Maya wakes up on the first morning of her holiday in Turkey and hears something exciting and amazing. Splashing. Shouting. The sound of the biggest water park she has ever seen in her life.

There are slides everywhere. Twisty ones. Fast ones. Tall ones. And then there is the big one. The tallest slide of all. The one that goes up and up and around a bend and then just disappears. Every time Maya looks at it her tummy does a little flip.

She wants to go on it. But she cannot quite make herself walk up those steps.

And then a girl comes flying down the slide and lands in the pool right next to Maya with the biggest splash and the most brilliant laugh. She climbs out, shakes herself like a dog after a bath, looks at Maya, looks at the slide, and raises her eyebrows.

Well?

Her name is Meryem. She is six years old. She is ...