first page of short story

                Margarita Castro

“Life of a swimmer”

I will always remember that day as it were yesterday May 18, 2010 exactly two years ago. Beating the national butterfly swimming style setting a record of 200 meters in 2:05.96 minutes was the best thing that had ever happened to me until my tragic accident. On our way back home to celebrate my triumph   a bus whose breaks didn’t respond crashed our car in which my coach, my friends, and I were in. Before I knew it in within a blink everything was upside down everyone was bloody and hurt. I couldn’t help but scream for help I couldn’t feel my body I was stuck in between the seats and my body didn’t seem to respond to the movements my brain was telling it to make. By the time the firefighters got there I felt all weak and was seeing double. After that I woke up to a white plain room which seemed like the hospital. While waking up I could hear a familiar voice that called out my name “Monica, Monica honey” then I realized it was my mom. She had a face expression I had never seen before a feeling of being scared worried and sad and of hiding something. I asked her to explain in detail what had happened but halfway through she broke down crying. I knew something was not right my mom is a strong women who never gets taken down or gives up for anything. Then my father came in and with such tranquility just like the man he is he explained to me that I would start feeling some changes in my body that could greatly damage the chances of me ever swimming again. For me the news hit me like a rock had hit me right in the head but how what would I do without being able to do what I love to do what I live for. I stayed quiet for a while breaking down now I understood why this was so hard for my mom. When the doctor came in more calmly he explained to me step by step everything I needed to know. He told me I had been bleeding for a while after the accident and that something appeared to have gotten in my blood stream that they had never seen before, then considered it an unknown disease, he tried giving me hopes up by telling me they would do all they could possibly do and they would have the best doctors come down here and find a cure for this. This disease would cause my bones to go week and little by little my bones wouldn’t respond to my movement signals. His last few words caught my heart he said “Monica never give up, if what you wish to see is you swimming again stay positive and believe you will get out of this”.