Story

Childhood memory

"Face full of fur"

It was a cold November night and I was at home, together with my mom and my older sister. I was sick, so I had stayed at home with my mom the whole day. It was not a serious illness, just the usual kid sickness. However, I was sick quite often as a child. I could go to kindergarten for a day, come home and then be sick for a week and that cycle would repeat itself a lot.  

I was lying on the couch, sick, but I was getting better. I remember my dad coming home from a long shift and I was so happy to see him. I was my father’s daughter when I was a child. That happiness quickly disappeared when I felt a sharp pain in the left side of my stomach. At first, the pain was a mild irritation but it grew worse and worse as time passed.  

I still remember that pain so clearly to this day. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife, hitting my ribs and then twisting it, repeatedly. I have never felt such physical pain before or after, ever since that day.

What were only minutes felt like hours and hours of excruciating pain. At first, my mom and dad thought that maybe it was because I had to go the toilet, so they took me to the bathroom. Nothing happen. The pain only got worse and I started screaming at the top of my lungs. They got me down to the living room again and my dog and cat looked at me, worried. My dog, Baloo, whined like a puppy and my cat, Simba, meowed with destress in his voice. That was when my parents knew something was completely wrong. Our cat was very independent and did not pay much attention to us when we were sick. However, that day he did.

I do not remember much after that. Only flashes. One, of my mom, or dad, getting me in my winter clothes. Being in the car on our way to the hospital. And one, sitting in the waiting room with my mom and dad. I was scared, but the pain was not as bad. My mom had given me a painkiller before we drove off, and it was finally starting to kick in. We were called into the examination room and the doctor examined me thoroughly. The pain was completely gone at this point and my crying slowly subsided.

After the doctor finished his examination, he talked a bit with my parents. The pain was gone, I felt safe, and I wanted to let my parents know that I was okay. So I put on my most cheery smile and announced to the doctor.

“It is my birthday soon”

My mom was angry with me and embarrassed. She did not want the doctor to think that they were the kind of people, who takes their child to the hospital for no reason. The doctor was understanding and said the pain was probably a side effect of me being sick, as he could not find anything wrong with me. To this day, we still do not know exactly what was wrong.

We went home and sat in front of the TV. I was lying on the couch, face turned away from the TV. I was exhausted. A little while later, my cat, Simba, came up to me and laid down next to my face. I fell asleep on the couch, warm, safe and a face full of fur.