My Early Morning

So I went to bed last night at (or i guess i should say this morning) at 4:30. And I completely forgot that my cousin was coming to pick me up at 8:00. Long story short I wake up to a text that says "we're in the parking lot". Oh crap! So i spring out of bed and almost kill myself as i frantically try to put some clothes on. My eyes were still trying to adjust to the light of the room and they were all scratchy. So of course I tripped and smashed into just about everything in my room before i even got my pants on. But I managed to get ready somehow and got out the door just as i got a second text saying "Where are you?". I bolted around the corner of my building but stopped abruptly to a walking pace before my cousin could see me so when he did it looked like I had been walking the whole time. He asked what took me so long and I said that i attacked by a polar bear with a peg leg. Needless to say he totally bought it and further questions were avoided.

My First Day of Break

Finally my thanksgiving break has started. Naturally I would be totally stoked to be on break except for one small thing. I have a boat load of homework to do. So basically I don't have to go to class but I have to do the homework we would be doing in class anyways. So I'm kinda wondering what the point of a break is. We get a certain amount of days off from school but we get enough homework to do during the "break" that I'm wondering why we even have a break at all. If I'm going to be spending most of my "break" doing homework I think i would rather be in school. I just don't see the point in even calling it a "break" the only break we get is from going to school but we still have to do work. I'm looking forward to it but not all the work.

My Personal Narrative

Jared Anderson

11/23/09

Steadman

A Tragic Realization

It was Mother’s Day weekend and my family and I were out camping with some of our close friends like we do every year. We left in the afternoon on Friday and wouldn’t come home till Sunday night. I remember the weather being sunny and clear, and the air was beginning to get thick with humidity as it always did that time of year in Virginia. I was so impatient and couldn’t wait to get going. My little fifth grade heart was pounding with anticipation of all the fun I was going to have once we got there. I even started to honk the horn of our large SUV in an attempt to get everyone to pack the car quicker. I just couldn’t understand why it was taking them so long to pack the car. Were they not as excited as me to get there? I laid on the horn again. Its piercing and obnoxious echo seemed loud enough to split my eardrums. “That should get them going” I thought.

Not only did my family hurry getting their things together, I also got one of my mom’s famous evil eyes. When my mom gives someone in the family the evil eye that was the universal sign you were in big trouble. You could always feel it penetrate your soul and you would want nothing more than to just shrivel up into a little ball to try and ignore the look. Anyways after I saw my life pass before my eyes we were finally on our way to the mountains. The car ride to the mountains was always so long because I was always just so excited to get there. As always I would fidget and always ask if we were there yet. And just like every other year we eventually got there.

When we finally arrived at our camp site I bolted out of the car. The mountain air was so refreshing and crisp. I could not think of anything better than just running around and stretching my legs after what seemed like an eternity in that car. My parents and the rest of the family helped unpacked the car. Meanwhile I was running around felling the cool air against my face, and trying to get them to play with me and not the least bit concerned with the work that needed to be done. It was not long before it began to get dark. Not only was it getting dark but cold as well. This kind of cold was not like just any cold. This was mountain cold. With a wind that somehow managed to get through every layer of clothing no matter how many you put on. The only remedy for the agonizing cold and wind was a bright, warm fire. I would always sit in front of the fire pit every year and complain to my dad that I was cold and to make a fire for me. Was he not cold? Why has he not made a fire yet? It’s freezing out here! Eventually he came over and started a fire. It felt so good.

I couldn’t think of anything that in the world I wanted more at that time. The tenderness of the warmth of the fire seemed to envelope my whole body, expelling all feelings of the bitter cold. To top it off we began to roast marshmallows. I always liked to burn mine pitch black then eat the outside and burn is again. Nothing in the world beats the taste of a smoldering marshmallow in your mouth. I could feel myself slowly melting in my chair from the drowsiness brought on by this new feeling of comfort and the taste of marshmallow drippings left on my lips. It wasn’t long till I was completely unconscious.

On the second day of our trip we always go hiking to Dark Hallow Falls. It was this huge and glorious waterfall. However, the hike was anything but trivial for me. Two whole miles to get the falls! I knew it would be an exhausting trip but I wanted to do it because that is what all the big kids did. So with the cool mountain breeze at my back I made my way to the falls. But every year I used to much energy getting to the falls and playing on them to make it back, and every year my dad had to basically carry me back to the car. The hard work was worth it though, because I knew that we always go for ice cream afterward the hike every year. Nothing is more encouraging to a child than the incentive of an icy treat.

We finally arrived at the same place we got ice cream every year, Big Meadows. As I walked into the familiar building I smelled the same smell I smell every year we came to this place, it smelled old. I’m not talking about the “Hey your Grandma is old” smell it was much more like “Wow this is an old building” kind of smell. The wood floors were stained recently to try and cover up the old smell but that was a useless gesture because the smell of slightly rotten wood mixed with the odor of the hundreds of people who walk into this building daily. We walked up to order our ice cream and to my delight they still had my favorite flavor, blackberry. Nothing in the world could top the luscious flavor that was about to come in contact with my lips.

We took our delicious treats outside to enjoy them in the shade. While the ice cream was delicious it could only distract the kids for so long. After a little while the parents could no longer contain our vivacious energy, an activity was necessary to entertain us. One the adults had the bright idea of a relay race to a far tree and back. This would both entertain and exhaust us. I was supposed to race against my friend Vincent. I was so excited; Vincent had beaten me in every race we had ever competed in and this was my time to shine, I would finally beat him.

It was finally our turn to race and we lined up to start. One of the parents yelled go and we were off running. Everything was going great; I could feel the wind in my face as well as the briny sweat dripping off my face. Everything was great until I reached the tree. I went to pivot and for some reason my leg jumped back up at me. I naturally tried to throw it back down and pivot again that’s when I heard the last thing anyone wants to hear in that situation…CRACK! With that sound I fell to the ground in pain. I tried to get up but my leg would not let me. It was only after I looked at my leg for a second did I realize what had happened. I looked and couldn’t find my knee cap. Without it I would not be able to walk. Upon further investigation I realized that my knee cap was all the way in my thigh. The tendon that usually keeps my knee cap in place had ripped completely in half. With this awareness finally in mind I did what any brave fifth grader would do, I completely freaked out.

Upon hearing the commotion and the wails of their son in agony my parents leapt to their feet and sprinted to my side. My mother immediately went into the building to get some ice while my father held me down and tried to comfort me. It was then that I realized something for the first time. My parents had my best interest in mind from the very beginning. While I was too impatient to help pack they made sure we brought marshmallow making supplies and that we had a hatchet to cut firewood to build a fire to keep me warm. While I was too busy running and goofing around when we arrived they were making sure that everything was taken care of and carefully unpacked. When I was too tired to make it all the way back to the car my father carried me so that I would be more comfortable. Even now in my crippled condition my parents are running around frantically trying to calm and reassure me that everything will be taken care of. Even at my age I knew the damage done to my leg was pretty extensive, but I knew my parents would be by my side the whole time making sure that I was ok. It was going to be a long recovery but I knew that with my parents there to help me the whole thing was not going to be fine.

My attemtp to work

The library is a great place to work. There is lots of books to read and quiet places to study. Well there are usually quiet places to work my current spot used to be one of them. It was great until this group of very loud and obnoxious girls decided to have conversations about their lives and each and everything that's going on in it. If they're not talking about getting a husband than they're talking about losing weight. Which a couple of them should definitely do. They keep saying they want a husband that's just like them, which would mean that the vast majority of them will be marrying the michelin tire man or the stay puff marshmallow. I was effectively getting my psychology homework done until they showed up. Now its incredibly hard to concentrate not only because they're talking so loudly but also because of the irony of what they're saying. They want their husbands to be in great shape but they keep saying that he needs to be just like them. I'm very tempted to say something but i don't want them to eat me. OH YES!!! They just got up and left. Apparently there's a buffet going on somewhere close by, because I've never seen people move that fast before. Finally i can get back to work.