Big Fish

“Ouch!” I screamed as I hit the ground. All I could think about was my throbbing ankle. Everyone in the gym came running over to me, they were all laughing, including Mrs. Blackmer. I couldn’t figure out what was so funny. Apparently Natalie couldn’t either. She was standing over me, a shocked look on her tan face. I saw a hand reach out to me, as if to help me up, but there was no way I was going to stand right now.


“What just happened?” Natalie asked.

“I don’t know…my ankle…” I responded.

“Come on, get up,” Mrs. Blackmer said.

“I can’t,” I said still confused and in an extreme amount of pain.

“That was the loudest snap I have ever heard,” Natalie exclaimed. “Did anyone else hear that?”

“That was your ankle?” Mrs. Blackmer said in disbelief. She went running for an ice pack as she told a few other girls to carry me to the bench. She instructed me to take my shoes off. Her background as an athletic trainer allowed my gym teacher to assess my injury. My right ankle was already swollen; it was the size of a baseball. I couldn’t move it at all.

Why did I have to be the one to get hurt? I thought to myself. Especially on the last day on gym class in eighth grade, I can’t think of anything much worse. I should never have gone for that dunk.

See, we had been playing a friendly game of basketball. I got the rebound of a missed shot and raced down the court for the breakaway. This was a fun game, so as I was approaching the basket, I decided to go for a dunk. I had done it plenty of times before, and I knew I could successfully complete it. I jumped up, dunked the ball, and the next thing I know I am on the ground, and all I know is that my ankle hurts. It turns out, as I broke away, everyone on the court came running after me. My teammate, Natalie, was watching the ball as I jumped. She couldn’t stop her momentum and her shoulder hit my left leg. I landed hard on my right leg and my ankle snapped.

As I was sitting on the bench, with ice on my still-throbbing ankle, watching the others play, reality hit me.

I won’t be able to dance! I thought. In a split second, a huge part of my life was eliminated. Nationals were coming up soon, and I could tell I now wouldn’t be able to compete. I felt terrible. Then, the rest of my upcoming end of the year activities came into mind; May Crowning, Confirmation, graduation, our Cedar Point trip, and my dance banquet. I didn’t know how I could participate in any of those things that I had looked forward to for months.

I went to the hospital after school, and found that I had crushed my ankle bone. I left in tears, in a wheel chair with instructions to come back in a week for surgery. I was completely devastated. I was able to attend all my events, just not quite the way I wanted to. I still went to Chicago to watch my studio compete at Nationals. Looking at the bright side of my painful situation, at least my friends and I didn’t have to wait in line for any rides at Cedar Point.