Wake Me Up When September Ends

• Dylan Kliendienst
• Short Story
• 2010

As the light shone in on my tightly closed eyes I fluttered them, then awoke. My arms reached up and touched the pale, wooden bannister that now currently held my soccer socks and grey and black beanie wrapped stiffly over it. As I sat up in bed my alarm on my digital clock went off. I allowed it to rattle on the counter for a little while longer before I shut it up. After managing to hop up out of bed and lazily make my way downstairs and make myself some breakfast of toast and peanut butter I remembered that today was the first of September. Which was exactly one month before the first of October which would be my long awaited holiday. My parents were still in bed so I had to make my own way to school. After writing a quick note and leaving it on the counter for them to see explaining that I had a test early so I couldn't stick around and wait for them to get up. I walked myself to school and sat down in a chair in my English class with MR. Roberts. "Any reason why your late Sandy Grice", MR. Roberts inquisitively asked. As I looked up into the pale, chalk-white eyes of my English teacher I managed to breathe out, "Sir I was late because of a Doctor's appoinment", I honestly lied. "Very well then Sandy carry on",as he walked away. After most likely failing miserably at the English test I walked myself to my next class, PE. Now most girls aren't that good at PE especially if we play sports that girls just aren't meant to be good at, and today I was right on time with the moans and groans of the other girls in the class as seeing as MR. Fredricks said that we're playing dodgeball. His lousy excuse for everything is that girls should be able to perform sports just as well as the boys in his class. Mid-way through the game James Jenkins floored a ball at me and I didn't dodge. I fell to the floor and that's the last thing I remember just before lights out. Now my parents wait beside my hospital bed clenching hands together into a praying formation. As the Doctor delivers the bad news, that the blow to the head had put me into a deep coma and there wasn't a very good chance of me waking up at all. My parents bumped heads together and sulked on end for a couple of hours. As I lay there I could still think, and all that was on my mind was that I hoped to make it out of the coma and wake up before September ends.