RHEUM
Rheum officinale, Rhubarb
It was the most auspicious event of the decade: the long awaited family reunion. Which coincidentally, fell on the weekend of Rheum’s 7th birthday, and was hailed as the Birthday Trip, in one particular household. The whole tribe had not been in the same country let alone the same house for over 12 years. Siblings, unlike most of their peers on New Zealand’s, South Island, scattered the globe, branches of the family tree spread far and wide.
Rheum’s first introduction to her, never seen before, blood relatives unfortunately set the precedence for the whole trip. The flight went without a hitch much to Rheum’s mothers surprise; they were first off the Quantas 747. They collected their new matching, blue leather luggage from the conveyor belt loaded it on the awkward to push airport trolley, declared nothing, and walked through the automatic doors and into a sea of waving arms and hugs and wet kisses from their clan. Rheum played no part in the display of emotion, she stood back, aloof, unnoticed for a moment or two until her mother reached for her hand and gently pulled her towards her. All the relatives ‘oohhed and ahhed’ kissed and patted her head like you would a dog and Rheum in response; scowled and refused to utter a greeting. Rheum was a child that was not inclined to talk much and asked for nothing.
The journey back to the house in the mini bus was loud. Pretending to be asleep, leant on her mothers arm in the queerest position in order to rest a while on the back seat, while everyone chatted around her, Rheum already felt bored,
Rheum’s two cousins, her mother’s sister’s girls, had spent the previous 2 days tidying their bedroom in preparation for their guests’ arrival. Beds were swapped into different rooms and much to Rheum’s horror the three girls were to share a king-size bed. The young cousins had planned the fun and games down to the tiniest detail - midnight feasts, video games, movies in bed, board games, the proud list was pinned to the backside of their bedroom door. But unbeknown to the intricate planners, Rheum did not like to play with other children, She was a child that demanded her own way in everything and did not compromise consequently she had no friends. She desired many, many things, primarily from her mother and she was difficult to satisfy the majority of the time. Basically she was an indolent, lazy child, she barely did anything except, watch her favourite cartoons on videos uninterrupted for hours on end. She was content with her own company.
Rheum Materia Medica
Rheum’s first introduction to her, never seen before, blood relatives unfortunately set the precedence for the whole trip. The flight went without a hitch much to Rheum’s mothers surprise; they were first off the Quantas 747. They collected their new matching, blue leather luggage from the conveyor belt loaded it on the awkward to push airport trolley, declared nothing, and walked through the automatic doors and into a sea of waving arms and hugs and wet kisses from their clan. Rheum played no part in the display of emotion, she stood back, aloof, unnoticed for a moment or two until her mother reached for her hand and gently pulled her towards her. All the relatives ‘oohhed and ahhed’ kissed and patted her head like you would a dog and Rheum in response; scowled and refused to utter a greeting. Rheum was a child that was not inclined to talk much and asked for nothing.
The journey back to the house in the mini bus was loud. Pretending to be asleep, leant on her mothers arm in the queerest position in order to rest a while on the back seat, while everyone chatted around her, Rheum already felt bored,
Rheum’s two cousins, her mother’s sister’s girls, had spent the previous 2 days tidying their bedroom in preparation for their guests’ arrival. Beds were swapped into different rooms and much to Rheum’s horror the three girls were to share a king-size bed. The young cousins had planned the fun and games down to the tiniest detail - midnight feasts, video games, movies in bed, board games, the proud list was pinned to the backside of their bedroom door. But unbeknown to the intricate planners, Rheum did not like to play with other children, She was a child that demanded her own way in everything and did not compromise consequently she had no friends. She desired many, many things, primarily from her mother and she was difficult to satisfy the majority of the time. Basically she was an indolent, lazy child, she barely did anything except, watch her favourite cartoons on videos uninterrupted for hours on end. She was content with her own company.
Rheum Materia Medica