Day 24 – "Did you just sneeze?"

Anah was happy to spend the day in the garden. It was the first truly warm day of the season, and she was thrilled to both spend time with the plants and soak up some sun. She was partly shaded with a small wide-brimmed sunhat that Moffitt's mother, Adeline, had made for her.

It was also the first day that they could open some windows. That day was bright and cloudless. Who wouldn't want to enjoy it?

Well… she could think of one person.

From the window, Anah heard Moffitt grumbling, "Ugh, why are the bloody windows open? Are we trying to let in every grain of pollen from across Britain?"

Then she heard Vanora say, "Leave the windows open, Jack, we need some fresh air, especially with how many times you were sick this winter."

"I am going to be a mess if any pollen gets in here."

Vanora sighed. "Alright, could we leave the windows open for a couple of hours? I promise, we'll close them at noon."

"Oh, fine."

Anah sighed, shook her head, and plucked a dandelion from the garden with her tail. Every year, she thought, tossing the dandelion aside.

After the garden was thoroughly weeded, Anah moved on to watering it. Everything will look so bright and colorful in a matter of weeks. She smiled. Especially my rosebushes. I love my rosebushes.

She looked over her work when she set the watering can down, and took in the scent of the blooming flowers and the damp earth, and listened to the birds singing. It was nice to hear them after they had been so quiet for the last few months.

That peace and tranquility was interrupted by a loud sneeze from inside the house.

Anah had seen this coming—not because of her psychic powers, but because of basic pattern recognition. She slithered up the side of the house to get the windowsill, and looked inside to see Moffitt opening a new tissue box. "Did you just sneeze, dear?" Anah asked, grinning.

"No! I'm just making this sound because it's funny," Moffitt grumped. He blew his nose into a pair of tissues he pulled out. "What do you think I'm doing? My wife wants the bloody windows open. She knows my allergies are at their worst this time of year."

"Everyone knows your allergies are at their worst this time of year. I remember the postman was treated to one of your sneezing fits last spring."

"Yes, and I ended up sneezing all of my mail out of my own hands after he left."

"Indeed. That was fun to clean up, given how windy that day was." Anah looked down at the windowsill. "Would you like company, dear?"

"I'll be fine," Moffitt sighed. "You're enjoying your garden. I don't want to take that from you."

"I know this is nothing like your many, many colds this past winter, but you are still not feeling well, dear. If you wish to have company, I can tend to my garden another day."

"It's just my allergies, Anah. I'll be fine."

Now it was Anah's turn to sigh. She took her hat off with her tail before slithering into the house through the window. Something in her snapped, and she hissed, "What is it with you people and the word 'fine?!' It is always code for 'I am most certainly not fine!' Honestly, it is driving me crazy!"

Moffitt gave her a confused look. "Are… Are you alright, Anah?"

Anah turned to face him, her hood flared. "No! For heaven's sake, Moffitt, just admit that you are not fine!"

Instead of responding, Moffitt was stunned into silence. "Anah… is… is there something you want to talk about?"

"No." Anah slithered back toward the window, angrily climbing up and dropping back down into the garden.

What followed was about an hour of angry weeding, angry pruning, and angry digging from Anah. She could occasionally see a rather nervous-looking Moffitt peering out the window at her, but paid him no attention. While aggressively pulling out a stubborn weed, Anah heard Vanora's voice from the window.

"What's the matter, Jack? You look like you've seen a ghost," Vanora said.

"I… think I've done something to make Anah quite cross," Moffitt replied.

"What did you do? She's never angry."

"Well, she came inside when my allergies started acting up, asked if I wanted company, I said, 'no, you should spend time with the garden since you haven't all winter.' She insisted, I said, 'I'll be fine,' and then she threw a literal hissy fit."

"Ah. She seems to hate that four-letter F-word."

"What, 'fine?'"

"Yes."

Moffitt sighed. "I can't blame her. She did have to put up with all of us trying to dismiss things during the war."

"Didn't you say that she has nightmares about losing you all?"

"I've mentioned that, yes, and I'm not the only one who's noticed that."

"I don't think you dismissing pain and illness helps her."

"She needs to learn that a simple cold or my bloody allergies isn't cause for concern."

"She does, I'll admit that, but that doesn't help the fact that she's worried you're going to brush off something more serious."

Anah stopped her angry gardening. Vanora had hit the nail on the head. She is right. I do worry… probably more than I should.

"Well, I'll wait to say something to her," Moffitt said. "She seems angry enough to throw dirt and petunias at me."

"Oh, nonsense!" Vanora replied. "She loves you. Besides, at least she'll throw dirt and flowers and not rocks at you."

"She did throw a frozen fish at me once."

"You must've really annoyed her in order for her to do that."

"I moved her poinsettia display from the table to one of the windows. I remember facing her after putting the display down. She hissed and then whipped the fish at me. And then where is she that night? All curled up in my pajama shirt."

"She can't stay mad at you. Trust me, it's hard to stay mad at you."

"Oh, no, worse than that was the time I rearranged some ornaments on the Christmas tree from where she had them. She was very much not happy about that, evident in the fact that she threw a clove of garlic at me, but then an hour later, she's snuggled up with me while I'm having my tea."

"Well, she can't resist snuggling with you. Why don't you go do that right now?"

Moffitt looked out the window. "I would, but she's completely covered in dirt and looks like a giant earthworm right now."

Anah hissed at him before throwing a bundle of dandelions at the window.

Her mood did improve somewhat by the time she decided she was done with the garden for the day. She couldn't go back in the house covered in dirt, so she rinsed herself off with the hose. The water was quite cold, though.

The water suddenly turned off, and Anah heard a sigh before the hose was taken from her. "You know, we have hot water in the house, you silly," Moffitt said, picking Anah up. "You're a bloody reptile, surely using cold water is uncomfortable."

Anah didn't say a word as she was brought inside and placed in the bathroom sink. The warm water was far more comfortable.

"You worry me, too, sometimes."

Anah turned to face Moffitt. "I do?"

"Yes, Anah. You do. You're probably the worst offender out of all of us when it comes to 'I'm fine.' Yes, even worse than Troy."

"I am not." Anah turned away.

"Yes, you are. Why? Because you say nothing, and you're very good at hiding things. I can't read your mind the way you can read ours." Moffitt squeezed a bit of liquid soap in his hand before taking Anah and gently scrubbing the dirt off.

Anah was quiet for a moment. "Are you angry with me?"

"No. If I was angry with you, I wouldn't be doing this right now. I feel bad for you. You do have to learn to not overreact to little things, though. Can we work on that? We'll work on it together—you learn to not overreact, and I'll learn to be more honest when I'm not feeling well."

"Deal," Anah said.

"We have to hold each other to it."

"Oh, trust me, I will make sure you are held to your end of the deal."

"I know you will, and I will hold you to yours."

"And Vanora can knock our heads together when we are being stubborn."

Moffitt paused to think. "That won't work with you, because you're a snake, therefore, your head is extremely flexible."

"The point still stands." Anah smiled up at Moffitt. She waited until she was rinsed and dried before climbing up to his shoulder and nuzzling him.