Today was like any other day would have been. I got up, got dressed, brushed my teeth, put on deodorant, grabbed my backpack, and made my way downstairs and out to my bike before heading to school. The morning was cool and quite as the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. I let myself enjoy the quiet solitude as best i could since it wasn't to often that my day would be anything but hectic and loud. I am the middle child of three brothers and two sisters who seem to take great pride in annoying me so this calmness was probably the most enjoyable part of my day.
I took in the morning air with long deep breath to help me wake up. It felt so nice against my skin as I peddled my way out of my neighborhood and onto a dirt road I used as a short cut to school. In honesty it wasn't really a shorter way to school but it was far more secluded than the main road allowing me to ride my bike faster and not have to worry about people and cars. with one hand on my handle bars i brought my bag around to my chest and fished out my iPod. After all what is a relaxing morning bike ride to school without music to help you block out the world. Plugging in my earbuds i double tapped the home button which brought up the two skip forward/backward arrows and the play button. Having kept my music on shuffle from the previous day i just pressed play and to my delight the song "Miss Jackson" began to play. Allowing my imagination to take over i began to zone out as I started to go downhill, but was abruptly brought back to the real world as I felt something tap my shoulder. I jumped in surprise and ripped my ear buds out turning in the direction of the shoulder that had been tapped. To my great irritation I found it was my best friend Zachary riding his bike next to mine.
"Jesus Christ man I almost fell off,"
"That's what I was aiming for. You're just so jumpy I couldn't pass up the opportunity."
"Jackass."
"Crybaby."
We both chuckled a bit and continued riding our bikes along the trail. Even though i had nearly fallen off my bike me and Zach have been through worse so we always were able to get over things quickly and hardly ever held grudges.
"So Conner did you finish your research paper yesterday?"
I nodded "Yup. I had to stay up till three but I got it done. How 'bout you?"
"I'll crank it out in study hall."
"You do realize thinking like that is exactly why you are failing English."
"So what it's a stupid class anyway."
"Yeah but it is one you have to pass if you want to graduate this year," I said to him.
Granted I thought English was a pointless class as well but in the end I sucked it up and did the work.
We rounded a corner as the left side of the road became incredibly steep as the terrain changed to a large slope leading down to a creek that kids from around here liked to play in during the summer.
Zachary yawned "Man why does school have to be so early. Why can't it start at two in the afternoon,"
"And end at three." I said going along with his idea.
"EXACTLY" Zachary said holding his hand towards me in a gesture that says (this guy gets it).
Again we chuckled. We were still peddling along when I moved closer to the edge of the trail to avoid an oncoming pot hole. However as the pot hole passed me the ground at the edge of the trail gave way as the front wheel of my bike passed over it.
I immediately turned the handle bars in the opposite direction of the edge in an attempt to use my forward momentum to throw myself back on to the trail. Unfortunately the ground fell faster than I could react and before I knew it my bike was flying down the hill.
The edge of the hill was in no way a smooth ride as I crashed through bramble bushes and ran over large rocks. I squeezed as hard as I could on the rear brake and swung myself to the right to turn the bike on its side in an attempt to slow down. It worked and I did manage to slow down but when my bike smacked against the edge of a fallen tree I was abruptly flipped over along with my bike finding myself about six feet in the air as i went forward but the slop continued to get further and further away from me. In that moment It felt as if time stopped and my whole life flashed before my eyes. most of them were happy moments with my family such as, holidays, summer trips, and the occasional prank between siblings.
However, just as quickly as time stopped it started up again and I was ripped from reliving my life as my back crashed into the ground of the hill. The wind was knocked out of my body and my eyes shut from the abrupt pain. I can honestly say I felt like a rag doll as my limbs flailed as i tumbled over sticks and rocks, kicking up leafs and dirt.
smacking the back of my head against one final rock I splashed into the creek at the bottom of the hill with my back in the water and my face looking up to the sky. There was a second splash near me followed by several smaller ones. I concluded that my bike had fallen into the creek along with some small rocks and such. The water was cold and it stung my various cuts that now covered my body which only bled a slight bit. I finally got air back into my lungs with a large gasp and began to have a small coughing fit. the coughing soon turned to hacking and when i had finally got whatever was in my throat out, i tasted blood. standing up was apparently out of the question as wave after wave of pain soared through my body after only moving my arm and turning my shoulders making it clear I should stop moving.
I could hear Zach yelling and asking if I was alright though I'm sure he knew I wasn't. It was probably just a way for him not to freak out as he called 911. I just lay there with my body half submerged in the water of the creek trying to process what had just happened. Turning my head a bit I looked up the hill to see Zach was slowly making his way down to me. He made it to the bottom of the slope and ran over to me asking if i was alright for the sixth time. After telling him i was just peachy he rolled his eyes.
"hey.....you think i might get out of school for the day" i joked.
"Oh ha ha very funny." Zach answered as he went back up the hill to wait for help to get here. Against common sense I closed my eyes as the sun was beating down on my face and relaxed my body. My peaceful rest was interrupted as the current of the stream began to pick up. i opened my eyes and looked to one of the banks seeing that the water level had somehow doubled and i was being dragged along with the current. ignoring the pain as my adrenaline began to kick in a swung my arms around to grab onto anything but the best i could manage were smooth rocks that were pulled out of the ground when i grabbed them. I managed to lift my head up to see that the water was heading towards some sort of sink hole that hadn't been there last time i checked. panicking i looked back up the slope seeing Zach shouting for me and making his way back down as fast he could but it was to late. The last image i saw was my friend rushing along the edge of the creek trying to get to me before i felt myself fall into the sink hole and everything went black.
Surrounded by darkness i closed my eyes and held on to what little air i had left in my lungs as i continued to be pulled under by the sink hole.