A/N All the requests after the October 17th one, which is I'll change Thursday to Friday as the date falls on a Friday this year, as is don't fit my vision as they have time hops in them, so I can only incorporate pieces as I get to the days in the chapter. Like the Halloween request that mentions November 12. The Halloween part will go when I write that day's chapter and the November 12 mean girl piece will go when writing November 21st, as November 12 isn't a Friday this year and November 21st is when I want the mean girls to get suspended, as real time tracks with the story timeline when I write the November 22 chapter in my vision. The Thanksgiving, Aika's first birthday, Christmas and New Year's request, I'll separate all those pieces into separate chapters, focused on each of those things.
Monday came and Autumn woke up to day 3 of her cold and thick mucus stuffing her nose. ACHOO! she sneezed and grabbed tissues from her box. She wiped her watery eyes, then flipped her tissue over and blew her nose gently, quickly filling it with bright yellow mucus. She then blew her nose into her 2nd tissue, finishing with a final wipe after she no longer felt all super gunky and goopy and her blowing was no longer gurgly. Autumn thought, I need windshield wipers for my eyeballs.
Autumn said, "My Kleenex box is my little savior. It's like hugging a cloud every time I blow my nose. I can't stand being stuffed up, and these tissues are the only ones soft enough to help me without making my nose all sore and red. It's my trusty companion, always there when I need it, especially when I'm blowing my nose a million times an hour. My poor nose is already pink from all the sneezing, but these tissues make it a bit more bearable.". Then, she had her breakfast and took her medicine.
Mummy said to Autumn, "Darling, I can see how hard this cold has been on you, and I admire how bravely you're handling it. Those Kleenexes are here to help you feel better, and I'm glad you have them to make things a bit easier. Remember, it's perfectly okay to take care of yourself, and if you need anything more, just let Mummy know. We'll get through this together, my love."
As Autumn was getting ready for school, Sawyer called.
"I've got a horrible cold," Sawyer said, then loudly blew her nose with her hanky into the phone. "Sorry, but my nose and sinuses are full of mucus until I clear them," she said as she finished with a final wipe. "No school until I can go more than 5 minutes without having to blow my nose gently. Now, I'll use my saline nasal spray". The girls said good-bye and hung up.
Autumn got on the bus and held her tissue box on her lap. She wiped her eyes gently as needed and wiped and blew her nose a few times as she rode the bus. ACHOO! She sneezed and said, "I've got bright yellow snot coming out of my nose.", as she got off.
"You okay?" the bus driver sympathetically asked Autumn.
"Just a head cold," she replied, as she blew her nose. Then, she finished with a final wipe and put her tissue box in her backpack.
Autumn and the other kids walked to their lockers, Autumn holding her flowered hanky, gently wiping her watery eyes as needed.
The mean girls were waiting by Autumn's locker when she got there. They pointed at her and laughed, then whispered amongst themselves and said, "Baby Autumn, choo-choo!".
Autumn froze up for a while, then began to cry into her hanky. She sobbed softly, her tears flowing freely into the soft cotton, wiping and blowing her nose until her tears finally stopped, her hanky soaked with tears and full of snot after she dried her remaining tears and wiped and blew her nose, finishing with a final wipe. She folded it to contain the snot and put it in her pocket. ACHOO! she sneezed sometimes as she cried. Then, she took off her backpack and pulled her tissue box out. The mean girls had called her "Cry-baby!" and said something about her head cold, as they could tell she had quite the obstruction in her nose.
Autumn went through the day, gently wiping her watery eyes as needed, wiping and blowing her nose several times an hour, finishing with a final wipe when she was done blowing. ACHOO! she sneezed at times. On the bus, she wiped her eyes as needed and wiped and blew her nose a few times. The mean girls' words replayed in Autumn's head and she was in tears as she got off the bus.
Autumn saw Aika walking around the kitchen, holding onto a toy and sniffling. Mummy took a soft Kleenex and gently wiped Aika's nose. I think Aika's caught my cold, Autumn thought, as Aika said, "Mama.".
Autumn went to her room, where Snowy the kitten was sleeping and daydreamed her way to Sodor, wiping her tears with a Kleenex as she looked at her Thomas toy.
Autumn landed on Sodor and wiped and blew her nose with her Kleenexes, finishing with a final wipe. She saw Thomas getting coal for his next train. "Hello, Thomas. Just the steam loosening my mucus, as I've still got my cold and my nose is all bunged up with thick yellow mucus." she said. "I'm also crying about the mean girls."
Thomas said, "Cry, Autumn. Blow your nose and wipe your eyes. Then, I shall take you for a ride on my branch line.", smiling a cheer-up cheeky smile.
Autumn sobbed and sobbed, not loud, but tears flowing freely into her Kleenexes. She soaked a great many Kleenexes with her tears and runny nose before she finally stopped crying. Then, she had her train ride, wiping her watery eyes as needed and wiping and blowing her nose once, as it was a 20-minute ride. "Just a head cold," Autumn said. "I've got to blow my nose every 15 minutes to clear my sinuses and stay comfortable.".
Autumn made her rounds of Sodor, gently wiping her eyes and tending to her nose, as needed. She saw all her engine friends and Bridget Hatt. ACHOO! she sneezed.
Bridget took Autumn's tissue box and said, holding one of the soft tissues to Autumn's nose, "Let's get you all cleared up. Blow." and gave the tissue to Autumn when it was full, as there was no place to dispose of it near. Bridget took a second tissue and held it to Autumn's nose, finishing with a final wipe when Autumn's blowing changed from wet and gurgling to a dry puff of air.
"Thank you, Bridget," Autumn said softly. "I really love my soft Kleenexes. They feel so much nicer than the rough school tissues.".
Autumn said good-bye to Thomas, as it was time for her to have her evening meal. ACHOO! she sneezed As Thomas said good-bye to her, she gently wiped her watery eyes, then wiped and blew her nose, finishing with a final wipe. I can fill a Kleenex with 1 blow, Autumn thought, as she left Sodor, Thomas's whistle in her ears.
Autumn had soup for her evening meal, had a cup of cocoa, did her homework, then took her bath, put on a nightie, brushed her teeth and read herself a bedtime story. ACHOO! she sneezed at times and wiped her watery eyes as needed and wiped and blew her very pink nose every 15 minutes, finishing with a final wipe as she did all that. Then, after her parents said, "Goodnight.", she hugged her Thomas plush toy as she fell asleep.
A/N I'm trying to portray her head cold realistically, so I'm not just being icky. As she's corona negative, her parents prefer her in school, so she's around baby Aika less. Some of the phrasing used to refer to her cold came from elsewhere, but I like it. Autumn likes the word eyeballs. Aika's 10 months old, so the toy's something like a walker truck, which I had when I was learning to walk.