Eczema

• Caeley Potter, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

I have always wanted to write a book and now I'm writing a short story to tell people about a condition that is usually ignored because in some cases it is considered "NORMAL".

When I was four I moved to Traralgon, and I had to start kinder. I had no friends, but this one girl walked up to me and asked me to sit with her. I was worried because if she saw my legs maybe she wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. I scanned her, looking at every one of her perfections. I got down to her arms and legs they were covered.....in sores and bumps and patches of dark colour. I was so happy that I had found someone just like me. I played with her everyday, until I was eight years old, then things changed we found new friends. When I got to grade five things were different, I used to get treated differently because I had eczema. I dont have to do as much sport, I could wear my sports jumper everyday because I couldn't wear the wool one. But we got a new principal, I'm not saying that is a bad thing but it was for me. I wasn't allowed to wear my sports jumper with my school dress anymore. I could only wear it on sports days, I had to do the same as everyone else and it hurt me.

Now when I get notes home saying do you have any medical conditions my mum puts down eczema but people don't consider that as a big problem so why pay attention to it. When I tell my friends I don't want to go in the sun, it makes my skin itchy. They don't care. When I say to my friends, I have a condition that makes me really, really itchy. They say that happens to me sometimes, it's okay. But that's not what I'm saying I get itchy every second of the day. I think hold it in, don't itch, you don't need to. But I can't control it. A couple of years ago I was playing with my friends and they saw me scratching my head, a lot. They stopped playing and moved away, they asked if I had nits, I said no, I don't. Of course I wasn't going to tell them about eczema they don't need to know, I don't want sympathy. They told me I was lying and ran away, I was left all alone by myself.

I was born with eczema, a condition that makes me really itchy....all the time. It is not as bad as it used to be because I have learnt to control it enough. But I still have to do things differently, I can't wear wool clothing, my family uses the exact same washing detergent all the time, I can't spend much time in the rain or sun because it makes me itchy, I have to use special soap or none at all, some shampoo and conditioner makes my head insanely itchy, I can't wear long sleeves, jackets, or cardigans without wanting to scratch my inner elbows, I don't like to wear shorts because people can see my scars and say "wow"' that's a lot of bruises, what happened? I get embarrassed when I tell them , "no, they're scars", they find it weird.

I don't mind that I have something that separates me from other people, I just wish it wasn't eczema.