50 Kids In Need

Flood of 1927, Arkansas

     "Did y'all change rooms? Or were you still in his?"

     "We were in the bathroom, Akr said he didn't feel to good and almost puked water on his bed."

     Alfred gave him a worried look, "Did he say anything about feeling uneasy beforehand?"

     Minnesota shook his head, "Nope. You know how he is, always needing to be fine and not worry others. Especially you. He won't say anything until the last moment."

     "Oh lord have mercy.. this kid is gonna get himself killed one day." Alfred heard Minnesota muster a giggle behind him, which he smiled to himself at. That smile quickly dropped when he got to the closest bathroom to Arkansas's room.

     When Alfred opened the door, he saw the state lying on the floor in a ball, coughing harshly and sputtering water everywhere his head faced. Alfred immediately rushed to his side, leaving Minnesota at the door, who, in turn, left to give his father more space to deal with his sibling.

     "Hey buddy, hey.. it's ok, look at me," Alfred lightly grabbed Arkansas's chin, tilting the child's head to face him, "I'm right here, it ok. You're gonna be ok." Arkansas continued to cough, barley being able to get a glimpse of his father. Water was beginning to leak out of the side of his mouth, so Alfred pulled him into a sitting position and begun patting his back. His movements were almost like a mother's, trying to get a baby to burp.

     "Come on buddy, I need you to cough it up." Alfred got what he asked for, Arkansas continued to cough, although it sounded like it was getting more violent. It didn't sound like Arkansas was drowning, more like he was swimming and struggling to stay above water. Alfred didn't ask of it though, he just kept his motion up.

     There were different ways his kids reacted to danger. The ones like Texas and Florida who were ready to fight it off, held brave faces, but still made sure their issues was known to others. Any like York and Maine, who hid themselves from society, only came out when they needed help or were called on to provide it. Then the few that were totally open, they told you instantly when they felt bad. And then the slim few like Arkansas. He wanted no one to worry for him, so he kept his bad emotions hidden, much like, and to the displeasure of, his father.

     This is one of those moments Alfred wished his son wasn't like that. What was happening to him right now, it's worse then what Mississippi had experienced overall. 

     Arkansas kept coughing, although it was starting to calm down, but also beginning to sound more along the lines of choking. Eventually, it was just calm. A group of seven or eight harsh coughs every now and then, but mostly Arkansas seemed more tired. At this, Alfred decided to speak again.

     "Ark? You ok now buddy?" He whispered. He didn't want to startle his son, but he did need to know he was able to get words out now.

     "Mh-hm.. y-yeah," was the response he got, along with a few coughs. When Alfred heard his son speak, he immediately pulled him up from the ground and into his lap. He laid Arkansas's head on his shoulder, and wrapped his arms around him, "You gotta start tellin' us when you don't feel good sweetness."

     Alfred heard a few strangled laughs escape his son, "B-but yo-ou do-n't. Why *cough* sh-should I?" 

    "Because," Alfred said, "I'm an adult, and I need to protect you from things you shouldn't be worried about."

     "S-still no ex-cuse," Arkansas giggled. Alfred smiled. He was still worried sure, but he was content with the fact that Arkansas was ok. He was just glad he was the only one effected, Alfred couldn't imagine if more of his kids were hit like this today. No, correction, he didn't want to.

     "Alright, alright, how about we go and get you to bed? Would you wanna sleep with your sister? She might enjoy some company," Alfred said, trying to prompt his son into calming down. He wasn't so sure laughing this much after basically almost drowning was entirely a good thing, and he really didn't want Arkansas to hurt himself.

     "S-sure papa."

Little History!

     Alright, so we all know this is about a flood, right? Good! So basically around the time of April 15th in 1927, the Mississippi River water levels had begun to rise. At the time, they only believed it would be a small flood, but within a day or so it got worse- On April 17th, Arkansas was severely hit by the still rising waters. At the time, a good area surrounding the Mississippi River was in fact flooded. Although I'm not entirely sure when the flood was officially over, I do know that Arkansas was hit the worst out of all the effected states.

Word Count: 1464