“Achoo...!” sneezed my pet cat, Sam. I looked up from the book I was reading and stared at Sam, whereupon he gave another loud sneeze, “Achoo!”

Sam has been sneezing quite frequently. I suppose the cold weather does not suit him. In addition, he has taken to hiding in corners and giving out a loud meow which clearly demonstrates that he is in pain.

Taking pity on my cat, I grabbed the bottle of medicine sitting on the table and held it out to my mum.

“Time to give medicines to the cat,” said mum. I got hold of Sam and together my mother and I managed to get a few drops of the liquid into his mouth. Sam hates taking medicine, almost as much as we children hate injections I suppose. But then again, it is good for him, so that is a good thing.

“Achoo...!” This time it was my sister from the kitchen. I ignored her.

“AACHOO!” an enormous sneeze came out of my mouth. I hastily scrambled for a tissue, while I could hear my mum saying, “Everybody is sneezing, all of them. I suppose I’ll have to ...”

I scurried away before mum could complete her sentence, but I knew what was coming next.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 16th, 2019