Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Ides of March

When I was in sixth grade it snowed quite a lot during the winter and my younger sister and I liked to spend our winter break outside in the snow. We were playing in the backyard on New Year's Eve when my sister and I decided to jump off the back porch and into the deep snow for fun. Sounds cool, right?

Yeah, it was really cool. At least until after the third or fourth time when it wasn't cool--and it actually hurt. Turns out I broke three bones in four places in my left foot, leaving me to be on crutches for three months afterward since I'm such a slow healer. The worst part for me wasn't necessarily that I broke my foot and everything, it was more that I had to explain to people that I broke my foot by voluntarily jumping off my back porch. Pretty embarrassing.

If someone had warned me that by jumping off that stupid porch I would break my foot and be annoyed by crutches and physical therapy for the next three to four months I'd like to think I'd be pretty relieved. It would surely spare me a lot of annoyance and pain. But on the other hand, I got closer to a couple of friends who helped me carry my books as I hobbled around the school on crutches. I got closer to the teachers that let me go to class a few minutes early or late because it took me longer. I learned a lesson that wonderful New Year's Eve: don't freaking jump off something into the snow no matter how deep that stuff is. It does sound cliché, but I did end up learning a few things as I healed up, as well as realizing how lucky I am to be able to walk, since there are many people who can't walk without crutches--or simply at all. I feel like the little accident was sort of needed in my life. Sentimental value and all that, right? And everything turned out fine in the end, it was only a broken foot after all, and there were some good things that came out of it. So I'm going to go with no, my eleven-year-old self probably wouldn't have listened, but that's fine. My life would probably be a little different that it is now and I don't want that to be honest.

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