I think I was around 4 or 5. Maybe? I don’t really remember. My mom and I were going to a motel. I don’t remember if I knew why. My throat was sore and I was tired and it was either late at night or really early in the morning. I was just getting over being sick again.

“Mure, come on.” Mom poked me and unbuckled my seatbelt. My sister hopped out the other door. We walked into the motel and I frowned. The walls were covered in an awful cringe-worthy 1970’s avocado green, orange, yellow and brown floral wallpaper. It was the ugliest thing I had ever seen and it hurt my eyes.

A lady came out from a back room and stepped behind the desk. I don’t remember what she looked like but she was very nice. We came up the stairs and as we walked down the hall I got uncomfortable. It was too quiet and I am pretty sure we were the only ones in there. At the end of the hall there was a little window covered with a white lace curtain. The hall looked just like the one in “The Shining” and I waited nervously for Mom to unlock the door.

I’ve always had trouble going to bed. I tossed and turned while everyone else was asleep. I had to pee. I thought of the two girls at the end of the hall.

“Come play with us, Mure.”

I decided I would wait until tomorrow.

There are some black spots in between but I remember then I was in the hospital, playing with a toy checkout center while Mom filled out a form and we waited for Dad and Grandma. Mom was nervous and Dad and Grandma were late.

The nurse who came in was young, probably somewhere as old as Mom. The wig she was wearing was obvious but neither me or Mom pointed anything out. Dad and Grandma came in just before the nurse brought in the syringe full of purple goo and stuck it in my mouth.

It tasted disgusting. It tasted like grape child’s Tylenol and it burned my throat. I made a face and moved my tongue around, trying to get the taste out of my mouth. In the process of relieving my taste buds of the atrocious taste , Dad scooped me up and started walking out of the waiting room. I started to feel tired and I was giggling. At this point I couldn’t keep my head up anymore.

“No, Don’t fall asleep yet!” Dad told me.

“I’m trying!” I giggled. Then I was out.

Mom told me a bit ago that Dad was joking around not to fall asleep yet because Mom and Dad were really nervous because there was a small chance that I wasn’t going to wake up. As soon as I fell asleep, Dad had to hand me over to the nurse and get me hooked up and ready for surgery.

When I opened my eyes my parents were gone and a nurse was doing something next to me. She noticed I woke up and smiled at me,

“Would you like to see your mom?” Well obviously.

I don’t remember what happened in between but then I remember sitting in a room in a huge chair that I sunk into. I sat and ate cherry popsicles and cherry Jell-O and watched Teen Titans on the big T.V. I was fine and Mom said that I wouldn’t get sick all the time anymore.

I didn’t even know what tonsils were, but hey, I got all the cherry popsicles and Jell-O that I wanted.