows one by one and laughed. At first, the teacher, Aunt Olya, thought it was a new game. But it wasn't a game. It was a kind of small concern.
Which lives in the little things. In the smallest gesture. Like raising your elbow before coughing.
What would seem easier? But the simplest things are the most important. Because they are every day. And everything that happens every day builds the world.
Ulyana returned home in the evening and told her mother. Her mother put her hand to her forehead to check her temperature. Her forehead was cool.
"Well done, daughter. You not only learned yourself. You also taught your friend. Now there are fewer snowflakes in your kindergarten.".
— Is that good?
— That's good.
A real snowflake was spinning outside the window. And Ulyana suddenly liked snowflakes. The outer ones - yes. And the inner ones - even under the wing.
💡 Caring for others lives in the smallest gestures.