My eleven-year-old self wanted nothing more than to become a rollerblading superstar. I always loved the feeling of strapping on my beautiful teal rollerblades. The pattern on the side was so intricate. Neon yellow flames with a sharp bulge of turquoise and teal highlights was streaming along the edges of my perfect pair of rollerblades. Nothing made me feel more special then to finally have my own pair. I can remember the day when I went to play with my very close friend, Maya. She was the one who would supply the roller blades and teach my sister and I to rollerblade. I have always been that one to show off and have something super embarrassing happen to me, but what happened, this day was far beyond the imaginable for me. 

I get bored so easily. It was only a regular day of the week. School all day long, homework, chores, and more. I just couldn't handle sitting down inside all day so I decided that fresh air would be a de-stresser. Every day of the week, if my sister and I had free time, we would just take a few steps over to Maya's house. Rollerblading was such a big hobby for us and perfection was the only thing we really wanted. I remember the smell of a freshly mowed lawn, a quiet, peaceful breeze, and the cedar trees from nearby. It wasn't only Maya at her house though. Two other girls were standing along the pavement where we would always practice. One girl had a rounder face and chocolate brown hair that had such magnificent highlights. The other had pure blonde hair. She was younger, maybe nine or ten. My head was screaming to show off all of my hard work I had accomplished. It isn't easy to learn how to rollerblade. Many weeks and months passed by for me to get where I got. Many stumbles, falls, victories, bruises, tears, and smiles lead me to that pride that started to stir. 

That week I had learned to Jump over cracks in my pavement while wearing my rollerblades. It made me so content. As I warmed up, all I was thinking about was having that satisfaction of showing off my skills. Being competitive is something I could never hold back. There were two pretty girls standing on the side and I wanted to be better then them.  Then at the right moment I yelled, "Watch this!" I couldn't quite grab their attention and that is when my sister jumped in. "Hey guys! Watch what Anabelle can do!" As they looked over, I slowly scooted backwards preparing for takeoff. One jump, Two jumps, three jumps, four jumps, five jumps, and then the sixth jump. I could feel me upper body starting to lean forward, my rollerblades struggling to stay on the ground. My pace was rapidly increasing. Quickly trying to counter-balance myself, my feet slid out from under me. It wasn't necessarily the fall that caused trama I will never forget. No, it was the way that my arm stayed planted in it's position. Never moving my hand from where it was, my rollerblades caused my body to keep moving in a circle even as I had fell. As I turned, you could hear the excruciating crack and pop all in one.  Everything turned white and for a moment I had no clue what just happened.

 The pain didn't hit me until about seven seconds later. My sister ran over and directly said to me, "Anabelle, don't look at your arm." The concern on my sisters face pierced my heart. My nerves were screaming and the way that my elbow was twisted at abnormal angle made me almost pass out. My screams filled the air and I could see my sister run to get my parents. Now I was at the point of a panic, hunched over my arm, heart pounding at a rapid rate. I struggled to get up, none of the girls even tried to help me. I could just see the alarmed faces of the frightened girls and neighbors across the street. As I struggled to get to my feet my mom scurried over. She assisted me to the house when Owen, my brother, grabbed my tennis shoes. Gently untying my shoes he then carefully slipped them on. He entwined them up and my mom helped me to my feet. My dad quickly dashed to unlock the car. At a quick yet safe speed, we raced to the ER. My parents bolted me inside, but there was an extended wait. I tried my best to hide my fear, but it wasn’t easy.

As we waited, I remained calm, trying to not look at my arm. About fifteen minutes later a female nurse came in with a wheelchair. She strolled me to a little office and helped me onto the patient chair.  I remember the needle's sting as it injected into my arm. IV's are the absolute worst. I tried to smile my hardest so that I could make the pain disappear. A few moments later the doctors quickly put me into surgery. I could remember when they slowly inserted sleeping medicine into my exhausted body through the needle. The one female doctor spoke to me in such a compassionate way as she said, "Just imagine your most favourite things and you will dream about them." I did as she said and I imagined my favourite color, my horse, dogs, candy, and anything that made me happy. Sure enough, there was my horse, Gatsby, and he was purple. I was surrounded by giant cartoon dogs and I was standing on a pile of brightly colored skittles. Soon enough, I started to wake up. Everything was in fast motion except for the voices of everyone around me. I knew it had to be late. The only thing that was on my jumbled mind was the vision of sleep, rest, and home. 

We were offered to stay the night at the hospital, but I refused. I tried to deny the offer of the wheelchair, but I was forced to sit down. As my mom helped me balance on my feet, she gently stared into my eyes. A hint of exhaustion and hope flashed in her face. It was about two-thirty in the morning. The surgery went well and we were headed back to the blue house on the friendly, peaceful road. All I can remember from there on was practically sleeping as I was led to our grey-blue couch. Fatigue had overcome me, and knowing that I was surrounded by people that loved me and cared for me gave me that comfort that I hope everyone can end up feeling in their lives. About halfway through the night I slowly woke up. Lying right next to me was my milky brown cat, detailed black stripes, long whiskers, and her eyes gently closed. Even though I knew that I had a long journey ahead, I realized that it really is important to make the most of every single little moment. Day in and day out, every second matters. But the one thing that caused me to have a cast on for over two months was the fact that pride really got the best of me.