terminal

The Internet

Brave Aviana, cancer at six years young, telling her friends that

she can't play volleyball in gym or at recess because she's sick-

"Sick how?" they ask, looking at a healthy little girl, unsure,

unable to see what it is that is making her sick, but cancer is

invisible - that's what Brave Aviana's parents told her when they

confirmed her worries, that she was the one with cancer in her

little body, tumors growing with her like hair and nails and legs,

only these grow on the inside, and they make the rest of her

insides sick too! The little girl, her parents' little bird, couldn't

see or feel the problem, but she told everyone about it - only

it made her teacher uncomfortable, and her parents, and, well,

Aviana thinks all of the adults were unhappy that she was

talking about it so freely with anyone who would listen to her;

What was wrong with telling the truth? Had her parents not told

her that her body would change when her treatment began? Had

they not explained that she'll be changed forever by the kind of

medicine that she'll have to take to stay healthy? Aviana didn't know

why it was a problem, and she didn't know what was so scary

about talking about it? The only hint that Little Aviana had about

how serious her cancer was when her parents joined a support group -

They told Aviana and her sister, Lilly, that it is like a recess, only

it is on the computer, and it is for other people who take care

of children who have cancer too - "Like me!" Aviana exclaimed -

she was happy her parents would have friends, and she wondered

out loud "Will I have new friends who have cancer too?" but

she did not get an answer because her mother started to cry, and

her father told her that it was movie time with Brynn downstairs;

Aviana and Lilly loved movie time with Brynn because she would

sneak candy into the popcorn, letting the chocolate melt on it, and

she always let them have a sip of her soda pop; Brynn didn't treat

Aviana too differently than before, though she would look at her

just a little bit longer than she used to, and that wasn't a bad thing to

Brave Aviana, who would simply smile back at her, and she would

always remind her, "I love your eyes when they look at me! They

are sparkling like the stars at night" and Brynn always hugged her after;

Before her first surgery, Aviana had to do a video meeting with the

hospital, because it was so far away, and they told them all what the

procedure would entail, and how long she would be staying in her room,

Aviana couldn't believe she would be there for two weeks! Her mother

cried while her father kept a hand on her knee; Aviana had her own hands

on her own knees, but she wasn't sure if she should be crying or not;

When the doctor asked if they had any questions, Aviana did, and she

blurted it out eagerly, "How come not all of my appointments can be

on the internet app like this one?" Everyone laughed gently at her, and,

for the first time since her long drive appointment, it seemed like everyone

was actually happy; Aviana missed the happiness in everyone's smiles,

When the doctor answered, he simply said, "Your sickness is big, so,

Little Bird, we have to see you here a lot to make sure you get bigger

and the cancer gets smaller. I can only do that with my special machines,"

It was the most grown-up thing anyone had said to her since she was told

that she had cancer and that's when she decided this doctor was going

to be her friend; he could be trusted to be honest with her; she liked

how he didn't treat her like a kid or leave her with more questions than

her little mind could hold onto - she wanted to think about better things.