It had been like any other typical weekend Up North. It was the end of June, so the weather was warm and beautiful. X and J.J. had spent the day on Saturday near the creek. The weather was warm enough to walk around in the icy waters. X had got an idea in his head that it’d be great to have a bonfire pit right next to the creek. He’d thought it’d be nice at night to sit around the fire while listening to the water bubble over the rocks. X had dug a medium sized hole with J.J. and placed bricks around it for support. Their friend M had stopped by after their work and the three of them had enjoyed the rest of the afternoon drinking beers and chatting next to the creek. X remembered how exhausted he was from such a minor job. He’d been worried now. He’d known something was not right inside him.
On Sunday morning, X had slept much later than usual. He’d been so fatigued lately. It was a fatigue that dragged his body through the day. J.J. and X had spent a leisurely morning, taking pleasure in the beautiful early summer weather. X did a few odds and ends around the cabin to get it cleaned up before leaving. Any other weekend Up North as a ritual, they would have left around 12:00 to get back home in the afternoon. Because of the exceptional weather that day, J.J. and X decided to stay and take advantage of the beautiful day.
It’d been so warm, they’d taken the lawn chairs and placed them into the creek to sunbathe and swim at the same time. J.J. loved the sun and planted herself in the perfect spot to take the sun and feel the water running around her. X had been so tired that he’d felt like he’d fall over. Instead of lounging by the creek, X decided to take a nap in the cabin. No sooner did his head touch the pillow than he’d fallen asleep. It was a profound and unnatural sleep. He’d awaken with a feeling of peace and calm. X had remembered never feeling this refreshed in many, many months. Reality seemed surreal as he slowly crawled out of bed. He’d put on his Hawaiian swim trunks and headed down to the creek. J.J. was sprawled out in her lounge chair, already looking brown from an hour of intense sun. J.J. and X had taken the sun together for awhile until the sun’s heat had told X to get into the water.
The spring fed water was extremely cold. It had been such a dramatic difference against the sun’s rays. J.J. had dared X to plunge himself into the shallow cold water. They’d laughed as X pretended to fall into the water, then stop himself. Then X said he’d do a quick push-up in the water, just to get wet and cool off. As X bent down quickly to put his hands into the water to do the push-up, his left leg slipped on the hard smooth clay bottom of the creek.
It that instant, a shrieking howl of a scream, had exploded from the innermost essence of X throughout the peaceful forest and then,
“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! I BROKE MY LEG! OH MY GOD! I BROKE MY LEG! HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP!”
X turned in the air and was now sitting in the shallow water looking downstream. J.J. had run to the bank of the creek and had looked down at X with a white blank expression of horror as X had continued to hurl in pain.
The pain was grotesquely immense…
X had looked down at his leg below the icy water and noticed it ballooning outwards. It felt misshapen. He knew he couldn’t move one inch. He sat frozen as the calm trickling waters gracefully passed around him, his arms bracing himself behind him, while his consciousness pounded in insane pain.
“What do I do? What do I do?” J.J. yelled.
“G…G…Go…to the neighbors…QUICK!” X screamed.
X, knowing that the nearest hospital was miles away, had thought about the neighbors pickup truck. In that moment he’d quickly thought that the neighbor could take him to the hospital. J.J. took off running barefoot through the woods to the neighbors.
Silence.
Wind through the leaves.
PAIN.
Water running.
Sky.
Cloud.
PAIN.
HELP ME!
God, help me…Help me…what is happening?
Help me…what is happening?
DON’T THINK ABOUT IT. DON”T THINK ABOUT IT!
LA LA LA LA !
GOD.
BLUE SKY.
WATER.
NO! NO! NO!
TREES.
PAIN.
Mom, what is happening to me?
Help me please. COLD. SO COLD.
GOD HELP ME!
J.J. had came running back through the trees yelling at the top of her lungs that the neighbor wasn’t home. X had screamed for her to grab the telephone and to call his aunt that lived five minutes away. J.J. called immediately, X’s aunt was on her way over.
X had been sitting in the exact same position as where he fell. He dared not move. He’d tried to put himself somewhere else. In the clouds. In the sky. He looked downstream as the water rolled over the rocks and small shrubs. At certain moments, he’d felt outside of himself. He’d tried to remain calm and use the intensity of his pain to escape himself. It would last a moment, and then the pain would rip into his inner core again.
X’s aunt K arrived along with M. They’d stood on the bank of the creek and had asked X what the hell had happened. Between using every four-letter word in the book, X had tried to explain what had happened. Aunt K had assured X that the ambulance was on its way. It was coming from the nearest town about 20 minutes away. X had tried to remain patient and calm, feeling the numbing effect of the icy creek waters on his body.
The ambulance had arrived with four or five civil volunteers. They’d assessed the situation and quickly moved to get X out of the water. Each one of the volunteers helped to lift X onto the bank of the creek where a body-board lay waiting. X had been very comfortable while they lifted him out. They’d been gentle and confident about it. They’d strapped him to the board and began carrying him up the small hill to the ambulance. X had been in an euphoric daze. He watched the green tree branches blowing in the warm breeze above him as his mind tried to put the pieces together of what was happening to him, while the echoing screech still lingered in the forest.
X's life had now completely changed like he had asked for, in one screaming instant of change.
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