Death on Holiday

Chapter 1

*8 months earlier*

I ran down the stairs as fast as fast as usual. I was running late, I'd slept in, like always. Pulling my blazer on at the same time, I wandered through to our kitchen. Mum was there already, making us kids our school lunches. I was probably too old to be letting her do that, a recently turned 15 year old, but mum never asked me to make my own, so I never complained. And she made everything just right as well.

My younger brothers Jack and Brendon were still eating breakfast, playing Uno. I assumed my dad was still upstairs, getting ready for his day in the office. "Morning!" I announced, grabbing some of the bread from the packet on the bench.

Mum looked up. "You're late, darling", was all she replied. But even though she seemed like a grumpy woman, I loved her. My mum was amazing. She took so much care of us all, including dad.

"I know, don't remind me", I replied, rolling my eyes as I made my way over to the toaster.

I made my own meal, and sat beside my brothers. "What took you so long?" asked Jack, the older one. He didn't even glance up from his cards. If he was this anti-social already at 10, I hated to see what he'd be like as a teenager.

"I slept really well", I answered him.

Beside me, Brendon, the younger one, showed me his cards. Brendon was everyone's favourite Cooper child. Even though he was only 8 years old, he seemed the most mature of us all. He understood so much at his young age, and was way more understanding than me. At this moment in time, he whispered to me, "He's won the past three games. But I have a plan. You should join in next game".

Dad came down the stairs himself, pulling at his tie. Mum saw him, and beckoned him to come closer. As she retied the piece of fabric around his neck, I heard him ask her, "Have you told them yet?"

Just like the attentive kids we are, it turned out we were all listening. "What? Tell us what?" asked Jack, turning around quickly. We all looked in interest at our parents.

"Oops", dad said quietly, and continued, "We're having a family meeting tonight".

Jack groaned, banging his head on the table, but me and Brendon stared at each other with smiles. Why? Because a family meeting only meant one thing; we would find out where our new holiday would be taking place.

*****

One thing that you should understand about the Cooper's is that we go on a big holiday every couple of years, along with our family friends, including my closest buddies. It's really great, as I get to spend some of the best moments of my life with them. I mean, I love my family, but spending those memorable times with your best friends is like, AMAZING. I will never get sick of it. And you don't have to say goodbye to them either! EVEN BETTER!

So where have we been, as a group? Well, the Cooper's, Johnson's and Watson's have been to Queensland (we live in the suburbs of Sydney), the UK, an entire roadtrip around Australia, California, New York, as well as Western and Central Europe. It's been amazing. I never want to lose the opportunities to do this. Ever.

But I have now.

*****

I couldn't wait for after school, and either could my brothers, it was plain to see. But no one knew that holiday would change our lives, our family. I think back now and think, 'Why were we so eager? Why couldn't it have happened in a few years time, and have given us warning into what would happen?'