The Fall That Broke An Arm

Always listening to what someone tells you to do might wind up being not in your best interest. It can even turn out to someone having a broken arm; in this case that someone was me. All fifteen cousins were coming to my house, which instantly put my mom into a complete panic mode. Nothing crossed her mind besides cleaning and cooking, cleaning and cooking, and all over again.

“Katie, you clean the bathrooms and Patrick you Windex the windows.” My mom rattled off a list of what had to be done.

 There was two hours before everyone arrived and my mom was still wiping off every little dust speckle or rearranging items to make the house appear as clean as it could be.

Who cares about the food? When I looked at my brother and sister they were eyeing the food on the giant black kitchen table. The sweet smell of the cookies took over my nose and moistened my taste buds. I was so anxious to see my cousins from out of town. There was one hour till everyone. They would be walking in at five o’clock, on the dot, not a second after. 

            The clock struck five and the relatives fell in our door. One by one they laid down the food and deserts as I called first dibs on all of them.

 “Kristine, Rebecca, Ashley, Cory so good to see you!” I said each name and greeted them with a tight open armed hug.

Within minutes of them arriving the back door flew open and out Ashley and I went racing to the brand new blue swings that my dad just put up on our wooden play set that for some reason there was at least a few neighbor kids paying a visit too every day. 

            “I call the swing on the right” I exclaimed so no one would take it knowing that my cousin Ashley was going to want it.

            “No, I call the swing on the right, I am the guest.” Ashley screamed with frustration in her voice.

            I was at that age where I thought I was the boss and didn’t want anyone to tell me what to do. So I sprinted like the wind all the way to the swing, my legs were moving almost so quick to the point I barley had any control. I jumped onto the swing barley catching myself from falling right off the bright blue seat and I pumped my legs front, back, front, back and was getting higher and higher before Ashley got to the play set. A little annoyed she plopped down on the other swing and pumped her legs till we were both flying through the air laughing and telling jokes.

            “Katie lets both jump of the swing together at the same time while holding hands!” Ashley suggested.

            “Okay let’s do it!” I smirked with a little evil plan I thought out in my head because I didn’t want to admit I was scared of jumping off the swing.

            “ONE TWO” We screeched these three numbers in a high-pitched voice almost high enough to break a glass

“Three!”

Ashley jumped and I gave her a little push why I stayed on the swing on the right laughing and giggling and having a good ole time because I did the opposite of what she said to do.

            “Katie Elizabeth!” She said laughing but angered.

She sat in the green grass holding back tears and trying to wipe the grass stains off her bruised knee. The feeling of guilt made my heart sink and my stomach toss and turn.

I replied, “I AM SO SORRY! I’ll go get ice for you or a cup of water. Whatever you need, I will do.” 

Ashley jumped up and went back to swinging which seemed a little odd to me. I could tell by the look in her face there was something fishy going on. The look of revenge covered her face, no doubt about it.

All of my cousins came outside with cookies and cupcakes or whatever sweet you could name they were shoving it in there mouth. I was getting a little nervous as the swing swung higher and higher. Butterflies were going crazy in my stomach as Ashley told me to jump off the swing knowing that it was one of my biggest fears. Next Cory told me to jump, then holly, and then Thomas, the list went on and the only words I could hear were,

“Jump Katie jump”

Those three words quickly turned into a chant.

“Jump Katie Jump! Jump Katie Jump!”

Butterflies still going crazy in my stomach while the color of my face changed instantly to ghost white. I didn’t even think I just counted to three like Ashley did.

“I am going to jump and get over my fear. I will land on my feet in the green grass while everyone claps and cheers. You can do it Katie” This was my “pre jump” speech that I mumbled under my breath.

 “One, two, three”

I threw my hands up and was waiting to fall on my feet. I didn’t land on feet and no one clapped and cheered. I landed on my left arm, the arm I write with and eat with, my dominant hand. Tears glistened in my blue eyes and grass fell from my dirty blonde hair. I went from quiet whimpering to screams of pain.

“Katie what happened!” Ashley questioned as she stared at my swollen arm and me.

“My arm, it popped when I went to catch myself after jumping off the swing. Go get my mom.” I sobbed this in desperation.

“Katie let’s get some ice on that I think you might have broken it. What even happened?” My mom questioned.

Quickly to blame I pointed to all my cousins and said, “They told me too.”

I couldn’t help but to question why I listened to everyone in the first place. Apparently overcoming a fear isn’t that easy because from that day on the fear of jumping off a swing only turned into a nightmare. 

In this writing I think I did a good job of describing the moment very well and helped the reader picture it in there head while they read my ill-advised moment. I also think I did a good job of using some dialogue to help my reader get an understanding of the characters and what happened and that the dialogue I used did not take over the story.