I will never forget the day when I was so thirsty...

I was only 12 years old. My school went to a forest to celebrate Nature’s day. Our teacher said: ‘ bring food and water with you. We will walk all day in the forest.’

I was excited. I made sandwiches, bread with butter, cheese and tomatoes. To be honest, I put a bit too much salt on them. I put all the sandwiches into my backpack. I also put a towel, a ball, some biscuits, and a jumper, just in case. I wanted to take my guitar, too, but there was no more room in the backpack.

Then I went to the school happily, and we started our day trip. It was a warm morning and it turned into a hot day. After an hour's walk I realised that I had left my water bottle at home. Never mind, I thought, sure we would find water somewhere. But it was not the case. I had my sandwiches, which was a big mistake. It made me even thirstier, because they were too salty. The other kids all had water, but I was too shy to ask for it. The sun was bright, I was sweating. I was losing that little water I had in my body. It was difficult to walk. All my classmates were far ahead of me. The teacher came to me and said, ‘please walk faster’. But I could not. I was weak and very thirsty. My lips were dry. I started to cry.

My friends came to me. ‘What’s wrong?’ they asked. I told them how thirsty I was. They gave me some water and I felt better. It was only a couple of hours without water, but it was terrible. I learned that people can survive without water for only 3 days. I wanted to die after half a day without water.

• How long do you think you can live without water?
• Have you ever been very thirsty? What happened?
• How can your body lose water?
• How much water do you drink a day? (How many cups?)
• How did the boy lose water? Answer