Everything Changes

Chapter 1

"Come on, Cameron," my little sister shouted to me from the bottom of the slide and challenged me to slide behind her. I couldn't help grinning at her words. Sometimes she was really bursting with energy. So she was by far the most active of us three children. But probably it was also because she was only ten and didn't see life as close as the rest of us.

At her request, she took off and then threw me with her legs into the yellow slide first. The pleasantly cool water washed around me from all sides and I tried to keep my eyes open so that I could stare towards the exit of the tube. I couldn't hide the touch of a happy laugh.

Then I arrived at the end and slid straight into the small collecting basin. Since I had already heard someone else swing into the slide, I quickly climbed the few steps that were under water and led out of the small pool.

Meanwhile Kelsey stood only a few meters away from me and gave me a real glow. Her smile managed to make her surroundings shine again and again and to elicit at least a slight smile from most of the people around her. Arriving at her place I put an arm around her shoulders: "And? What do you want to do now? Slide again or would you rather do something else?

She just opened her mouth and wanted to answer my question, when I saw a girl with hair as blond as Kelsey's and my own, wearing a yellow bikini. She was undoubtedly my one year older sister Addy. Her gaze, which she held firmly on us, told me that she wasn't going in that direction by accident, but was clearly on her way to us. That's why I interrupted my sister because I wanted to know why Addy seemed so determined.

Her look told me that she was asking us for something important. "Wait a minute, Kels,' I asked her and nodded in Addy's direction. Kelsey followed my request and looked over to the eldest of the three of us.

A few seconds later Addy stopped in front of us and gave us a light smile: "Finally I found you both." I laughed slightly and then inquired: "Why were you looking for us? "Mom sent me off," she began to explain: "She wants us all to go out for dinner." "Good idea," the ten-year-old intervened: "I'm already quite hungry."

Then I just shrugged my shoulders because I wasn't hungry yet. To be honest, I'd much rather go on swimming, but I knew Mom wouldn't let me discuss it with her. "All right, let's go," Addy continued and started moving again, but this time went in a different direction, which I knew would lead to the pool's own snack bar.

With the whole family - except for my dad, who had stayed home today to work - being back at the pool on that hot day was great. Because even though many other girls my age were reluctant to spend time with their families and especially with their parents, I was quite different. For me it was nice to have a little time with my parents and especially with my sisters. Family has always been important to me and I knew that she would always be at my side when I needed her.

"Hey Kids," our mom greeted us at that moment, already sitting at a table with four chairs and a big white parasol. "Hey Mom," Kelsey and I replied to her greeting, while Addy already dropped on one of the chairs next to which she had left her bag. "Are you hungry yet," she asked, pulling out her wallet. "Yes," Kelsey shouted and rubbed her belly theatrically, whereupon Mom pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to her: "Well, then go get yourself something quick."

Satisfied, she accepted the note and then looked at the rest of us, "What shall I bring you?" "Get me a currywurst, will you, Kels?" Addy asked her, and she answered with a nod. "And a french fries for me, please," she said to my mother and then looked over at me with a request. "Uh, yes, I'll have the same," I replied quickly and turned my head away again to watch the people around us. From the corner of my eye I saw, but Kelsey went over to the snack bar and joined the queue.

Somehow I really had no appetite. Much more likely, the thought of something to eat made me sick all of a sudden, which is why I jumped up. "Cam? What's going on now", I heard my mother ask, but didn't stop to answer her. Instead I just sat down and ran as fast as I could towards the toilets.

Fortunately there was no snake there, so I was able to open the door and slam it behind me again. I quickly confirmed the lock and then leaned my back against the door. Suddenly an oppressive nausea had spread inside me and I almost felt like I had to vomit in the next few seconds.

I held my hand in front of my mouth and hoped that if I waited long enough the feeling would disappear again. But that was unfortunately not the case at all. Instead, after a few seconds it became so unbearable that I knelt on the floor in front of the toilet and lifted the lid.

Then I threw up strangling myself in the middle of the toilet keys. I held my hair out of my face with one hand as well as I could and held on to the seat with the other.

After a few seconds I managed to get rid of it again and lift my head. Only now I noticed that the floor was wet and probably quite unhygienic. So I quickly grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped my mouth with it. Then I rinsed off and slowly rose again. What was she doing here?

"Cameron? Are you in there," Addy's voice suddenly came through the door to my ears and I twitched slightly because I hadn't expected it. I hadn't noticed that she had followed me at all. "Yes, I am,' I replied with a slightly hesitant voice.

"Can I come in?" she asked further and I sighed. If I wouldn't say 'yes' now, she wouldn't stop pestering me with questions anyway. Besides, there was no point in hiding anything from her anyway. She would find out sooner or later anyway.

So I walked towards the door, which was only a few steps away from me anyway, and unlocked the lock again. Slowly I pushed the door open and saw Addy standing there looking at me questioningly. "Hey," she said and put her head slightly crooked. "Hey," I replied and then leaned my back against the wall again. I let myself slide down a bit until I almost sat on the floor.

Silently she let herself sink next to me at about the same height and laid her head on my shoulder. Then she raised her voice again: "You just disappeared quite suddenly. Is everything okay? I swallowed heavily and then answered after a few seconds of silence: "Sure, I must have had something wrong for lunch today. Maybe it was spoiled. Or it's the heat. You know I don't get along so well with it." I kept the fact that I had vomited to myself.

Addy then reached for my right hand and crossed her fingers with mine: "Are you all right now? I could make myself turn my matte smile into a real one: "Yes, everything's fine again." And in fact that wasn't a lie. Suddenly my nausea and the bad feeling were swept away as if by magic.

"Well, then let's go back to the others," she suggested with a smile, but I could see in her eyes how relieved she was about my words. I nodded and let her pull me onto my feet: "All right. But I deliberately concealed from her that I had no idea what was going on with me. Because I could not attribute this sudden nausea to any illness, since I had hardly felt bad before.