Flipping through the air from bar to bar. Twisting and trying to keep my legs straight and my toes pointed. I hear the sirens and I hear the scurrying of feet in the background. All I hear is a heartbeat, beating really slowly, slower than normal. I also hear the words my mom said before the accident, “I love you and I’m proud to be your mom” over and over inside my head. An ambulance man comes over and asked me questions. My heart was beating harder and longer then ever. “Does your mom drink, does she do drugs, does she smoke, and has this happened before.” I answer no to all those questions.

My coach took me home to tell my dad what happened. During the car ride I was crying and thinking of all the good and vicious memories my mom and I had. Like the times when my mom and I were singing a song together called “I hope you Dance.” We would sing at the top of our lungs. And when my mom and I were watching a really sad movie. My mom and I were crying as I was curled up with her. There was also a time when we would build forts in the living room with chairs, blankets, and pillows. We would tell ghost stories, sing, and eat popcorn together in the fort. There were also bad memories when my mom and I would fight. We fought over the stupidest things and I would start crying because I didn’t think my mom loved me anymore. I’m thinking of all those memories till we were back at my house.

I jumped out of the car and ran out to the horse arena where my dad was breaking in the new horses. I ran to him and gave him a huge hug. My dad was wearing blue jeans, a white polo, and cowboy boots. He asked what was wrong. I said mom had a heart attack and is on her way to the hospital. He dropped everything and ran to the car and drove to the hospital.

When we got there my dad asked for Jennifer’s room. They said she wasn’t here but there was a waiting room out in front of her room, Room 217. We ran long and hard to her room. I saw my dad crying. I had never seen my dad cry before. It hurt me to see him like that. It was like a needle going through my heart. When we got to the waiting room, my whole gymnastics team was there and so were a couple of my mom friends. The room was tiny, had three paintings, and a huge mirror. My team ran to me and started crying with me. My team and I were a family. They all comforted me for a while, till the elevator opened and I saw my mom on a big long stretcher. She looked different. I had never seen my mom like this. My mom was tough and nothing hurt her. It killed me to see her on the stretcher. The pain made me fall hard on the floor with tears dripping down my face. My team rushed over and started hugging and crying with me. Later, the doctors hadn’t come out for a while and it was getting late. Some had to go but I understood. They hugged me and said I’m sorry and walked away.

When everyone left I got bored. The doctor hadn’t come out of her room yet. It felt like the room was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. In the room was a window that showed the outside. I saw a little girl and her mom playing in their yard with a ball. The little girl was laughing and the mom was smiling. It started to remind me of all the memories my mom and I had playing ball in the front yard. I was laughing and my mom was smiling. Just then I started shaking with fear, thinking she will never come out of that room into the world again. While shaking and thinking hard I thought something that I didn’t think of before. It had been a while since she came in and I was starting to worry a lot more then I had been. What if this was supposed to happen? What if this happening meant something or that something big was going to happen. Maybe this would make me stronger. Make me a better person. My life changing may not be a terrible thing. Well yeah it’s horrendous seeing my mom like this, but maybe something good will end this. Seeing me think hard made my dad worried. He came over and said why don’t you go over to your BFF’s Kyauna’s house. Give your mind a little break. I agreed and I also hadn’t seen Kyauna for awhile.

When I got there I got out of the car and knocked on the door. Kyaunas little sister Faith answered the door. She smiled and hugged me. I walked in and Kyauna was eating lunch. She had her long black hair in a ponytail with a ribbon in it. She was wearing a bright blue shirt with blue jeans and converse sneakers. I said “Hi” and sat next to her. She was eating a grilled cheese with bacon on it. The table was big and brown, and right in the middle of the table there was a bowl of fruit, with apples, bananas, and oranges. When I sat down she was finished. She said want to go play on the trampoline. I nodded my head and we walked out. I told Kyauna I had something to tell her. We sat down on the trampoline and I told her what happened and she started crying and she gave me a big hug. It was time to go and my aunt picked me up. She was here to help, and I asked how my aunt how my mom was doing. She took a deep breath and said, “your mom died”. I stared at her for a couple seconds and tears come up and started running down my cheek. I asked if I could go tell Kyauna. She said it was fine. When I got out of the car I already saw Kyauna running toward me and crying. She hugged me and I said “my….” She shushed me and said I know. We cried together for a long period of time till I had to go.