Memories Rewind: Monkey Bars

Kid's days are filled with play and fun. When in elementary school, one dreams of recess.

My friends and I met up for recess. We stopped in the middle of the chaos to decide what we want to do. We decided on the monkey bars. Crystal climbed up, followed by Amanda, Kiaya, and Samantha. I slowly made my way up, gripping the silver metal bars for dear life. My usual spot is about halfway up. I didn't like to venture up any further. We sat and talked about our day, which consisted of topics like, "Do you want to play freeze tag? Did you see what so and so was wearing today? I can't believe I got study hall (aka after school detention)!" We really thought we were something sitting high atop the monkey bars, surveying all of the "little people" down below.

Recess was coming to a close when I got a bright idea. I was going to climb to the top of the monkey bars. "I just want to see what it feels like." I told myself. I turned around, being careful so that my braces (AFOs) wouldn't get caught on the bars. I put one hand on one bar, and then cautiously brought my foot up to the bar. This process continued until I had reached the top. "I made it, I made it!" I sat there for a minute reveling in my accomplishment, but that wasn't enough. Oh no. I'd seen my friends hang upside down on the monkey bars, and I wanted to do that too.

I slowly lowered my body, while gripping the handle bars. Just when I thought everything was going right, things went from bad to worse in a hurry. My legs weren't wrapping around the bars the way they should. That's when I saw it: my AFO was hung on the monkey bar. A million thoughts were racing in my head. "If I fall, I'm going to eat a whole lotta sand. What will I do if I fall? Will I bust my head open?" So, I did what any kid would have done in my situation- I screamed. "Mrs. Fennel, HELP! My brace is hung and I'm about to fall!" I looked through the monkey bars to see her racing towards me. Everything after that is a blur. She reached up and helped me down. I must have thought that I was bionic Superwoman that day. Needless to say, my plan backfired.