Ode to Fever

Ode to fever
How have you been my friend? Are you surprised that I refer to you as a friend, when we have been in dispute since the earliest fringes of my memory? But, remember this, my friend; we were born for each other! Just looking at my parents will settle you, I think. When one is born for the other, there is no choice but to accept the simple fact and make the best out of it. Thus, I have made peace with you.

But will you? And if you do, will I be able to bare it?

Doubt clouds me as I recall that you have wounded me of not just body but also of mind. As I strove to drive you out of me, I centered my focus on you when others of my age put focus to toys and games, later on moving to dates and movies. During the laggard combats, one or two friendly spirits would occasionally chance on me, haggard as I was. But, none would come to me willingly as you enveloped all my good will and want of companion. At such times I would weep bitter tears and confine myself to a cellar I had constructed under the deepest of pools in my heart, brooding on the bleak life you presented. Biding my time for revenge, I searched long and hard of what and perhaps, who you are. I started by analyzing what features you let me glimpse during my struggles. I found that you are a shape-shifter fully capable of, but not licensed of, changing into the various forms I fought. Yellow phlegm was one that I despised the most. As it stuck at my throat and refused to budge, I was helpless while my voice was lost and my throat became raw. Then there are the snivel and snot. Of late, you seem to enjoy this form the most. Mark my words, my mother will kill me if she finds out that I made peace with you just for this fact, oh the money she spent on all the tissues! Last of all, there is the thrice damned cough as well. Though you don’t take this form as much as the earlier one, this is the one that really threatens to get me an early coffin. Ah, the sleepless nights! But, don’t worry, I not thinking of making you pay the blood price for all the blood I lost when my lung veins burst, in the near future at least.

Then why try making peace in the first place, do you ask?

Because as much as all the hate and fury gone in to my dispute with you, a strange kind of love always followed, grooming the hurt lands where we struggled. With time, I have come to accept what is you and furthermore have come to respect you as I would a living being, rather than a lifeless disturbance. Thanks to you, I learned care for my neck and its cord with the delicacy that one could not have gained without years of experience. Thanks to you, I have earned the funny nickname, the most efficient water intake in history (all that sniveling equals the amount of liquid I drink), something most wouldn’t ever be able to boast of. Thanks to you, I now understand what my mother went through during pregnancy, as asthma ravaged her lungs. Thanks to you, I have come to value what I have, regardless of its grandeur and quality.

I will be looking forward to increasing the viscosity of our friendship, at least we should equal that of your phlegm!