Molly was clearly hurt, with a scrape on her forehead, the skin grazed and bleeding,
but she didn’t want to show it even as her chin wobbled.
“I’m all right,” she said slowly, in a voice as fragile as porcelain.
“I’m all right. I’m all right. I’m all right. I’m all right.”
Each “all right” got progressively closer to tears, then horse-shoed back around to calm again.
For all her nocturnal fears about bears, she had a resilience to her that Nora couldn’t help but admire and be inspired by.
This little human being had come from her, was in some way a part of her, and if she had hidden strength then maybe Nora did too.
Nora hugged her. “It’s all right, baby... My brave girl. It’s okay. How does it feel now, darling?”
“It’s okay. It’s like on holiday.” “On holiday?” “Yes, Mummy...” she said, a little upset Nora couldn’t remember.
“The slide.” “Oh yes, of course. The slide. Yes. Silly me. Silly Mummy.”
Nora felt something inside her all at once. A kind of fear, as real as the fear she had felt on the Arctic skerry,
face to face with the polar bear. A fear of what she was feeling. Love.
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