Koi was set on the cool floor for only a moment, yet to her it felt endless and frightening. The instant Mom stepped away, her tiny face tightened with confusion, then fury. A sharp scream burst out as panic and anger tangled violently inside her small chest today without mercy.
She slapped her hands against the tiles, kicking her feet with all the strength she had. Her cries bounced off the walls, louder with every breath she pulled in. Koi searched wildly for the familiar shadow of Mom, but only empty space answered her desperate eyes with trembling lonely hope.
Mom stood just a short distance away, heart aching while teaching a painful but necessary lesson. Koi did not understand patience, only the sudden loss of safety burned through her nerve endings. Rage shook her tiny body as tears streamed freely, falling onto the cold unfeeling floor below in silence.
Minutes stretched like hours for such a tiny soul overwhelmed by emotion she could not name. Her screams cracked into sobs, anger slowly dissolving into raw helpless exhaustion. The fight drained from her limbs little by little, leaving only trembling whimpers and a broken call for comfort that echoed weakly.
Mom finally stepped forward, unable to bear the sound another second longer in her chest. Warm arms lifted Koi from the cold world she had been battling alone. The change was instant as fury collapsed into desperate clinging, tiny fingers locking tightly into safe familiar fabric again with shuddering relief.
Koi stayed pressed against her mother, still sobbing but no longer screaming at the world. Her breathing slowed, syncing to the steady rhythm she trusted since birth. Anger faded into tired hiccups as safety returned like sunlight after storm clouds, gentle and unquestionable in that small quiet forgiven fragile moment.
