Day 7: Upside-down

Edward Distor
Sep 8, 2018 · 3 min read
(Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/)

Cameron slowly opened his eyes. At first, his vision was blurred and wavy. He blinked several times more and was able to gain some semblance of sight. He saw a hazy blue background, painted with streaks of white. He noticed two protruding limbs dangling in front of the background. He stared at the limbs, wondering why they were there and why they had something funny at their ends.

“Hey, Cameron… you okay?”

Cameron blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Who said that?” He tried to turn his head but it was stiff. He felt something against the back of his head. He forced himself to turn, causing his neck to ache. He winced and gritted his teeth, grunting against his throat.

“Cameron! You’re alive. Thank goodness.”

Cameron opened his eyes when the pain subsided. He saw someone looking over him, somehow standing from behind him. He felt confused by this visual effect.

“Mike?” Cameron asked, “is that you?”

Mike nodded, “Yeah. Dude, you look terrible after that fall.”

“Fall? I fell?” Cameron asked, to which Mike nodded. Cameron looked back at the dangling limbs. He moved them and realized they were his legs. He looked between his legs and saw a concrete pole standing tall above his legs. He had an epiphany: He was upside-down against the pole.

“Hey, Mike, can you help me up?” Cameron asked. Mike took off his backpack and reached down. Cameron moved his legs to the side and leaned onto his left side Mike caught his legs and eased them onto the sidewalk. He circled his legs to his side, helping Cameron sit up against the pole.

“Thanks Mike,” Cameron said, as he rubbed the back of his head, “so what happened to me?”

Mike knelt down next to Cameron. “What happened? Oh God, it was epic. I mean, I don’t know you managed to turn yourself upside down like that.”

“Mike, just tell me what happened,” Cameron sighed.

Mike recomposed himself. “Okay, Cameron. So what happened is that we were walking home from school, just talking about video games. He looked away for a moment and spotted something across the street.”

“Across the street? What was it?”

Mike tried to remember, chewing on the inside of his lip. “Umm… I think it was one of the girls in our classroom.”

“You mean the one with the braided pigtails?”

Mike nodded, “Yeah, her. So you were staring for what seemed like a long time until you tripped on a raised concrete square.”

“Concrete square?” Cameron looked in front of him. He saw one of the sidewalk squares raised, thanks to an old oak tree that had its overgrown creeping underneath the sidewalk. Cameron grumbled to himself.

“So,” Mike continued, “you tripped and fell forward. You tumbled on your back once and then again before hitting this pole.”

Cameron took a breath of relief, “Okay. I guess it’s a good thing this pole stopped me from rolling into the street.” Suddenly, Cameron’s eyes widen. “Mike, did… that girl see me fall?”

Mike shrugged, “I don’t think so, dude.” He heard something ding and pulled out his smartphone. With a few presses and scrolls, Mike looked at his Facebook wall and gasped. “Cameron….” He showed the phone to Cameron.

Cameron saw a video of himself tumbling on the sidewalk and rolling into the pole. He buried his face in both hands.

“Oh God, my high school is ruined…”

Edward Distor

A beginning writer who desires to share his imagination and experience with the world, by prose and verse.

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