I have always considered myself to be a careful person and I’m usually aware of my surroundings, but not in this case. It was the day before I was to go on a trip with my family. My mom was out with a friend so it was just my dad, my sister Audrey, and me at home. As you can imagine everybody was rushing around last minute packing. We were turning over tables looking for our favorite items.

I asked my sister, “Have you seen the shirt I wore the other day?” I was pushing and shoving my clothes in my suitcase when I realized what a mess the kitchen had become.

“Audrey, help me clean the kitchen!” I shouted at her.

“Yeah sure,” she replied.

To this day I have no idea what was going through my head but I really felt the need to clean. If only I felt that way now, my parents would greatly appreciate that. I scrubbed the dishes while my sister swept the floor.

Everything is perfect, am I right? Children cleaning without being asked. Well, that's a first. Here’s something you don’t know. With my sister and I, nothing is ever perfect. As usual we got carried away. Think of every kitchen appliance you own, then imagine them all over your floor. My kitchen looked like a table at a flea market. My dad wasn't upset but he expected it to be cleaned up quickly.

“Throw away the trash when you have time.” Audrey shouted at me. I quickly got up, grabbed the garbage, and headed towards the door. I took a step closer and oops! I felt a sharp pain through my foot.

“Ouch, what just happened?” I thought too myself. My eyes began to water as I looked down. My heart began to pound. The blade to the blender had cut deep into the bottom of my left foot. I bent over, pulled out the blade, sat down worriedly, and pretended as if nothing had happened. When the small sharp propellor had been slit into my foot, it must have cut so deep into my nerve system because I couldn't feel the pain or see any blood.  My father had such a pained look on his face, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened. 

“Oh Elena,” he said with a worried look. “I need to think.”

As I held my foot together, my dad placed gauze on my cut, and wrapped it up with a wet rag. My sister sat by my side as my dad called the ER nurse.

I remember him saying, “My daughter has a deep cut on the bottom of her foot and probably needs stitches.”
My dad then told me,“We need to get you to the ER immediately.” It was around 10 PM when my dad carried me to the car and drove to the hospital. My mother arrived at the ER soon after we got there.

“Oh Elena, what happened?” She inquired. We then were called into a room to discuss my foot with the doctor.
The doctor said, “we need to give you a few stitches, but you won’t feel a thing because you will be put to sleep.”
I was extremely tired so going to sleep seemed like a good idea. I don’t remember waking up, but I do remember throwing up a smoothie I drank earlier. The nurse said, “my dear, that usually happens if you do not fast for several hours before you are put to sleep.”Overall I think there are very important lessons to be learned from this experience. Look before you leap.You never know where you're feet will land.