"Help! How do you swallow a pill?"

This is my sister's usual cry of despair every night when we have to take our iron supplements. It is always plain torture to her. Every night she has to endure hours -yes, hours! - of trying to gulp down the pea-sized pill (which has already been chopped into quarters. Now how big is that?).

Every night: She would sit at the table, take a deep breath, put the pill on the middle of her tongue - but she'd show it to us first, saying, "Is it in the middle already? Or should I put it farther back?" - and her face would be filled so much agony you'd think she's going to die. Then she would take a big gulp of water, and instead of swallowing, she'd keep the pill swimming around in her mouth, her cheeks big and round, and her face scrunched up in concentration. Then if she'd be lucky - mind you, that would be a miracle - she would have enough guts to swallow it all down and move on to the next bit. But if she couldn't bear it anymore, or maybe my little sister had just made a face (to annoy her), she'd simply gag and spit it all out. Sometimes spraying things around her. Which is a bit gross, you know.

It was always a scene at our house, with our Manangs cheering and saying they're her fans. Before the complicated procedure of her taking the pill, she would always lament on why she was so... cowardly. Yeah, that's what she would always say. Too afraid of choking that she forgets how to swallow.

"How can I do this if my mind is scaring me and telling me I'll choke?!" Then she'll go on on how her tongue becomes paralyzed, that she doesn't trust it all. Then tonight, she told us about a story she read in school: how a girl died because of choking from Gummy Bears.

"She choked on Gummy Bears! And that's soft, so what more with this hard, teeth-breaking pill?!"

So tonight it took her extra long, the Gummy Bear Story still stuck in her mind. Manang took pity on her so she crushed the pill and dissolved it in water. But she still didn't want to take it, because of the bitter taste. Another suggestion was to swallow it together with bananas. No way. I'll choke more! she said.

She now considers it as one of her greatest problems right now (she also requested to save her from embarrassment by not mentioning her name here. Hah.) and she would say, wide-eyed and scared, "Does it mean I have a weak personality?"

The thing is, I have no idea what to say. Where did she get that personality thingy?

Probably from me, as a way of making her swallow the pill (she doesn't like having a weak personality. I think.). But never mind.

She'll get through it. If she's lucky. God bless her.