Not the fear itself — fear is normal, fear passes.

What frightened me was the reflex under it, the automatic reaching for the phrase that would make the grown-ups comfortable.

A child who has been properly held does not, upon being rescued from six days alone, immediately reassure his rescuer that it was fine.

He falls apart, the way he’s allowed to, because he knows there are arms for it.

Jonah didn’t fall apart.