My feet hit the pavement and I bolt forward at the sound of a gunshot. My legs burn, but I continue to push forward. Faster, faster, faster! My mind screams internally. I place one leg in front of the other. My heart races pumping blood through my veins. My breath heavy and loud. My lungs scream for more oxygen. My left foot twists and I land on my side. I scrape the side of my face and the palms of my hands. I roll onto my stomach and try to scramble to my feet. Dirt and rock press into the cuts on hands, I ignore the pulsing pain. I push forward and continue running.
My ankle throbs each time the bottom of my foot collides with the pavement. Tears build up in my eyes as I see the end. My body lunges forward and I cross the finish line. I come to a running stop and place my hands on my knees panting heavily. My coach walks over with a huge grin on his face and a disinfectant wipe in his hand.
"Quite the fall there, huh?" He asks, a laugh in his voice.
He pats my back and hands me the wipe. I press it against my scraped up hands and shake my head smiling.
"Still didn't get last place though," I say as I scrap the dirt, skin, and blood from my hand.
The coach hands me another wipe for my face. I thank him before walking off the track and over to my teammates. Some of my mates give friendly jokes about my clumsiness before breaking apart and heading off to their own events.
A cool breeze blows by and goosebumps prickle my arms. I lean over my stuff and collected my sweatshirt as a cool breeze blew. My next event won't take place for a good thirty minutes. I lay down on the grass and use my duffle bag as a pillow. I close my eyes and a gunshot goes off in the distance signaling the start of another event. Instead of cheers for the racers, screaming, and shouting can be heard from the stand and field. People begin to run around, causing quite the commotion.
I opened my eyes in confusion and stand up. I push past the crowd of panicked students trying to reach the center of the chaos. I reach the field where the gunshot came from, and look over the fence. My stomach turns, I cupped my mouth but that doesn't stop the vomit that flows up my throat and out past my fingers. I took a staggering step back, but I can't look away from the dead body, that lays on the track before me. Before I could react further, someone fires another gunshot.
The crowd screams and continues to run around. I stop breathing and my ankle pulses in pain. But it wasn't my ankle and I couldn't name what really hurt. I see my coach running around trying to help students. He looked at me and his face paled. My vision blurred, and I took a step forward.
"Coach?" My voice sounding faint.
He races towards me clearing trying, to keep a calm, but I don't understand why. My feet fail me and I fall towards the ground. Coach reaches me in time before my head collides, with the hard concrete below.
"Hazel!" He calls but my mouth feels dry and I don't know how to respond. "Someone help, this boy has been shot!" Coach screams. His voice is too loud everything is too loud.
"I'm gonna go to bed," I mumble softly, as my vision fades.
My eyelids feel heavy, I close them tightly in the hope it will stop the noise. It does and I let the warmth of darkness consume me.
When I wake my eyes do not want to open and my tongue is stuck to the top of my mouth. I can hear the faint sound of something beeping. My body aches from head to toe. It felt like little needles were stabbing my skin in quick forceful motions. The worst pain comes from my stomach. It feels like someone punched me with a truck.
Besides the soft beeps, I can also hear talking but I can't figure out what they are saying. It sounds muffled, as if I was underwater and they were talking above me. I didn't like the muffled sounds or the beeps, so I let my body drift into the warmth of the darkness.
