Bobby woke up coughing and feeling a little sore in his throat. Grandpa hurried to his side, patting his back, “Bobby, are you alright?”
“Grandpa? I don’t feel good,” Bobby sniffed. He wanted to go back to bed. Just then, his mother entered the room and took his temperature. She declared that he ought to visit the doctor before coming home since he needed to let his school know that he was unfit for school. Grandpa promised to bring Bobby to the clinic.
It took a while for Bobby to feel better to walk to the clinic as Grandpa was unable to carry him. “Grandpa?” Bobby sounded off and cleared his throat.
“Yes, Bobby?” Grandpa smiled at him.
“Why is it so smokey today?”
“Well, it’s the haze.”
“How does it come about?”
“It’s the wind that blew the smoke here.”
“I don’t understand, Grandpa,” Bobby adjusted his pants as they reached the clinic.
Grandpa registered Bobby’s name and the both of them sat down before explaining to Bobby, “It’s like this, the haze is actually the smoke from the burning of the forests in Sumatra that is in Indonesia.”
“Why are the forests burning?”
“The farmers want to clear the trees so that they can plant their vegetables on the land.”
“If they are burning the trees in Sumatra, why do we have the haze here?”
“The winds are blowing towards us, that’s why we have haze, you smell anything that is burnt?”
Bobby took a small sniff and nodded. It was his turn to enter the consultation room. The doctor was very nice and told Bobby to drink lots of water and have a good rest. His condition was caused by the change in weather and he would be fine in a day or so once he took good care of himself.
After paying for the medicine, Bobby continued his questions. “Grandpa, will this happen everyday?” Grandpa smiled, “No, I think about a week if things get better but the haze will need some time to clear, so about a month because it’s a lot of trees being burned.”
Bobby was quiet after that. He thought about how the haze affected his health and wondered if anyone else was affected too. Unknown to him, 3 of his classmates were feeling the effects of the haze with breathing difficulties and coughing. The heavy haze lasted for a week, although it didn’t clear, Bobby was feeling well enough to go to school.
