Aarav the rabbit had always been a worrier, but tonight was worse than usual. Dark clouds rolled over the meadow, and thunder rumbled somewhere far off, getting closer.
"What if the storm floods our burrow?" Aarav asked his mother, ears pressed flat. "What if it never stops? What if—"
"Aarav," his mother said gently, "there's a storm outside, and I think there might be one inside you too."
Aarav hadn't thought of it that way, but she was right — his worries were crashing around inside his chest just like the thunder crashed outside.
Just then, Nimbus the mountain goat ambled by, unbothered by the darkening sky. She'd weathered a hundred storms on her rocky ledge and never seemed rattled by them.
"Storm got you worried, little one?" she asked, settling down beside him.
Aarav nodded, ears trembling. "Both storms. The one out there, and the one in here."
"Ah," said Nimbus. "I know a trick for the one inside. Want to try it?"
Aarav nodded again.
"Breathe in slow, like you're smelling your favorite flower," Nimbus said, taking a long, deep breath through her nose. "Now breathe out slow, like you're cooling a bowl of warm soup." She blew out a long, gentle breath.
Aarav tried it. In, like a flower. Out, like soup. His first breath was shaky. His second was a little steadier.
Outside, the thunder cracked again, closer now. Aarav flinched — but this time, instead of spiraling into more worries, he took another slow breath. In, flower. Out, soup.
"The storm outside is still there," Nimbus said, "but notice — is the one inside you quite as loud?"
Aarav paused to check. His heart wasn't pounding quite so hard. His ears weren't pressed quite so flat. "It's... a little quieter," he admitted, surprised.
They breathed together, in and out, as the real storm rolled overhead — wind bending the tall grass, rain finally beginning to patter down. Aarav kept breathing, flower in, soup out, and with each breath, the storm inside him settled a little more.
By the time the rain was falling steadily, Aarav wasn't worry-free — the thunder was still loud, the wind still whistled — but he no longer felt like he might blow away with it.
"You can't stop every storm," Nimbus said, tucking her legs beneath her, "but your breath can calm the one inside you."
Aarav practiced his flower breath, soup breath, all through the night, and for the first time during a big storm, he fell asleep before it ended — calm, steady, and safe in his burrow.
