SMASH
I signaled to my father to make one more loop around the lake. I was having so much fun! Water-skiing has to be the next best thing to flying, I thought as I glided easily over the water.
I could see our boat house getting closer and I planned to “beach†the skis and step out onto the sand just like “Fonzie†in “Happy Days.†Grandma was standing at the end of the pier taking pictures so when I let go of the rope to make my landing I gave her a big wave. Just then the baseball cap I was wearing blew off. I jerked around to try to catch it and missed. When I turned back around Grandma was running down the pier toward shore. Why is she running, I thought, and then I realized why: When I turned for my cap I changed the direction of the skis and I was headed straight for the pier! It was happening too fast! Before I had a chance to think what to do Grandma had fallen through a couple of weak pier boards into the lake.
The next thing I saw was the sun shining through the slats in the pier. I was under water! My first thought was Grandma. I shoved myself out, stumbling and wiping my wet hair from my face, looking for her. She was standing in the water about waist deep holding the camera high above her head. I almost giggled. Grandma LOVES her camera!
“Sherine, are you OK?†she said, wading toward me.
“Yeah†I said, “Are you?â€Â
“Don’t worry about me†she said, “Your face….â€Â
Actually my head had started to pound as soon as I stood up but I was worried about Grandma. Now that I knew she was OK I realized what had happened. I ran into the pier! With my face!! Apparently my leg hit too because it was also throbbing like crazy.
Suddenly people were coming fromall directions to help. Someone had called for an ambulance but the hospital was about twenty miles away so it would take a while. They got me situated on the pier and put ice on my face. Eventually the ambulance came and they took me away to get fixed up.
When we got back to the cottage I was hurting and exhausted. I wanted to look in the mirror. Or did I? Above my right eye was a lump literally the size of an egg. My eyes were turning black and blue and there was a bandage covering the stitches on my left cheek. Yuk!
The next day I felt a little better and everyone said I should get back on the skis. It was our last day of vacation so I did, being very careful to stay FAR away from the pier!
The following afternoon we were headed for home. My face was much more colorful now. The “egg†had turned sort of a lavender-green, both eyes and lids were a deep purple and under the bandage the stitches were poking out and crusted with blood. The whites of both eyes were solid red. Great.
The worst horror of all was going to be the next day. It was the first day of school. I was going to have to start my freshman year of High School looking like “The Elephant Man.â€Â
*The doctor who fixed me up told my father if I had hit a fraction of an inch lower my nose would have shattered and killed me. (Whew!)
Tags: