One Mississippi, Two Mississippi

T-h-u-n-d-e-r-s-t-o-r-m

"I-It's the thunder." She heard him murmur from under the covers.

"Oh, you're scared of the thunder, huh?" She repeated in an understanding tone. She gently gripped the covers and pulled them back, revealing a wide, teary eyed, thumb sucking Leaf. "Hey, it's okay, it's gonna be okay." She assured, softly stroking his back over the covers.

Another loud crash came from outside. Leaf squeaked, yanking the covers back over himself and burrowing further into his blanket pile.

"Leaf, hey, come on up to the bed with me, it's okay." Logainne suggested, not wanting him to be alone. A quiet "Mm-mm." came from the covers. She sighed, taking the hint. "Can I at least come under there and hold you?"

Leaf took a minute to think about it, but soon he let out a positive "Mhmm.", because frankly, he didn't want to be alone either.

Logainne smiled, gently lifting the covers and climbing underneath, immediately moving closer to be with Leaf. "Come here." She said, pulling him into a hug. Leaf fell into the embrace, gripping tight to her pajamas as if he was holding on for dear life.

"Ya know, there's a way to tell if a storm is getting closer or further away." Logainne said as she continued to stroke his back.

"Yeah?" He sniffed, starting to calm down a little. But he just got all riled up again as another loud crash was heard. More sobs came out, and he buried his face in the crook of Logainne's neck.

"Yeah." She continued, staying level headed. "You know how there's a flash of light before every clap of thunder?"

Leaf nodded his head. It seemed to get worse and worse at each loud clap, and now he could barely register his own thoughts. He just wanted it to be over.

"Well, if you count the seconds in between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, you can tell how close the storm is. If the seconds are getting longer, it's getting further away." She finished explaining, rocking Leaf back and forth gently. "We'll count on one-mississippi, two-mississippi, k?"

Leaf nodded his head reluctantly, dreading having to open his eyes.

"Here, let's watch for the flash." She suggested, peeling the covers back only so far to get a glimpse into the room. Soon enough the entire room lit up for a second, and Logainne pulled the covers back over them. "Okay, we're gonna count now." She stated, making sure to keep eye contact with Leaf. "One-mississippi, two-mississippi..."

"Three-mississippi, four-mississippi-" Leaf joined in, but was cut off as the loudest crash of thunder came yet. He shut his eyes and latched harder onto Logainne, who held him back as tight as she could.

"It's okay, you're doing great." She reassured. "Let's see if we can catch another flash, k?"

Leaf nodded, still shaking a bit. He and Logainne peeked over the covers again, and dove right back under them once the flash came.

"One-mississippi, two-mississippi, three-mississippi, four-mississippi, five-mississippi-" They chanted in unison, getting cut off one second later than before. "See? Four versus five, it's getting better, it's going away." She continued to trace circles on the small of Leaf's back.

He nodded along, drinking in the comfort Logainne's voice gave to him. He was still sucking his thumb, but he could no longer feel himself vibrating. Even as they witnessed another flash, just being in Logainne's company started to make him feel kind of alright.

It stayed like that for a while. A white hot flash would light up the room, they'd start to count the seconds, and a clap of thunder would interrupt them. Leaf would tense up every time, but Logainne always managed to ground him and bring him back to reality.