Pain

• Ashley Swan, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2010

Uugh! I thought. I hate P.E. I went inside and got changed then went and sat down by myself.
“Today we are going to be playing indoor soccer, two teams, class, go!” Great, I thought sarcastically. At half time the wind was really howling. All of a sudden there was the sound of metal scraping on metal. To my horror the beams above me were breaking and about to fall. Frozen, I tried moving but I couldn’t. The force hit, knocking me to the ground. I felt the pressure of a steel beam on my legs, I heard the cracks of the bones as it broke my legs filling them with pain which then flowed into the rest of my body. I could hear shouts but they sounded distant and muffled. I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. I felt sleepy, I tried to keep myself awake. The pain was fading, almost gone now. Sleep sounded good so I gave up fighting and let the blackness take hold, then I faded into nothingness.


I was only vaguely aware that I was awake. Am I dead? I thought to myself. Everything was black, I could hear muffled voices then I must have fallen back to sleep. I woke up wondering were I was. I tried opening my eyes. That’s odd, I thought I tried again but it didn’t work it was if they were glued shut. I tried moving my hands: no result. I calmed myself down and tried to think. As I did I heard a beep beep.I listened harder it sounded like a heart monitor, I must be in a hospital. I spent the next ten minutes trying to get my eyes to open, after a while I was successful. It took a few blinks for my eyes to focus. I could now see the room around me. I was in a hospital; I had casts that came all the way up both my legs. I remembered being frozen as the beams fell, the pain as it broke my legs. I winced at the memories. Mum was asleep in the chair next to me.

“Mum”, I croaked. My throat hurt like it hadn’t been used for days. She woke up and gave me a hug I didn’t want to end. She had tears rolling down her cheeks. She let go and called for the doctor. The doctor came in.

“How do you feel?” He asked

I hadn’t really put much thought into it. I had a drip in my arm and oxygen tubes up my nose.

“Fine”, which was true there wasn’t any pain

“You have the painkillers to thank for that”
He pointed at my casts

“You broke your legs”,

“Yeah”,

It wasn’t so bad after that. I went to physio, and was walking in three months. I got my cast removed and I was back to normal. After having a close call I am now living life to the full and loving it.