5. Write about a time you broke something.
It was my Dad’s grand idea. I mean…when you have SIX kids you kind of need to figure out where to sleep them all. He built the biggest, bunk bed you ever did see. And I use the term “bunk bed” loosely here as there was not an actual bed beneath the bunk to speak of.
It was my sister’s bed, but she eventually graduated to her own room. I snagged the beastly bunk for myself while my little sister stayed in the safe confines of her twin. My little brother slept on the floor in our room as opposed to his space in the dark, dank, cold basement by himself.
It was bound to happen really. Just a matter of time. All it took were some particularly unhappy dreams to get me rolling in all kinds of directions. Soon I was discombobulated and backwards and before I knew it I was free-falling off that damn beast of a bed.
On the way down I remember thinking about life and how, although ridden with heartache, it had been a good life and that I would leave my coloring book collection to my little sister and my doll collection to…well…my little sister, and then I hit the ground with a THUD!!
Blink.
Blink.
I was still alive. And in a horrible amount of pain. In a thoughtful attempt to avoid waking my family I stayed in my fallen position and whimpered.
“Ohhhhhhhh uh huh huh huh….ohhhhhhhhhhh owwwwwwww…”
My Mom came bounding through the door as mothers do when they hear giant crashes from their child’s room in the middle of the night.
“What happened!?!?!” she whispered loudly.
I whimpered about my fall…the bad dream…my hurt arm….
“Are you going to be ok??” she asked hopeful.
“Ummmm….I don’t think so uhuh huh huh…”
“Here, why don’t you climb back in bed and we’ll take a look at it in the morning…”
“Uhhuh huh huh…I can’t climb up the ladder…uh huh huh huh…”
“Does it hurt??”
“Uh huh yeeeaaaahh uh huh”
“ok, How about you just sleep here on the floor where it’s safe and we’ll see how you feel tomorrow.”
“okaaay…uh huh huh”
But I couldn’t sleep. It hurt too bad. The throbbing, the aching…ohhhh uh huh huh huh…
So I laid there and whimpered and cried quietly into the carpet.
“SHUT UP KATHY! GAWD!!!” I annoyed my brother.
“It’s just….uh huh huh huh…my arm really hurts…” I cried out.
“I don’t care just shut up!” he said and when I couldn’t stop he kind of nudged my head with his foot. It wasn’t a full-on kick, just a “knock it off” nudge with the only part of his body that could reach me.
I survived the night. Mom took me to the doctor after the others left for school. I felt both validated and disappointed with the diagnosis.
A fracture to the collarbone.
I knew this was a turning point…and that people were going to start taking me more seriously. And I knew that I was going to be able to play the sympathy card on Mom for years and years to come. And I knew that the sling I had to wear would make me look pathetic and I liked all that, but I was irritated that it wasn’t a clean break. A fracture?? A fracture. It felt like a clean break dammit and I wanted a cast!
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1. Share a song that feels like spring.
2. Write a blog post inspired by the word: fault.
3. Tell us about a task that you’d like someone else to take care of for you.
4. Share a family story that you will never live down.
5. Write about a time you broke something.
6. List the things you would add to your garden if you had a garden.
John Holton says
You got about as much sympathy fom your younger brother as I would have, i.e. none.
So, there wasn’t a bed on the lower bunk?
Patty says
Ouch!
How long did it take you to recover, including your damaged pride?