Sitting here on the tan suede couch, I take the last sip of my morning coffee. The warmth flushes my body as the beginning to a chilly fall day. My eyelids become heavy, due to the boring hunting show my dad is watching, so I decide to get up. “It’s about time I should wash my dishes,” I think to myself.

While filling up the white porcelain sink, the warm water coats my hand like a blanket on a winter night. The bubbles start to form, emitting a fresh scent of Dawn dish soap. I break my focus from the sink to look out the window. I see the fully grown yellow maple tree, the setting of many of  my childhood memories. The fresh raked leaves piled beneath it drown me in a memory that I will never forget.

It was six years ago, a sunny fall Wednesday. I was riding the bus to my dad’s house, as I did every Wednesday; living in a divorced family, days at dad’s were hard to come by. I was anxiously waiting to get off. I knew that when I got to my dad’s I could go inside and have hot chocolate with Oreos. I couldn’t wait.

The bus finally arrived to my destination, so I stood up to walk off the bus. “Thank you, have a good night,” I told the bus driver as I was walking down the stairs. He returned the favor, “Thank you! You too.”

Stepping onto the gravel driveway, I glanced up to see the light blue house that I used to call my grandparents, a place of laughter, hugs, and homemade goods. The house has changed a lot since then, the living room was renovated and the driveway is in a new place. The grass surrounded the house displayed a dull green color dying due to the approaching cold. I sprinted to the house, knowing what would be in store for me when I opened the door.

As I opened the pale blue door that matched the house, the autumn breeze carried the scent of the fall candle that burned every night. I had taken my favorite pink and orange tennis shoes off, and was greeted by my spotted, black and white German Shorthair, Abby. I reached down to pet her, and her tail was already in a steady wag. She desperately wanted to get outside. Soon after, my brother, Ike, let her outside. Knowing she was out running around the yard, I went straight for my after school snack I’d been waiting for, hot chocolate with Oreos! I tasted the steam roll off my tongue after taking a gulp of fresh hot chocolate, yum.

While drinking my hot chocolate, my sister, Holly and I discussed how we wanted to play hide and seek but we needed three people, and Ike was already busy riding dirtbike.

About an hour later my dad’s girlfriend, Julie, arrived with groceries. Holly and I helped her bring them in. After setting the last bag on the counter, Holly asked Julie and me to play hide and seek. Julie gladly accepted the invitation; she volunteered to be the seeker.

The first round I hid in the small closet of my dad’s bedroom. Holly hid in the entryway closet. We were found within two minutes. “That was too easy girls,” Julie told us with a chuckle. “Hide again, I will give you more time.”

After she walked to the living room to count, Holly told me a great idea.

“I will hide in the house in a super easy spot. Then, I will tell Julie that you’re hiding outside. Before I hide, I can bury you in the leaf pile,” Holly explained to me.

“That sounds good, she will never find me!” I replied.

We walked outside to the freshly raked leaves. I lay on the ground, back facing up so that the leaves won’t get into my eyes or mouth. Holly covered me quickly and I was laying alone. I was getting restless, only after a couple minutes. Laying on the ground, I closed my eyes. I saw nothing but my eyelids, as if I was trying to fall asleep. The chirping of chickadees created a diversion for my restless state. My peace was then disrupted by the screaming of dirt bikes. This sound grew closer, then it stopped. “Dude, should I ride through this leaf pile?” Ike asked his friend.

With a quick reply, his friend said  “Yeah, that’d be sweet.”

I started to panic. Are they being serious? No way. My brother knows I’m in here; he must have seen Holly covering me. He is definitely kidding. Blood rushed through my veins so quick I could feel my heart pounding into the ground with fear. The dirt bike started.

What was taking Holly and Julie so long?

The low rumble of the dirt bike numbed my body. The pile of leaves soon became my grave. The horrifying scream of the dirtbike filled the air. Everything happened so fast. The backbreaking feeling of the tire hitting my spine sent pain throughout my body. The smell of exhaust filled my lungs, as a scream escaped my mouth.

Holly came rushing out of the house yelling for me, “Julia! Are you ok? I’m so sorry, that was a horrible place to hide! I am so stupid for hiding you there; I never thought this would happen.”

My brother was about to cry. He attempted to speak but the words couldn’t escape his mouth. My head was spinning due to all of the commotion of everything happening around me. Abby came sprinting out of the dense woods, right to me, almost running me over once again; I couldn't help not to let out a little chuckle. She didn’t know how much pain I was in until she noticed my tear stained face, she then buried her head into my legs as an offer of comfort; she seemed to know that I my emotions were abnormal. So much of my pain came from the dirtbike smashing my back into what seemed like a million pieces, but a lot of it was mental shock. I never knew that something so traumatic, as getting run over, could happen to me.. I wondered if I could walk, so I attempted to move my legs. My legs bent and I was able to stand. I walked into the house sobbing, clutching my lower back. Julie rushed to me.

“Are you okay?” Julie worried. Holly started to explain the accident as my dad rushed through the door.

“Julia, Ike just told me everything. Are you okay? I think you should lay down and get some ice on your back,” Dad rambled.

My dad then escorted me to the couch with a bag of frozen peas and laid them on my lower back. I felt the cold seep through my shirt. That felt a lot better, but not good enough.  Julie then brought me a glass of water with Tylenol. I gulped that down as if it would take the pain away immediately.

The rest of the night drifted slowly. I was in pain all night. It wouldn’t go away. I couldn’t count how many times my brother apologized, enough to last a lifetime. I knew he was deeply sorry; there wasn’t a piece of me that was mad.

Today while I looked out the window, while my hands soaked in the warm dishwater, the leaves brought the memory back to my mind, and it made me realize how valuable that experience was. In reality, I could have been paralyzed, but that was not in the next chapter of my story. I now look back at this memory as an out of this world experience.

I always wonder what would have happened if my brother wouldn’t have run over my back, maybe my legs or head. It is something I could never imagine, if he would have hit my legs I could possibly not be able to walk today; the ability to walk determines my ability to run. Running plays a big part in my life. I often take a moment to think, if my legs were the part of me that was crushed I wouldn’t be able to be in sports. I believe that one factor alone could have changed the person I am today, completely.

My family and I now find it a joking memory, but I can tell it is something that still wrenches on my brother’s mind. There will always be lessons to remember from this day. My lesson to remember is to be thankful. I am thankful I didn’t have to take a trip to the hospital that day. With the pain I received from the dirtbike, I discovered the difference between minor and major pain. I now find myself comparing the pain I feel now to the day of the accident, it has helped me shrug off the minor bumps and bruises.  

I break out of my trance when my dad walks behind me scaring me half to death when he jokes while brushing my shoulder, “Julia, are you going to wash the dishes or stand there dreaming about your boyfriends?” I giggle while shaking my head in denial, picking up my coffee cup and a clean washcloth.

“Dad, do you remember the day Ike ran me over with his dirtbike?” I asked looking over my shoulder to face him.

His smile faded, “Yes I do. I still remember it as it was yesterday. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.”