Bam! My wrists slammed into the ground. I feel throbbing, I feel sick.The pain is unbearable and tears are strolling down my face. I can’t take it anymore. I’m in too much pain. I yell at the top of my lungs, everyone around me is staring. I can’t even breathe. 

This morning I woke up excited, ready for my first day of triathlon camp in Weston, Connecticut. This is my third year, and I have a feeling it will be my best year yet. 

I walked into camp with a big smile on my face. There is a tent set up in the middle of the grass area where the counselors check all of the campers in. 

“Good morning, Keira. Please head to the pool, you get to have a fun 20 minutes of free swim,” the kind triathlon instructor Pasquel says happily. 

I ran to the pool, happy that Pasquel bent the rules to let us free swim for part of the day. The building is huge! The chlorine smells so strong, it almost hurts my nose. The pool is so big and the diving board is staring back at me, leading me straight to it. We only have 20 minutes of free swim, so I decide to jump off the diving board a few times. The line is as long as a line would be going into a concert and it looks to be almost an hour long. Unfortunately, it means I can only jump once. I make my turn as best as it can be! I do a flip, and I didn’t hurt myself doing it like I normally do. 

Pasquel walks over to the group of us at the diving board and says, “Ok, time is up for the pool, let’s go dry off and then it is lunch time,”

I walk outside with the other campers. It feels as hot as a sauna outside because it is the middle of July. The sky is bright and blue and the grass is long and tickles in between my toes. My friend since kindergarten, Megan, is sitting on the stone wall where I am going. She decided not to swim, instead she played yard games in the grass outside with the counselors and some other campers. Megan isn’t a big fan of free swim, so I tend to go with other campers. I grab my towel and wrap it around me and it makes me feel so warm. Megan and I sit down on the stone wall and take out our lunches. I take a sandwich out of my lunch box and start to devour it. Megan takes out a piece of pizza, and begins to eat it. I eat my sandwich faster than a cheetah can run. Megan eats her pizza as slow as a sloth trying to make its way from one tree to another. 

I finish eating so fast, like I always do, so I decide to go play soccer with a counselor and another camper because they are already passing the ball around. 

“Hi, Keira! Do you want to play with us?” The counselor, who I don’t even know yet because it is only the first day of camp, says happily.

“Yes please, I finished my lunch and I have nothing to do,” I say, happy that the counselor is including me in their passing game. 

“Ok!” The counselor says, while already passing me the ball. 

I trap the ball, not very good because I am only nine, after all. I pass to the counselor, who is as tall as the Freedom Tower! He then passes it to the other camper, who keeps giving me weird looks because he is much better than me, although he only looks to be a year or two older than me. The boy passes it to the counselor, who then passes it to me…

I try to receive the ball like I normally do, but I fail.  I fall over the soccer ball. Bam! My wrist slammed into the ground. I immediately feel throbbing, I feel sick.The Pain Is Unbearable and tears are strolling down my face. I can’t take it anymore. I’m in too much pain and it feels like someone just chopped off my arm. I yell at the top of my lungs and I can only imagine how many campers and counselors are crowded around me, but I cannot open my eyes to see because there is a waterfall coming out of my eyes.  I can’t even breathe. I don’t remember what happened. All I know is the pain is rising up my whole arm, and I feel like I am already dead…

I feel someone grab my arm, although it feels like it’s just in a dream. It feels like the person is guiding me somewhere, hopefully to get help. I stop crying, I think my body is in shock because I want to cry but the tears won’t come out. I open my eyes and I look next to me to see who is holding me, it is Pasquel. I want to ask her where she is bringing me, but I can’t manage to get the words out. Pasquel guides me into the building and right around the pool. The smell of chlorine is strong, so it takes my mind off my wrist for a second, the best second I’ve had since I got hurt. I look down at my arm and I realize I have not let go of it. It is huge and purple, just like the color of a grape. The sight of my wrist scares me, I feel like I am going to faint. I feel like I am on Zero Gravity, spinning non-stop. I realize that Pasquel is brining me to the lifeguard. I hope they can help me, I’m so scared. The lifeguard sees us coming, so he quickly runs out of the small room he is in to come help. 

“She fell over a soccer ball and she is in serious pain,” Pasquel says, the happiness in her voice is totally vanished. 

“Ok, I will wrap it up for her,” the lifeguard respond, already running back to the room he came from to get the bandage. 

The lifeguard comes sprinting back, as fast as Usain Bolt. He quickly wraps my arm up into a sling. It already feels more comfortable, my other arm was getting sore from holding it for so long. 

“Ok, I am going to ask you some questions now. First, on a scale from one to ten how much does it hurt? Does it hurt when I touch it? Is your whole arm in pain or just your wrist?” The lifeguard asks me, sounding very professional; it seems like he does this a lot. 

“I would say it hurts a nine out of ten. It really hurts when you touch it. Lastly, my whole arm hurts, all the way to my shoulder,” I answer, trying to think correctly. I hope I answered the questions correctly.

“Ok” he answers, nodding. “I am guessing you sprained it. Let’s bring you back outside to Pasquel and then she can call your mom to pick you up,” the lifeguard says, sounding bored, like this isn’t exciting enough for him. 

The second Pasquel sees me walking outside with the lifeguard, she runs over to me, giving me a huge hug, carefully so she doesn’t hurt my wrist even more. Pasquel once again grabs me lightly on the back of my shoulders to guide me to the stone wall where I ate my lunch. She sits down, so I do the same. 

“I am so sorry honey, I feel so bad. I am going to call your mom to pick you up. Also, I am going to look up sprains and breaks to see which one you did,” Pasquel says, sounding very sympathetic even though I can barely understand her thick French accent.

“Ok thank you, Pasquel,” I say, thankful for what she is doing for me.

Pasquel picks up her phone and calls my mom. I can’t hear what she is saying because she walked away. I’m guessing she doesn’t want to make me feel worse by talking about how bad it is. The tears have stopped completely, and the pain is not as bad. I am more in control of myself now. I wonder what Megan thinks about all of this. She is on a bike ride with the other campers and counselors so I will not see her today because my mom will pick me up before they return. Pasquel walks over again, with a less stressed look than she had before.

“Ok, so I talked to your mom and she is on her way now. Also, I searched up the difference between breaks and fractures and I am almost positive you sprained your wrist, which is better than a break. I am so sorry again for all of this Keira, I hope you’re ok!” Pasquel says, sounding very stressed.

“Ok, thank you so much. I am ok, it is hurting less already,” I respond, trying to make her feel better. 

My mom quickly pulls in. Luckily, she was already in Weston so she didn’t have to come from Fairfield which is half an hour away. 

“Hi Keira, I am so sorry this happened. We are going to go to Ortho Fast right away!” My mom says, sounding frazzled. 

“Ok,” I say, trying to stay calm.

“Bye Pasquel, thank you so much for helping her and sitting here with her,” my mom whispers to Pasquel, so I can’t hear.

We run to the car and I get in right away. We head to the closest Ortho Fast and the next part of the adventure begins…