Defeated, Leo flopped onto the living room rug, his clogged ear pressed against the cool floor. He closed his eyes and sighed. He imagined the drop of water wasn’t an enemy, but a tiny, lost explorer. It had stumbled into the warm, dark cave of his ear and was now bouncing around, trying to find its way home to the drain.
His mom appeared in the doorway, a fond smile on her face. “Oh, the old ‘water in the ear’ trick.”
And inside his ear, a tiny, high-pitched echo began: Swish… echo… swish…
It was the tiniest drop of water, no bigger than a tear. But to Leo, a seven-year-old with a wild imagination, it was a catastrophe.