Nina Sticks The Landing

Part 1: An Unfortunate Occurence

It was November in the town of Glass Cape, Massachusetts. The Glass Cape Gymnastics Academy was buried in six inches of snow that a recent storm had left coating the ground. As Nina LaFeye walked briskly into the gymnastics academy, snow began to fall gently from the sky, and cold flakes landed silently on Nina's honey-blond hair.
With her teeth chattering, Nina thrust the academy's door open, rushing breathlessly into the heated building. Nina walked to the cubbies that lined the wall and removed her shoes, socks, and jacket. She was already wearing her tight leotard that was in obvious need of replacement. Nina had been saving for a new leotard, and she was halfway there.
Nina strutted into the gym, a place which was so familiar to her. She spent three days a week at the Glass Cape Gymnastics Academy, practicing her gymnastics skills. As soon as she spotted her fellow level 3 gymnasts, Nina took off across the gym, racing to meet them. "Hey Clara!" Nina exclaimed, waving to her friend. Clara was a level 3 gymnast who was also in Nina's 5th grade class at school. The girls began to talk amongst themselves. Clara and Nina started to chat about school.
There were four other girls in level 3 gymnastics: Alonna, Arden, Tori, and Estelle. The girls continued to talk before their conversation was interrupted by their coach. "OK girls!" Coach Blunt said, strolling over to the six girls eagerly awaiting her instruction. After stretching with the girls, Coach began to speak. "Regionals are two weeks away, and we've got a lot of work to do if we're gonna place." Coach took a deep breath. "Today we're all going to be working on different events, and we're going to rotate every half hour." Coach Blunt glanced around at her gymnasts. "Tori and Nina are on beam, Estelle and Arden are on Floor, and Alonna and Clara will be on bars." As the girls received the news, they began to get into pairs, standing next to the girl they'd been paired with. Coach started to speak again, and the girls fell silent. "If the first event you've been assigned to is beam, you'll go to bars next. If you're on bars, you'll go to floor. If you're on floor, you'll go to beam. Got it?" Nina wasn't quite sure if she got it, but she nodded anyway. "Girls, an instructor will be waiting for you at each event. Now go!" Coach exclaimed. Nina and Tori looked at each other, giggled, and ran to their first event, which was beam.
Waiting for them next to the beam was coach Anderson, who'd permanently injured her leg in a car accident. "Are you ready, girls?' Coach Anderson asked the two gymnasts before her.
"Let's start with some back walkovers"
"OK" Tori and Nina exclaimed in unison.
Tori clamored up onto the beam and stood up. She was wearing shorts over her neon yellow leotard. Tori slowly bent over backwards, her back bending into a graceful arch. "Good!" Coach Anderson said, supporting Tori's back with her hand. Tori kicked her leg over and came up into a standing position. "Amazing!" Coach Anderson cried, smiling at the girl.
"Great job. Can you practice that some more while I work with Nina?"
"Sure!" Tori exclaimed confidently, preparing to go into a backbend.
Nina mounted the beam, leaping up onto it's smooth, narrow surface. The beam felt good to her bare feet. Coach Anderson spoke. "Would you please try a back walkover, sweetie?" Nina shrugged. "OK," she said uncertainly. "But can we do something else afterward? I already know how to do this." Coach Anderson grinned. "You can always get better." she said. "But if you must know, we'll be practicing your routines after this. This is just a warm-up." "Oh, alright." Nina sighed. She bent backwards and rocked back and forth before thrusting her leg up and over, and popping back up into a normal standing position. "Stop!" Coach Anderson clapped her hands. "Now we're going to practice your routine." she said. "Yes!" both Nina and Tori yelled at relatively the same time. Both girls mounted the beam and started their routine. Nina repeated the steps in her mind: arms up, smile, skip, aerial. Land, smile, back walkover, straight into handstand, walk on hands and walk over into standing position. Turn, run, scissor jump. Land. Run, skip, flip. Land. Smile! Aerial back walkover. Back handspring dismount. Stand, smile. Nina recited the steps to the routine she'd practiced hundreds of times. She glanced over at Tori, who was finishing up the last part of her routine. As Tori dismounted, she rolled her ankle, causing her to flop onto the mat. "Ugh!" Tori groaned. "I hate it when that happens!"
Coach Blunt blew her whistle from the other side of the gym. "Switch!" She shouted loudly. Tori and Nina jumped up, thanked Coach Anderson, and darted past the dozens of other gymnasts until they arrived at the bars. Alonna and Clara were still there when Tori and Nina reached the bars. After a brief greeting, Alonna and Clara headed off to the floor, their next event.
"Hey girlies!" Coach Taylor called to Tori and Nina. "Hey, Coach T!" Nina said, smiling. "What are we doing today?"
"We're just going to warm up, and then we'll do your routine." Coach T replied.
Coach T lifted Nina up so that she could reach the bar. "Pike position, please." Coach Taylor told Nina. Nina's muscles burned as she extended her legs. "Good!" Coach Taylor said. "And come down, please." Nina exhaled deeply and groaned. "I though you'd never say it!" she exclaimed thankfully. Coach Taylor smiled. "You're up, Tori!' Coach Taylor said to the young gymnast. Tori grumbled. "Yay," she said sarcastically. "I love pike position." Coach Taylor lifted Tori onto the bar. Tori raised her legs painfully and squeezed her eyes shut. thirty seconds passed. "And you're done!" Coach Taylor said. "Thank Goodness!" Tori gasped. "Ready for your routines, girlies?" Coach Taylor questioned. "Yep!" Nina said. "I'm going first, right?" "Okay, whatever you feel like." Coach replied.
Nina mounted the bars. She casted, swinging her body back and forth. She went over her routine in her head, letting her mind direct her movements. cast, cast, cast. Kip! (A kip is when a gymnast goes from hanging position to front support) Now Back hip circle, now cast again. Cast, cast, cast! Cast handstand, cast, then kip. Front hip circle. Cast again. Cast handstand, pirouette. Toe-on. Front support. Cast. 3 cast handstands. Pirouette. Front flip dismount. As Nina landed, her knees wobbled and she fell onto her back, her fall broken by the cushy mat underneath the bar. Nina giggled in embarrassment and sat on the mat in a place where she was out of the way so that Tori could perform the routine.
Tori stuck the landing superbly, and Coach Taylor congratulated her. The girls repeated their routines one more time each before Coach Blunt blew the whistle. The half-hour was up. "Where do we go now?" Tori asked Nina. "Well, we've already done beam and bar, so now we probably go to floor." Nina replied. "Makes sense." Tori agreed. The two walked over to the floor, the springy surface that they'd learned countless skills on.
Instructor Mandy was waiting for them patiently. "Hey girls!" She said. "Start stretching, alright?' "But we already did!" Nina told her. "At the beginning of class!" "I don't care." Mandy said. "You need to do 10 seconds of bridges, 30 seconds of planks, and 30 seconds of splits, now." Tori and Nina exchanged annoyed glances. Instructor Mandy Mayfield had a reputation for being one of the tougher coaches at the gym. "Backbends! Now!" Yelled Instructor Mandy.
After stretching, the girls practiced their floor routines about three times each. Coach Blunt blew the whistle. "Um, what now?" Nina asked Tori. "Beats me!" Tori replied. "Want to go ask Coach Blunt what's next? Nina questioned. "Sure!" Tori said. The girls wandered over to Coach Blunt, who was already talking to the other four girls, who must have been confused as well. "Everyone's getting new partners! Coach Blunt said when Tori and Nina got closer. "Arden and Tori, Clara and Estelle, and Alonna and Nina." The new partners stood next to each other. "Now we'll just be practicing and having fun in intervals of 20 minutes." Coach Blunt said. This half of practice is a lot of fun. Nina and Alonna, you're starting at the foam pit. Clara and Estelle, you're on trampoline. Arden and Tori, you're on the springboard. Have fun girls!" Coach said. "Oh wait," she added, "one more thing. If you started at the foam pit, your next event is springboard, if you started at the trampoline, you're doing foam pit next. If you started at springboard, next is trampoline." Coach Blunt smiled. "Now go!" She said.
Nina and Alonna ran to the foam pit, narrowly avoiding being run over by a couple of older gymnasts. Coach Taylor was already waiting for them at the foam pit. "OK," she said. "Who's ready to have some fun?" "Me!" Nina shouted. "Me too!" Alonna chimed in. "You girlies can have five minutes of free time in the pit, but then we're gonna do some real gymnastics, OK?" Coach Taylor said. "OK, Coach!" Alonna said. "Got it!" Nina added. Nina and Alonna threw foam blocks at each other and buried themselves in the blocks. They jumped into the pit, flipped into it, and even tried a back handspring or two into it. The five minutes were finally up and the girls had to climb out of the pit. "Was that fun, girlies?" Coach Taylor said. "Yeah!" The two of them replied in unison. "OK, now for some real gymnastics." Coach said. "Alonna, come here." Coach Taylor led Alonna to the small bar next to the foam pit. "OK, here's what I want you to do:" Coach Taylor told her. "You're going to do a toe-on, and stand up on top of the bar. Then jump into the foam pit, OK?" "Sure!" said Alonna.
Alonna had on a sparkly blue leotard with white spots, and electric green spandex over top. Her long, light brown hair was in two braids on either sides of her head. Nina preferred to wear her blond hair in a high bun.
Alonna casted and went into a toe-on, her braids flying wildly. As Alonna reached the top of the bar, Coach Taylor yelled, stand! Alonna stood on the bar, and jumped hurriedly into the foam pit. Nina and Coach Taylor clapped, and Alonna climbed out of the foam pit. "OK, your turn Nina!" said Coach Taylor.
Nina stepped up to the bar and repeated the moves in her head to memorize them. She leapt up onto the bar and performed the trick close to seamlessly. Alonna and Coach clapped for her. After performing the trick one more time each, Nina and Alonna went over to the springboard to practice with Coach Anderson, who was waiting for them.
After saying hello, Coach Anderson told the two girls that they would be running, then jumping on the springboard which they would use to propel themselves into a front flip. Nina took a running start, stomped on the springboard with both feet, and curled into a flip before sticking the landing.
The rest of practice flew by. The three hour practice seemed like a mere three minutes to Nina. At the end of practice, Nina hugged Coach Blunt, said goodbye to her friends, and went to the bathroom.
When she got out of the bathroom, Nina headed into the Glass Cape Gymnastics Academy store, where you could buy leotards with the GCGA (Glass Cape Gymnastics Academy) logo on them, or GCGA shorts or tops or shirts. You could also buy ordinary gymnastics leotards. They were expensive, but Nina desperately wanted a new one. Hers was too small and horribly out of style. It was plain and black with long sleeves. Oh well. Nina would have to wait until she saved up enough money. Nina had her eyes on a particular leotard. It was a sparkly and iridescent silver that looked almost like a fish's scales. It had long sleeves and a criss-cross back. Nina longed for the leotard, and she had been doing endless chores in an effort to save up the $40 that the leotard cost. She had a feeling that it was going to take a while to save up for.
As Nina strolled around the store, a pair of hot pink spandex with a GCGA logo in the corner caught her eye. Even better, the shorts were on sale for $5. She could hardly wait for her mom to get there to pick her up. Her mom could never turn down such a great deal! Nina waited by the GCGA door until she saw her mom's maroon Subaru pull up outside. As soon as Kestral, Nina's mom, walked through the door, she was dragged by her daughter into the shop where Nina showed her the spandex. "Please, mommy?" Nina begged. "Maybe." said Kestrel."Go try them on." "OK!" Nina grinned enthusiastically. She grabbed the little shorts and raced to the dressing room. She was already wearing her leotard, so all she had to do was pull the shorts on over. They fit like a glove. Nina skipped out of the dressing room, the ten-year-old beaming like a ray of sunshine. Nina pretended to model the shorts and struck a few ridiculous poses. "Huh." Kestral said. "How much did you say those were?"
That day, Nina walked out of the GCGA store carrying her new purchase, a cute new pair of hot pink spandex shorts. "Thanks, mom!" Nina told Kestral. Kestral was a tall woman with blond hair cut into a pixie bob. She sometimes wore sunglasses and carried a purse large enough for plenty of ban-aids, notepads, pens, beads, and any other odds and ends. Sometimes she was quiet, but like her daughter she could be outgoing sometimes as well.
Kestral gave Nina a piggyback ride to their car. The snow was still there after Nina's 3-hour gymnastics class. Nina was cold, but happy. She was excited to show everyone at gymnastics her new shorts the next day. Nina got buckled into her car seat. She was the only person in her grade who still had a car seat, but at the moment she didn't care. She was just happy to relax and spend time with her family.
Nina's sisters were waiting for her in the car. There was Naia, who was 5, then there was Lina, who was 4. Next there was Olive, AKA "Boola" who was just a baby.
"Nima!" said Lina. "You was gone fow too wong!"
"Sorry, Lee-lee." Replied Nina. "But look what I got!"
Nina displayed her pink shorts.
"Ooh, dat's pwetty, Nima!" said Lina.
"Thanks, sweetie." said Nina.
"Mommy, how come I didn't get anyfing?" Moaned Naia.
"Nina got those shorts because they were really cheap, honey. Besides, you're not in gymnastics anyway."
Naia scowled. "It's soooo unfair!" she grumbled.
Kestral pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive slowly down the icy road. Naia was sitting in the back with her sisters, her brow furrowed in thought. After a while, she spoke.
"I know!" Naia cried. "Mama, can I join gymnastwics?"
"What?" Nina said.
None of her sisters had ever shown even the slightest bit of interest in gymnastics.
Kestral considered her daughter's question. "Well, I suppose you could join the Little Tumblers class, I guess it would fit in our budget." she said.
"Mama, what about me?" Lina grumbled. "Can I be in gymnastwics, too?"
"I'll see." Kestral replied.
Nina wasn't sure how to feel about her sisters joining gymnastics. She loved them, but she didn't want them embarrassing her at class. Besides, gymnastics was her thing.
The next day was Wednesday, and Nina had gymnastics. This time, though, it wasn't just her entering the building. Two tiny girls entered the gym behind her, barely able to contain their excitement. The family had come to the gym early to get the two little girls outfitted with gymnastics gear. Nina held Boola while Kestral helped Lina and Naia try on leotards. Naia decided on a leotard that was black and yellow striped, made to look like a bumble bee. Lina chose a purple leotard and pink zebra patterned shorts.
Finally, it was time for practice to begin. Nina ran to Coach Blunt and the rest of the level three gymnasts. Coach Blunt brought the girls to the beam so that they could practice their routines. As Nina was waiting for her turn on the beam, she spotted her mom sitting on the bleachers that lined on of the wall. Kestral was holding Boola and waving wildly. Nina hadn't thought about the fact that if her two little sisters joined gymnastics, her mom would have to wait on the bleachers every class. It wasn't like you could just drop a five-year-old and a four-year old off at gymnastics.
"Nina.. Nina!" Coach Blunt yelled.
Nina had been so buried in thought that she'd forgotten that it was her turn to perform the beam routine. Nina remembered her routine and mounted the beam. Arms up, smile, skip, aerial. Land, smile, back walkover, straight into handstand, walk on hands and walk over into standing position. Turn, run, scissor jump. Land. Run, skip, flip. Land. Smile! Aerial back walkover. Back handspring dismount. Stand, smile.
The routine should have been easy for Nina, but it was hard to concentrate with her mom screaming tips and advice from the sidelines. Nina barely landed her aerial. She couldn't get her leg over during the back walkover. She couldn't find her balance while walking on her hands. Her scissor jump was a complete fail. She managed to get the front flip correct - thank goodness - but she completely fell off the beam during her aerial back walkover.
"Oh my gosh! Are you OK?" yelled Kestral from the bleachers.
"I'M FINE!" shouted Nina impatiently.
Nina's bar routine wasn't much better. Nina knew that it was supposed to be nice to have someone cheering for her, but still..... It was incredibly difficult to focus with her mom staring at her, shouting and waving continuously. On her floor routine, Nina fell flat on her face twice, and later she couldn't climb out of the foam pit. By the time Nina got home, she was so frustrated and exhausted that she just locked herself in her room.
In the morning, Nina played with Boola and watched some cartoons before showering and heading to school. She was so busy that morning that she forgot to talk to her mom about what was frustrating her. In the car on the way to GCGA, she completely forgot to talk to her mom because she was so preoccupied with arguing with Naia.
Later, as Nina waited to do her routine on the beam, she watched the other girls perform their routines. Everyone looked so perfect. Clara and Alonna stuck their landings perfectly, and Estelle's routine had amazing technique. When it was finally Nina's turn, she fumbled getting onto the beam. Her aerial was painful to watch. The distraction Kestral was causing was unbearable for Nina! Arms up, smile, skip, aerial. Land, smile, back walkover, straight into handstand, walk on hands and walk over into standing position. Turn, run, scissor jump. Land. Run, skip, flip. Land. Smile! Aerial back walkover. Back handspring dismount. Stand, smile. Nina recited the routine in her head. She managed to land the scissor jump, front flip and aerial back walkover, but it became clear that she wouldn't stick the landing of her back handspring dismount.
As Nina leapt backward, the felt her hand slip on the beam, and she plummeted onto the mat.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Nina whimpered.
She started to cry. Gymnasts all over the gym stopped what they were doing to observe the accident. Nina's fellow level three gymnasts crowded around her.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" Coach Blunt asked anxiously.
"My fingers hurt really badly!" Nina groaned.
"You probably just jammed them." Coach Blunt said. "Let me take a look."
Nina placed her hand in her coach's.
"Yikes." said Coach Blunt.
The other gymnasts leaned in to see what had happened. Three of Nina's fingers were swollen and purple. Alonna cringed at the sight.